What is a Triage nurse definition? Triage nurse training
The job of a triage nurse is one of the most demanding careers in medicine. This position is usually held by registered nurses, but if there is a shortage of registered nurses available, an LPN may also fill this position. The LPN can work at this job as long as they are supervised by another medical professional. Often in emergency rooms that have staffing issues, LPN’s and RN’s work in tandem to meet their patients needs as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Triage nurse duties
That’s what triage is about after all. Speed and efficiency. A triage nurse working in a busy emergency room might see up to one hundred patients during a twelve hour shift. It is their job to quickly assess the patient’s condition, and then assign the patient a priority level for treatment. Most critical injuries do not want to wait their turn in line. It is often up to the triage nurse to decide which patients require immediate attention and which can afford to wait until there is less of an emergency.
Triage nurse salary
A triage nurse makes around $67,000 a year on average. This figure may go up or down slightly, depending on location, and hours worked. During the course of a typical day, a triage nurse will be asked to diagnose various ailments, and take the vital signs of incoming patients. If there is time the nurse may gather a medical history of the patient, and usually assists them with the filling out the necessary forms in the emergency room.
Triage nurse training
A triage nurse is also trained to perform their job on a telephone when necessary. Many triage nurses are employed with emergency services, as well as emergency help lines of various types. The job is still the same on the telephone. The triage nurse must diagnose and then prioritize patients needs according to seriousness. This can be more difficult to do in the absence of a way to physically make a diagnosis.
Nurses who are considering going into this area of medicine will be glad to know that the job outlook for triage nurses is very nice indeed. It is estimated that the need for triage nurses will keep growing over the next five years at a steady pace. There is a severe shortage of qualified and trained nurses almost everywhere, a lot of facilities are forced to run at dangerously understaffed levels.
A triage nurse needs to be cool under fire. There are few places that are busier than a hospital emergency room on a Friday or Saturday night. A triage nurse must be dedicated to the welfare of their patients and fellow workers, there are few jobs that are more demanding. A triage nurse must be able to make quick decisions, they will need to be able to diagnose on the fly and prioritize on the run.
A triage nurse must also be compassionate and caring. A lot of the people that will pass in front of the triage nurse during an ordinary shift are at the very least confused and frightened about what is happening to them. A lot of them will also be in great amounts of pain. A triage nurse needs to be able to comfort and reassure, it helps to keep things in the emergency room running a lot more smoothly.
Nowadays more men are in nursing.