Triage Telephone Nurse

Responsible for providing triage (sorting/ prioritizing patients) telephone service to ensure prompt response to patient/ family calls to assess need to be seen, identify urgency to be seen and offer options for home care and self-management if appropriate

• Nurse talks directly to patients on the telephone and then directs them as appropriate to emergency care, WCU Health Symptom Management Clinic, or to see oncology provider during office hours.
• Ability to perform short evaluation of the patient's situation to estimate severity of illness and/or injury including learning about the chief complaint and, when possible, obtaining vital signs (fever, pulse, respiratory rate, pain, changes in color especially lips, hands, effort of breathing, audible breath sounds) and mental status information (sleeping more, lethargic, irritable), assessing pain, fatigue, and other symptoms related to current therapy/surgical intervention.
• Determines urgency need of seeing the patient based on brief assessment and on familiarity with the patient's condition and history.  Uses approved oncology telephone triage protocols in written form.  Confers with physician as needed.
• Sends those with high-risk chief complaints such as increased effort of breathing, shortness of breath, altered level of consciousness, bleeding, trauma, loss of consciousness, or first-time seizure activity to ED immediately or arranges for ambulance per protocol.  May provide appropriate home care advice to those patients who do not need to go directly to the ED.
• Sets up appointments for patients who do not need to go to the ED But need to see a physician or arranges for appointment scheduler to make the appointment.
• Provides prescription refills per approved policy guidelines, directs other refill requests to the appropriate clinician as a pended prescription.

ADN or higher is required. BSN preferred

Minimum 5 years experience as RN

Current NC or Compact RN license; Current CPR certificate required.

Med/Surg certification or ONS certification preferred.

$34.74 - $50.64

Remote position.

About ECU Health Medical Center

ECU Health Medical Center, one of four academic medical centers in North Carolina, is the 974-bed flagship hospital for ECU Health and serves as the primary teaching hospital for The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. ECU Health Medical Center has achieved Magnet® designation twice and provides acute and intermediate care, rehabilitation and outpatient health services to a 29-county region that is home to more than 1.4 million people.

It is the goal of ECU Health and its entities to employ the most qualified individual who best matches the requirements for the vacant position.

Offers of employment are subject to successful completion of all pre-employment screenings, which may include an occupational health screening, criminal record check, education, reference, and licensure verification.

We value diversity and are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Decisions of employment are made based on business needs, job requirements and applicant’s qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, genetic information and testing, family and medical leave, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression or any other status protected by law. We prohibit retaliation against individuals who bring forth any complaint, orally or in writing, to the employer, or against any individuals who assist or participate in the investigation of any complaint.