Empowering nurses through use of telephone triage Meeting Abstract
| Authors: | Newell, K. A.; Andrejko, M.; Inumerables, F. |
| Abstract Title: | Empowering nurses through use of telephone triage |
| Meeting Title: | 47th Annual Congress of the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) |
| Abstract: | Improved supportive care services have allowed organizations to transition patients from inpatient to outpatient settings. Telephone triage is essential to optimizing outpatient care by ensuring access to clinical resources and promoting continuity of care. Nurses are vital members of the multidisciplinary team in an ideal position to aide in transformational changes and assist patients in navigating complex levels of care. The purpose of this project is to implement an interdisciplinary team approach to telephone triage in an Outpatient Cellular Immunotherapy Unit by leveraging the role of the Charge Nurse. Patient outcomes and nurse's perception of empowerment and support were explored. A multidisciplinary task force of nurses developed a new telephone triage workflow to cultivate triage skills of the Charge Nurses and foster collaborative relationships with the Advanced Practice Providers (APP). To facilitate training, a standardized tool to guide evidenced-based care was implemented, and an algorithm to determine escalation of care was utilized. Surveys were administered 6-months post implementation to participating nurses (N= 7) to evaluate perception of support and empowerment. A total of 108 triage calls were documented, almost half were either handled by the nurses only (45%) or collaboratively with the APPs (45%). The most common calls were for symptom management (62%), care coordination (20%) and prescriptions (14%). Nausea, vomiting and pain were the most frequently reported symptoms. Among the calls requiring escalation of care, 41 required an in-person visit and 20 were referred to the institution's urgent care center. Nurses reported up to 10 calls per week, requiring, on average 5-10 minutes per call. They reported high confidence in their ability to practice to the fullest extent of their education and training. All nurses endorsed adequate preparation. However, less than one third of nurses did not feel supported by the multidisciplinary team. Implementing the new workflow empowered nurses to practice at their full potential. This innovative change required additional training, which nurses identified as valuable in promoting confidence in triaging care. The interdisciplinary approach reduced the triage burden on the APPs allowing time for other responsibilities. An ongoing effort to strengthen the collaborative relationship continues to be explored with the goal of promoting safe, high quality outpatient care. |
| Keywords: | oncologic nursing; california; triage; empowerment; congresses and conferences -- california; telecommunications; nursing staff, hospital -- psychosocial factors |
| Journal Title: | Oncology Nursing Forum |
| Volume: | 49 |
| Issue: | 2 |
| Meeting Dates: | 2022 Apr 27-May 1 |
| Meeting Location: | Anaheim, CA |
| ISSN: | 0190-535X |
| Publisher: | Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) |
| Date Published: | 2022-03-01 |
| Start Page: | E36 |
| End Page: | E37 |
| Language: | English |
| DOI: | 10.1188/22.Onf.E2 |
| PROVIDER: | EBSCOhost |
| PROVIDER: | cinahl |
| PUBMED: | 35191905 |
| DOI/URL: | |
| Notes: | Meeting Abstract: P63 -- in PDF named "2022 ONS Congress Poster Abstracts" -- Source: Cinahl |
Altmetric
Citation Impact
BMJ Impact Analytics
MSK Authors
-
7Andrejko -
12Inumerables -
1Newell
Related MSK Work