Triage Nurse: A Case Study

As the triage nurse in the assessment and referral center (ARC), I work closely with our clinicians who perform intake assessments for individuals who are seeking assistance for mental health or substance abuse concerns. A fundamental part of my role as the triage nurse involves working closely with the clinicians to insure that individuals with medical complaints are seen promptly, patients going to the unit have their skin assessments, and that individuals with medical complaints beyond our scope as a mental health hospital are transferred to medical-surgical hospitals where their medical needs can be better served. In addition to the tasks above, I also obtain vital signs and gather brief medical histories for every individual who comes in for an assessment. As described above, an important part of my role is to make sure that patients needing medical treatment beyond our scope of practice are transferred to medical-surgical hospitals. For example, if I were to triage a person and during my time with the patient I determine that they will need medical clearance before being assessed, I then call the doctor, explain the medical need at hand and obtain permission to send the person out for medical clearance. The purpose of this is to …show more content…
This does not occur often as both the clinicians and I perform waiting room rounds frequently to monitor the status of our patients waiting for assessments or waiting to go to the units. Additionally I make it a point to keep a close watch on patients with conditions that can change from moment to moment. For example, with patients who are detoxing from alcohol the clinicians and I keep a close eye on them to monitor for any signs that their detox symptoms are worsening which may indicate a worsening in patient