What does a triage register nurse do?
A triage register nurse works at a hospital's emergency room where they are in charge of providing immediate care and assistance to patients who are usually in life-threatening conditions. Part of their job is to assess the patients' needs and symptoms, regularly check on the patients who are in the waiting areas, assist patients towards corresponding facilities, and sort priority groups according to guidelines. There are also instances when a triage nurse must initiate urgent treatment or receive calls, maintaining an active communication line with fellow nurses and staff for an efficient workflow.
Triage register nurse responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real triage register nurse resumes:
- Manage surgical recovery patients including vascular, ENT, GI urological and neurological cases, coronary bypass surgery patients.
- Leverage a comprehensive network of community resources to provide patients with referrals to external service providers.
- Assist in maintaining and updating OSHA and MSDS information logs.
- Ensure regulatory compliance to JCAHO standards, HCFA and OSHA compliance; validate by surveys.
- Train to perform venipuncture for necessary blood tests
- Order and obtain blood laboratory specimens through venipuncture.
- Provide telephonic nursing assessment of injure workers using national telephonic triage protocols.
- Collect and provide assessment information to the hospice interdisciplinary team for continue ongoing patient care.
- Provide sound, ethical and independent decision-making ability consistent with medical protocols during telephone and face-to-face triage of patients.
- Provide project leadership for facility implementations of clinical EMR to ensure accuracy of data abstraction for quality core measures.
- Facilitate communication between specialists in neurology, neurosurgery, radiation, oncology, medical oncology, facial plastics, and others.
- Provide community education programs/exhibitions relate to acute rehabilitation hospital criteria.
- Conduct NST monitoring, fetal heart tones and phlebotomy.
- Assist MD in performing physical examinations including well-adult, well-adolescent, well-child, well-baby and GYN exams.
- Full understanding of HIPPA compliance.
Triage register nurse skills and personality traits
We calculated that 31% of Triage Register Nurses are proficient in Patients, Home Health, and Triage RN. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Compassion, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Triage Register Nurses that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 31%
Provided sound, ethical and independent decision-making ability consistent with medical protocols during telephone and face-to-face triage of patients.
- Home Health, 8%
Weekend Triage Phone Nurse duties of answering patient calls, intake referrals, communicating with local hospitals, and home health/hospice staff
- Triage RN, 5%
Employed as triage RN for the treatment of medical and psychiatric symptoms of inmates.
- Patient Education, 4%
Provided patient education regarding symptoms and implemented follow up emergency plans for worsening symptoms.
- Telephone Triage, 3%
Provide distant patient and professional consultation and education, telephone triage and advice and other applications.
- Primary Care, 3%
Collaborated with primary care physician to administer applicable interventions.
"patients," "home health," and "triage rn" are among the most common skills that triage register nurses use at work. You can find even more triage register nurse responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a triage register nurse to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "registered nurses must be able to communicate effectively with patients in order to understand their concerns and evaluate their health conditions." Triage register nurses often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "facilitate communication between members of the clinic healthcare team and emergency room staff to establish a plan of care. "
Compassion. Another essential skill to perform triage register nurse duties is compassion. Triage register nurses responsibilities require that "registered nurses should be caring and empathetic when working with patients." Triage register nurses also use compassion in their role according to a real resume snippet: "convey compassion to all patients and their families regardless of their concerns and adhere to excellent patient care triage standards. "
Detail oriented. triage register nurses are also known for detail oriented, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to triage register nurse responsibilities, because "registered nurses must be precise because they must ensure that patients get the correct treatments and medicines at the right time." A triage register nurse resume example shows how detail oriented is used in the workplace: "oriented staff rns and clerks to centramax program for telephone triage. "
Emotional stability. For certain triage register nurse responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "emotional stability." The day-to-day duties of a triage register nurse rely on this skill, as "registered nurses need emotional resilience and the ability to cope with human suffering, emergencies, and other stressors." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what triage register nurses do: "provide physical, emotional, and social needs to family members as well as patients. "
