About This Role
This Triage Nurse role provides telephonic nursing support for clinic physicians, assisting them and other healthcare providers with timely patient communications. The nurse is also responsible for giving patients timely responses to their questions or concerns.
Responsibilities
- Function with autonomy in clinical nursing practice within the guidelines established by the Iowa Board of Nursing and Iowa Ortho
- Recognize potentially dangerous symptoms (reactions, urgent care, pre-stroke diagnosis, cardiac concerns - over the phone) outside of orthopedic care that require immediate referral to the physician
- At the direction of the physician, provide patient notification and education regarding results of various tests and document actions in the electronic medical record
- Work collaboratively with physicians and other members of the healthcare team to process information in an accurate, timely and consistent manner
- Receive and process medication refill requests through various communication forms
- Follow established policies and protocols, handle requests in an accurate, timely and thorough manner
- Exercise good judgment in the identification of potential problems such as medication side effects, adverse interactions, non-compliance with the medical plan of care and repeated failure to keep scheduled appointments
- Complete order forms/correspondence as needed
- Handle a high volume of calls requiring good judgment and decision-making skills, including calls to and from physicians, patients, patient’s family members, pharmacies, and various other health related agents
- Function as a one stop resource nurse to provide additional coverage to central scheduling by answering roll over calls
- Document all health related and patient information pertaining to phone contact in the medical record
- Provide and reinforce education needed for patient efficacy in managing medication and/or test result information
- Make sound judgment in educating patients under physician direction
- Accurately document communication and information or forward calls and/or messages to appropriate person(s)
- Complete all documentation and medical records accurately and concisely
- Demonstrate awareness and sensitivity to Release of Information Guidelines in regards to clients’/significant others’ rights
- Attend meetings and in-service programs as appropriate
- Act in a professional manner, reflecting the mission of Iowa Ortho and compliant with policies, procedures, regulatory agencies and professional requirements
- Listen to patient concerns and symptoms and use nursing knowledge to schedule acute or emergent appointments for patients that need to be seen based on information provided
- Telephone outpatient surgical patients upon discharge
