Knowledge, experience and gut feeling – The telephone triage nurse
12-12-2024 -Marije has been working as a triage nurse at the TriageCenter of Dokterswacht Friesland for many years. The place where all the phone calls come in from all residents of Friesland who urgently need a GP in the evening, night, weekend or on a holiday.
“It often happens that people insist on being seen by a GP, while I don’t think that’s necessary. When I hear that the GP at the emergency room assessed the situation the same as I did, I think: ‘You see, I can rely on my knowledge, experience and gut feeling’. If you have a lot of angry people on the phone, you can get quite touched. While we are all thoroughly educated; I don’t think people realize that”.
Always be ‘on’
In addition to her job at Dokterswacht, Marije is also a doctor’s assistant in a general practice. To an outsider, that work may seem the same, but Marije mentions two major differences: at Dokterswacht you don’t know the patients and you have to deal with an emergency situation much more often (as it should be). That is why it is special work, she thinks: “It goes in all directions; much more than in general practice. One moment someone calls with a heavily bleeding wound, the next moment a sports injury and then you call the family member of someone who has just died at home. It is constantly switching and always being ‘on’“. Every phone call she has to be sharp again, dropping a stitch can have nasty consequences. Marije knows how to deal with that pressure. She talks to colleagues after a heavy phone call and can then get it off her chest.
Those intense phone calls can take all kinds of forms. “I once had a mother on the phone whose child had very vague (at first sight harmless) complaints. I had a bad feeling and had the child assessed by the General Practitioner. It turned out afterwards that leukemia had been diagnosed… Those are really intense things. It gives me a satisfied feeling that I have acted well and can rely on my expertise”.
Reassuring people
It is common for people to become emotional or angry. Often that is when they call for someone else: a mother of a young child or an adult man for his sick elderly father. For 7 out of 10 callers, a visit to the General Practitioner is not necessary, because there are no emergency complaints. They can wait safely and securely until their own GP is back.
Some people don’t accept that. Marije: “They want to help themselves or someone else, which is of course very good, and get angry and frustrated. I think they feel powerless. “I hear every day: If my child is dead, it will be your fault”. That touches me, because I am also a person with feelings. But I also know that I am right because of my knowledge, experience and gut feeling. If advice is needed, I see it as an important task to reassure people.
Marije can imagine what it’s like: “Young children are not yet able to tell what they feel and why they cry. Parents can be very worried and it is nice for them to get my advice. I know what to look out for and am alert and trained to recognize alarming symptoms.
Marije continues: “It is very nice that as a triage nurse I can reassure most people and refer them to the General Practitioner if necessary. That gives a lot of satisfaction and I can focus on that.
It is just very special and rewarding work!”.