Standardization of Telephone Triage in Pediatric Oncology

Nurses in pediatric oncology are often the main resource for overwhelmed parents and deal with com-plex patient issues over the telephone but often not without concerns about best patient care, liability, and accountability for the advice given. The question is whether using standardization of telephone triage prac-tices can provide opportunities for improvement in the care of pediatric oncology patients. A review of the lit-erature pertaining to telephone triage, standardization of practice, and the practice in outpatient oncology was conducted. The utilization of easy-to-use, accessible yet nonrestrictive resources and a well-designed documen-tation tool can help guide the decision-making process while addressing legal concerns and ensuring best pos-sible patient care. An advantage that nurses in outpa-tient oncology settings have in performing telephone triage is the knowledge they have of their patient popu-lation and the disease process and treatments. Using a balanced approach to standardization of telephone triage practices can provide opportunities for improve-ments in care while still capitalizing on the intuitive knowledge and experience of the nurses involved. Key words: telephone triage, advice, pediatric oncology In this “information era, ” consumers have increasedaccess to health care and to health care profession-als via telephone, computer, or handheld devices (Omery, 2003). Telephone triage is “one of the most rapidly growing clinical practice areas ” (Rutenberg, 2000a). It is described as the process of screening and collecting a caller’s symptoms over the telephone to evaluate the urgency of a health problem and to deter-mine the most appropriate advice and treatment based on the described symptoms (Briggs, 2002; Coleman