Re: Telephone Triage
I (and 30 others) attended an excellent telephone *workshop* (Don't like
the name, but it wasn't a lecture and we did have to write things on
paper) in connection with our Co-op last night.
Presented by ? John Grace - chairman of Meddoc, it resulted in a set of
safety criteria which could be used as a check for each telephone
consultation, whether by nurse or doctor.
Each should have: Introduction
Ellicit reason for call
Gather further information
Discuss conclusions with patient
Agree course of action
Leave door open....(safety nets etc.)
Yes, it looks rather like a consultation model of sorts, which of course
it is, but there are differences and the role the doctor or nurse here
is not the same as during the day - it is, presumably, to decide whether
something needs to be done *now* or whether it can wait till normal
hours. But in many ways the history taken needs to be more extensive
than a *normal* history.
The point was made that nurses may do some things better than doctors -
in particular they can be more *caring* and overtly sympathetic - which
rang true as the night before I had been told by a patient of my own
"you aren't very nice to people who are ill out of hours are you?"
My apologies to the patient, and perhaps I should try to be... but then
the patients are often not *nice* to us!
It did raise the point of the call slips being designed along theselines
so as to be a safe record... anybody know of such?
KT
--
Katie Law
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