1: Triaging

This sounds like nurse triage to me. In Washington only RN's can legally provide triage over the phone. I saw the example form and where it states to immediately notify the nurse supervisor for x symptoms and where it states advice was verbally read to nurse supervisor. It seems like a slippery slope of non RN's providing care that should only be provided by RN's. There is a lot more to telephone triage than asking closed ended yes or no questions. I think it is great to have the Grand Aides do everything but the telephone part. The Grand aides could be cross trained as health coaches and use motivational interviewing to help people in their follow up visits in person or by phone.

Mary Whittington RN, MSM, Wednesday, October 17, 2012 10:46 pm| Hospital; Nurse

2:

Thanks. Every single encounter of a patient with a Grand-Aide is supervised directly by a nurse -- no exceptions. If the nurse wants, she/he can get on the phone immediately with the patient.

A. Garson, Thursday, October 18, 2012 2:20 pm| Other; Physician

3:

I have been a telephone triage nurse for 18 years. Initially I worked in an office setting. Now I am working an office that does telephone trige for about 500 physicians and providers, both primary and specialty care. We use protocols for each contact. However, because we are RNs, the protocols are guidelines only. Frequently the caller will answer our questions and protocols would dictate a plan of care that, with further probing outside of the scripted questions, proves to be the wrong choice. I believe this program has some benefits, but any triaging needs to remain in RN hands. Anything else can place the patient, G.A, nursing supervisor and provider in a bad situation.

Colleen Sigafoos RN, BSN, Friday, October 19, 2012 7:04 pm| Hospital; Nurse

Comment Comments are moderated. Learn about: The comment review process | The benefits of commenting

Title (optional)

Comment

Display name

E-mail address Your e-mail address will never be shown publicly. AHRQ's Privacy Policy.

- Your Organization Hospital Physician office Clinic Government agency University Research or consulting organization Pharmaceutical or medical device company Insurer/Managed care organization Other dropdown (optional)

- Your Job Physician Nurse Other clinician Health care administrator Quality improvement staff Researcher Policymaker Health care purchaser Consultant Other dropdown (optional)