Triage Registered Nurse

The Triage Registered Nurse provides timely and accurate triage responses for incoming patient calls and messages in a primary care community health center setting. This role is essential to the clinical team, assessing patient needs, prioritizing urgent matters, scheduling appointments, and advising patients on appropriate levels of care. You will work with a diverse patient population in an ambulatory care environment, utilizing nursing judgment and established protocols to deliver health education and clinical guidance.

Clinical Setting

This position is based in the Primary Care department of a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) serving a multicultural community. You will work with patients from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds and will be expected to demonstrate cultural sensitivity and awareness of trauma-informed care principles.

Responsibilities

• Provide timely, efficient, and accurate triage responses and document according to nursing standards
• Triage telephone calls from the nursing line and prioritize urgent matters, scheduling appointments as needed
• Utilize the nursing process to assess, analyze, plan, implement, and evaluate clinical concerns
• Advise on patient care and treatment, demonstrating knowledge of medications and their effects and side effects
• Assist with patient education, review, and follow-up of lab results on a routine basis
• Monitor and respond to critical care nursing pool alerts and overhead pages for urgent matters
• Communicate with urgent care medical assistants for appropriate appointment scheduling throughout the day
• Document incoming calls in nursing notes and route appropriate information to providers, including follow-up needs and urgent matters
• Redirect calls appropriately to medical secretaries, referral specialists, social services, and other departments
• Educate patients about utilization of the clinic's community services
• Check the EHR (OCHIN-EPIC) nurse pool throughout the day, including MyChart message responses and in-basket follow-up
• Provide care to a culturally diverse patient population with sensitivity to socioeconomic, trauma, and other factors impacting communities in need
• Become cross-trained and provide coverage for the Transitions of Care Nurse
• Perform other duties as needed

Required Qualifications

• Active Registered Nurse license in Massachusetts
• Two years of nursing experience, preferably in urgent care, triage, or community health nursing
• Experience working in an FQHC, community health center, or similar setting
• Strong clinical assessment and triage skills
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to manage patients with a diverse set of needs
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to work collaboratively as part of an interdisciplinary team
• Critical attention to detail and ability to work under pressure and establish priorities
• Familiarity with electronic medical records (Epic) or willingness to learn
• Knowledge of clinical assessments and triage protocols in a community health center setting
• Knowledge of multicultural and multilingual patient populations, with sensitivity to socioeconomic, trauma, and other factors impacting communities in need
• Familiarity with the neighborhoods and agencies served by the health center

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science in Nursing (B.S.N.)
• Knowledge of nursing practice in an ambulatory care or community health setting
• Bilingual language skills in Spanish or Cape Verdean Creole

Schedule

• 40 hours per week
• Non-exempt position

Physical Requirements

• Capacity to transport patients or things from place to place while bearing weight of 0-30 pounds
• Capacity to raise objects from lower to higher position, from higher to lower position, and horizontally with weight of 0-30 pounds
• Capacity to sit for prolonged periods of time

Supervisory Responsibility

None. This position reports to the Director of Nursing.