The AAACN vision of telehealth nursing practice (TNP) has expanded from the initial telephone triage to telehealth nursing to accommodate changes in practice.
However, telephone triage remains a current and significant form of telehealth nursing as it is practiced today.
Even with the rapidly increasing use of other technology, the discussion content of our telehealth community clearly demonstrates a priority focus on telephone triage.
AAACN’s Telephone Triage Course Task Force is in the process of updating and revising content from member Carol Rutenberg’s highly-regarded telephone triage seminar and developing AAACN’s own online telephone triage nursing course.
Expected to be available for purchase in 2022, the completed Telephone Triage Course will provide in-depth and comprehensive education in telephone triage through the AAACN Online Library.
Module 1 is Now Available for Free!
Module 1: Telephone Triage: What is it? Essentials of Safe Care of AAACN’s new Telephone Triage Course is now available for free to anyone in the Online Library – we’re offering you a risk-free opportunity to experience the format of the Course and the type of education it will offer.
Module 1 provides the foundation for the course and prepares you to defend telephone triage as professional nursing practice.
After completing this module, you’ll be prepared to:
- Explain telephone triage as it relates to professional nursing and telehealth
- Describe telephone triage, what it is, and what it is not
- Identify critical elements of telephone triage required for safe care delivery
- Recognize the impact of misconceptions related to telephone triage process and practices
Telehealth (known also as telemedicine) refers to all health services delivered across distance via technology; Many disciplines provide telehealth services (e.g., medicine, radiology, nursing).
Telephone triage is a unique and valuable nursing service and component of telehealth.
The Telephone Triage Course will be available for purchase in 2022.
The Course will feature 13 modules, covering the following topics, as well as a summary/conclusion module:
- Telephone Triage: What is it? Essentials of Safe Care
- Telephone Triage as Nursing Practice: Basic Standards
- Other Standards: Regulatory, Professional, Accreditation
- Legal Pitfalls and Practice Imperatives
- Organizational Standards: Program Design & Implementation: Access, Call Flow, Staffing
- Critical Thinking & Competency: The Model of the Care Delivery in TNP
- Decision Making in Conditions of Uncertainty
- Communication in Telephone Triage
- Systematic Assessment
- Clinical Pearls
- Clinical Decision Support Tools
- Documentation
The Course will feature traditional and interactive content, engaging learners in various ways as they hear from our Telephone Triage experts.
The Telephone Triage Course Task Force and National Office staff are hard at work, recording voiceover content, perfecting interactive content, and creating activities for the Course. Updates will be shared here as they become available.