Organizational skills. Another common skill required for triage register nurse responsibilities is "organizational skills." This skill comes up in the duties of triage register nurses all the time, as "nurses often work with multiple patients who have a variety of health needs." An excerpt from a real triage register nurse resume shows how this skill is central to what a triage register nurse does: "utilized effective organizational skills to coordinate surgery schedules at four separate hospitals. "
Physical stamina. While "physical stamina" is last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to triage register nurse responsibilities. Much of what a triage register nurse does relies on this skill, seeing as "nurses should be comfortable performing physical tasks, such as lifting patients." Here is a resume example of how this skill is used in the everyday duties of triage register nurses: "performed patient assessments, vital signs, assisted in completing sports physicals. "
The three companies that hire the most triage register nurses are:
- Carle Foundation240 triage register nurses jobs
- Interim HealthCare129 triage register nurses jobs
- Regional West70 triage register nurses jobs
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Compare different triage register nurses
Triage register nurse vs. Nurse
Nurses are medical professionals assigned to a specific department in the hospital and provide their trusted department services. Nurses are in charge of taking patients' medical histories, getting vital signs, preparing patients for checkups or procedures, explaining upcoming practices, answering any questions, and communicating any concerns to the assigned doctor. Nurses should ensure that patients follow the medical advice given to them. They also assist patients in completing administrative requirements, such as filling out forms, validating details, and endorsing payments.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a triage register nurse are more likely to require skills like "triage rn," "telephone triage," "phone triage," and "urgent care." On the other hand, a job as a nurse requires skills like "cpr," "bls," "acute care," and "discharge planning." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Nurses really shine in the government industry with an average salary of $63,263. Comparatively, triage register nurses tend to make the most money in the health care industry with an average salary of $69,032.nurses tend to reach similar levels of education than triage register nurses. In fact, nurses are 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.4% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Triage register nurse vs. Staff nurse
Staff nurses are registered nurses who are usually assigned to work in a care home, a company, or in a clinical setting. They advise the physical assessments of patients, employees, and residents. They also handle the checking of vital signs, providing basic medical procedures, giving first aid, and, if possible, providing over the counter medication. Staff nurses provide medical attention to the people in their place of assignment. They help pave the path to their patients' full recovery. Staff nurses are expected to be patient and have good interpersonal skills.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real triage register nurse resumes. While triage register nurse responsibilities can utilize skills like "home health," "triage rn," "telephone triage," and "test results," staff nurses use skills like "bls," "cpr," "acute care," and "patient safety."
Staff nurses earn a higher average salary than triage register nurses. But staff nurses earn the highest pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $58,739. Additionally, triage register nurses earn the highest salaries in the health care with average pay of $69,032 annually.staff nurses earn similar levels of education than triage register nurses in general. They're 1.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.4% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for triage register nurses in the next 3-5 years?
Lisa Rebeschi Ph.D.
Associate Dean of the School of Nursing Professor of Nursing, Quinnipiac University
Triage register nurse vs. Pediatric nurse
A pediatric nurse is a registered nurse who offers medical and health care for children in hospitals and clinics. Pediatric nurses educate caregivers and parents on the effective methods of child health protection. They take care of children's health from birth to adolescence. They are experts in child care while they are working with their respective families to address their problems, fears, concerns, and other options. The necessary skills for this job include child development knowledge and communication skills.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a triage register nurse is likely to be skilled in "triage rn," "quality care," "test results," and "urgent care," while a typical pediatric nurse is skilled in "bls," "acute care," "cpr," and "picu."
Pediatric nurses earn the highest salary when working in the health care industry, where they receive an average salary of $64,106. Comparatively, triage register nurses have the highest earning potential in the health care industry, with an average salary of $69,032.pediatric nurses typically earn similar educational levels compared to triage register nurses. Specifically, they're 0.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Triage register nurse vs. Head nurse
Types of triage register nurse
Updated January 8, 2025
