Many of the vendors who provide the computerized programs for facilities also have educational offerings to help nurses stay current and increase their working knowledge of the system's capabilities. See the listings in Continuing Education Programs at the end of the article for further information. Each call center has its own orientation period. Most centers will start a new employee off by having them spend a certain number of hours simply listening to their preceptors as they handle their calls throughout their shift. A dual headset is used so that the new employee can hear how the nurse assesses the client over the phone and obtains the needed information.
Computer literacy is also a major portion of the orientation.
Prior proficiency with computers, for example Windows98 by Microsoft, is a benefit to the nurse interested in becoming a triage nurse. Those call centers using computerized programs for triage, will require a new hire to spend several hours in becoming comfortable with the programs. Triage nurses need to be able to maneuver through a computer program while talking with a patient on the phone and entering all the required data, skills which take some time and practice to acquire. If the call center offers both phone advice lines and telephone triage, the new hire will usually start off with answering the advice line, which is more general and non-urgent in nature. Once their skill and confidence level increases, they would then be ready to answer the more demanding calls involved with triage.