Critical Steps to a Triage Call

1. Critical Steps in a Triage
Call
Triagelogic 2015

2. Goals of This Training
• By the time you complete this training, you will:
1. Understand how to gather proper patient information
2. Know how to triage a call
3. Know how to ensure a patient feels his/her quesitons are answered and
they have a positive call experience
4. Understand the proper steps to make sure you are staying within the
scope of nursing

3. Critical Steps of Taking a Triage Call
1. Introduce Yourself
2. Verify Demographics
3. Let the patient talk
4. Collect past medical history
5. Select the correct protocols
6. Give care advice
7. Wrap up
8. Survey Question

4. 1. Introducing Yourself
• Key points to make on your first contact
• Time of day
• Your name
• Location calling from or at
• Why you’re calling
• Reassurance

5. 1. Introducing Yourself
Upon Answering/ Calling:
• Good… (time of day)
• My name is...
• I am ...
• A Registered Nurse with Dr. _____________ office calling back from your
doctor’s office because I hear... (you/your child is sick today )
• Don’t worry. We are going to go through everything and take good care of
you/them.

6. 2. Verifying Demographics
Verifying Demographics
“Before we talk about
what is going on, in case
we get disconnected, I
want to make sure I
have the proper
information about you.”
It is CRITICAL that you
get the information to
the proper chart:
1. Phone
2. DOB
3. Name
4. Physician
5. Physician’s Practice

7. 3. Let the Caller Talk
• The caller needs to feel
heard. Additionally, the
more the caller talks, the
more information you will
gather to help you select the
proper protocol to use.
“Tell me what you are
concerned about today, and
what is happening.”

8. 4. Collect Past Medical History
“I know you’re concerned about… (repeat what caller said), so lets
talk about that more.
• Is he, she on any medications?
• Any allergies?
• Any past hospitalizations, surgeries, or medical problems?”
Fill out the past medical History. They won’t tell you unless you ask!

9. 5. Select the Correct Protocol
This is CRITICAL to making the correct triage decision.
“I can see you’re concerned about… let’s talk about that some
more.”
“You mentioned... Let’s talk about that too.”

10. 6. Giving Care Advice
DOCTORS WANT TO SEE THEIR PATIENTS!
“Based on what you have told me, it does not sound like you need to go to
the ER. Here are a few things you can do to make you/your child more
comfortable..”
“See how you/they are feeling in a little bit.”
“It’s always a good idea to see your doctor when they are open to make
sure everything is okay.”

11. 6. Giving Care Advice (cont.)
• No diagnosis or treament
• Follow protocols to stay within the scope of your job
• If you have to find it on the internet, you are making a mistake!
• Every physician handles things differently
• Always refer back to the physician

12. 7. Wrapping Up
This allows the patient to feel like you finished the call properly.
“Do you have any other questions for me?”
“I hope you/your child feels better soon.”
“Don’t hesitate to call back if you have any other concerns- that’s
why we are here.”

13. 8. Survey Question
This is CRITICAL as it allows us to directly show doctors how we are
assisting them.
“Before you go, our medical director wants us to ask two quick
quesitons to make sure we are helping our patients as best we can.”