What Is a Call Center Nurse and How to Become One
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What Do Call Center Nurses Do?
As a call center nurse, your duties are to answer incoming patient calls at a call center, review their symptoms, and provide an initial assessment of their health issue based on the information provided. You then recommend a course of action, which may include referring them to an emergency room, a primary care physician, or another specialist. You may also provide callers with additional resources, such as educational materials or references to community health agencies. Another aspect of this job is documenting each call in detail, including your recommendations to the patient. A closely related job is a telephone triage nurse who has similar responsibilities but often works in a hospital, doctor’s office, an urgent care clinic, or even from home to answer patients’ calls and assist physicians with nursing duties when possible.
How to Become a Call Center Nurse
To become a call center nurse, you need to complete the same requirements that you would to become a regular nurse. This means completing either an associate or bachelor’s degree program in nursing and passing the NCLEX-RN exam to become a registered nurse. Once you are registered, there are no additional educational qualifications, although many call center or telephone triage nurses have certification from the American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing. It’s critical to develop excellent listening and verbal communication skills for this job. You must be able to keep calm in potentially stressful situations and utilize your critical-thinking skills to assess each call promptly.
