Safety

Tips for selecting a referral nurse

Ambulatory Safety Monitor, March 30, 2006

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If your center is having problems following up with and contacting patients who were sent for referral to another healthcare provider, consider making a licensed nurse a referral nurse.

Keep the following tips in mind:

  • Select a nurse who is highly skilled with computers and administrative tasks to focus on referrals full-time
  • Outline what must be included in a referral and educate the referral nurse about what the center's policy expects of the position
  • Give the referral nurse a separate space (e.g., an office) in which to work so he or she is not distracted
  • Cross-train the referral nurse's job with someone else (e.g., a QI coordinator) so referrals are always maintained and patients don't slip through the cracks



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