Registered Nurse – Clinical Triage

Harbor Health  |  Clinical Operations  |  Full-Time

About Harbor Health

At Harbor Health, we're transforming healthcare in Texas through collaboration and innovation. As an integrated payvider — combining a comprehensive medical group with a modern health plan — we're building something different: a care model that puts members at the center of everything we do. If you're ready to make a meaningful impact in a dynamic, mission-driven environment, we want to hear from you.

Position Overview

Harbor Health is seeking a compassionate, detail-oriented, and clinically strong Registered Nurse to join our centralized clinical triage team. In this role, you'll use your nursing judgment, evidence-based protocols, and clinical decision-support tools to assess patient symptoms, determine appropriate dispositions, provide patient education, and escalate urgent concerns — all in support of a seamless, safe patient experience across our Texas markets.

Key Responsibilities

Clinical Triage & Queue Management

• Monitor assigned Athena and Twilio work queues according to established priority rules
• Manage live and non-live triage requests, including patient calls, portal messages, clinic requests, refill-related symptom concerns, and other routed clinical concerns
• Match calls and tasks to the correct Athena patient case; identify duplicate, incomplete, or misrouted cases
• Prioritize work based on clinical urgency, patient safety risk, and approved workflow standards

Nursing Assessment & Disposition

• Conduct clinical assessments of patient symptoms, history, current condition, and reported concerns
• Use approved triage protocols, clinical decision-support tools, and nursing judgment to determine appropriate care recommendations
• Confirm key patient information including chief complaint, symptom onset, patient location, and callback number
• Identify red flags, worsening symptoms, high-risk presentations, or unclear clinical scenarios requiring escalation
• Determine appropriate triage outcomes: emergency care, same-day care, routine follow-up, home care guidance, or provider escalation

Patient Education & Care Coordination

• Provide clear, understandable patient education aligned with approved clinical protocols
• Communicate return precautions, safety-net instructions, and guidance for the appropriate care setting
• Direct patients to the right resource — Emergency Department, Express Care, PCP visit, virtual visit, or follow-up appointment
• Support closed-loop follow-up to reduce missed handoffs and improve continuity of care
• Coordinate with clinic teams, providers, care management, and administrative support staff as needed

Documentation & Data Management

• Document triage encounters accurately and objectively in Athena using approved macros, workflow tags, and standardized fields
• Record clinical assessment findings, protocol used, triage disposition, patient education, escalation, and follow-up actions
• Document unsuccessful contact attempts and unresolved safety concerns per approved workflow
• Maintain confidentiality and comply with Harbor Health policies, privacy regulations, and HIPAA requirements

Escalation & Patient Safety

Escalate immediately for: severe, worsening, or unclear symptoms; emergency symptoms or safety threats; patients declining urgent care; unreachable patients with urgent symptoms; and high-risk presentations including chest pain, shortness of breath, neurologic symptoms, severe bleeding, syncope, altered mental status, suicidal ideation, abuse, or neglect.

Quality Improvement & Workflow Support

• Participate in workflow, escalation, documentation, and quality improvement activities
• Identify workflow barriers, routing issues, duplicate cases, scheduling gaps, technology concerns, and patient access issues
• Collaborate with the Lead Triage Nurse and leadership to support reliable, scalable triage operations

Required Qualifications

• Active, unencumbered Registered Nurse license in Texas or compact state privilege
• Minimum of 3–5 years of clinical nursing experience
• Experience in ambulatory care, primary care, urgent care, emergency department, telephone triage, or care coordination
• Strong clinical assessment, critical thinking, and prioritization skills
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Proficiency with EHR systems and basic computer skills
• Ability to remain calm, professional, and empathetic during urgent or high-pressure situations

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Athena, Twilio, ClearTriage, Schmitt-Thompson protocols, or centralized triage workflows
• Bilingual skills preferred based on patient population needs
• Flexibility to support varied shifts, weekends, holidays, or after-hours workflows as needed

Harbor Health is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all teammates.