Reading Skills for Healthcare Workers

Phone Manners at Work

Nurse assistants have many duties. Their duties might include answering and talking on the phone. Make sure you know how to use the telephone system at your workplace. You will need to know how to call someone, how to answer, how to put someone on hold, and how to transfer a call to another person’s phone line.

If answering the phone is one of your duties, be polite and professional. Always identify your place of work, your name, and your position such as “Hartford Hospital, East Unit. This is Alison Moore, CNA, speaking.” Then ask how you can help the person calling. Say, “How may I help you?” When you are calling someone from your workplace, identify yourself right away. Say, “Hello, this is Alison Moore from Hartford Hospital.” Then tell the person what you are calling about.

Sometimes you may need to put a caller on hold. Make sure that the caller is only on hold for a minute or less. If the wait is longer, go back on the line and tell the caller that the wait will be longer. Offer to take a message, and write down exactly what he or she says. If you don’t understand everything the caller says, ask him or her to repeat the message. Make sure to deliver the message right away. If you need to transfer a call, make sure you know the extension of the person the caller needs to reach.

When you are talking on the phone and taking messages at work, don’t forget about the privacy laws of your workplace. Patients’ private health matters should not be discussed over the phone unless you are permitted to do so by your supervisor.

Your patients and coworkers will appreciate the professional and polite way you use the phone at work.