Population Health - NURSE TRIAGE RN STAFF NURSE

Position Title: Telephone Triage Registered Nurse

Department: 9990 - SCH Accountable Care Organization

Reports To: ACO/Population Health Director

FLSA Status: Non-Exempt

Employment Status: Full Time

Scope of Authority

Works within approved clinical protocols, nursing scope of practice, SCRMC policies, and delegated Population Health workflows.

The position independently gathers patient information, applies approved decision-support criteria, provides education and routing guidance, documents interactions in the electronic health record, performs purposeful patient rounding as assigned, and escalates urgent, atypical, or out-of-scope matters through established clinical and administrative channels.

The position has no authority to independently diagnose, prescribe, or approve exceptions outside delegated protocols.

Job Summary

The Telephone Triage Registered Nurse provides patient-facing telephone triage, education, care navigation, and purposeful rounding support for hospital and clinic patients.

The nurse evaluates reported symptoms using approved clinical protocols, guides patients to the appropriate level of care, reinforces discharge and care-plan instructions, identifies safety or service concerns, and ensures timely documentation and escalation.

The role supports Population Health goals by improving access, continuity, patient understanding, safety, and follow-up across the care continuum.

Job Requirements

• Active and unencumbered Registered Nurse license in the State of Mississippi.
• Three to five years of clinical experience in an acute care, emergency, or ambulatory clinic setting.
• Strong computer literacy and ability to document accurately in an electronic health record (EPIC) and approved decision-support systems.
• Excellent active listening, verbal communication, clinical judgment, and ability to tailor communication to the patient's level of health literacy.
• Ability to multitask, work independently within approved protocols, and manage high-stress situations calmly and professionally.
• Willingness to work flexible and rotating shifts, including nights, weekends, and holidays, to support continuous 24/7 operations.

Essential Functions

• Assesses patient symptoms by listening to concerns, collecting pertinent medical history, identifying red flags, and evaluating urgency using approved decision-support software and clinical protocols.
• Guides patients to the appropriate level of care, which may include self-care, primary care follow-up, an appropriate clinic or provider, urgent care, or the nearest emergency department.
• Provides clear, concise home-care instructions, health education, coaching, and reinforcement of provider instructions within the registered nurse scope of practice and approved protocols.

• Conducts purposeful rounding with assigned patients, in person or through approved communication methods, to assess understanding, comfort, safety, care-plan needs, barriers, service concerns, and readiness for the next step in care.
• Uses purposeful rounding findings to identify and promptly escalate changes in condition, patient safety risks, unmet needs, communication gaps, access barriers, and service recovery concerns to the appropriate clinical or operational resource.
• Documents all patient interactions, assessments, education, rounding findings, interventions, referrals, and clinical recommendations accurately and thoroughly in the electronic health record or approved system.
• Coordinates follow-up and care navigation with Population Health, clinics, providers, nursing, case management, and other interdisciplinary partners as assigned and within authorized workflows.
• Maintains patient privacy and confidentiality and follows HIPAA, infection prevention, safety, documentation, and information-security requirements.
• Participates in competency validation, training, audit activities, performance improvement, survey readiness, and corrective actions related to the role.
• Assists with other Population Health/ACO assignments as directed by Population Health leadership or other authorized leaders.

Functional Demands

Physical Demands

Requires prolonged sitting and computer or telephone use; frequent speaking, listening, viewing of electronic information, keyboarding, and repetitive hand movement; and the ability to move through patient-care areas when completing in-person rounds. Specific lifting, carrying, standing, walking, vision, hearing, and other physical requirements are BLANK pending departmental validation.

Work Environment Characteristics

Work may occur in an office, call-center, hospital, clinic, or patient-care environment and may involve frequent interruptions, emotionally difficult conversations, infectious-disease exposure, and urgent clinical escalation. The position may work nights, weekends, holidays, and rotating shifts to support 24/7 coverage. Department-specific exposure and personal protective equipment requirements are BLANK pending validation.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the position, in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Organizational Expectations

Culture of Safety and Quality Responsibilities

• Delivers safe, high-quality care by adhering to clinical protocols, effectively communicating, actively identifying and reporting risks, and participating in patient safety and continuous improvement efforts in alignment with SCRMC Culture of Safety and ISO-based quality principles.
• Promotes a just culture by supporting timely reporting of safety events, near misses, hazards, process failures, and operational concerns without retaliation.
• Participates in training, competency validation, safety drills, survey readiness activities, performance improvement initiatives, and corrective action processes as assigned.
• Uses appropriate communication tools and escalation pathways to protect patients, visitors, staff, and organizational operations.
• Maintains compliance with SCRMC policies, regulatory requirements, infection prevention expectations, privacy standards, and applicable quality management processes.

• Demonstrates accountability for supporting organizational goals related to safety, compliance, service excellence, stewardship, and operational performance.

Leadership Capabilities

Not applicable.