SUSAN MASON, RN, BSN, Advice line nurse

• Job: Advice line nurse, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

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Photos by BARRY WILLIAMS / Special

Advice line nurse Susan Mason likes working out of her bedroom at home.

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CHOA Advice-Line nurse Suzanne Mason, RN, BSN, works out of her bedroom at home providing advice to residents of Georgia or non-residents traveling through the state.

• What I do: “I use my nursing skills and judgment to help parents care for their sick children. Our line is available 24/7, and we take calls — many within 30 seconds — for about 600 pediatrician offices.

“Using established protocols that we can override using our nursing judgment, we assess and do phone triage with parents and advise them what to do. Sometimes we can offer remedies and assurance; sometimes they need to call their doctor, call 911 or go to an emergency room.

“Calls are routed through a customer resource specialist to me at home. When I login for work, my phone and computer are connected to CHOA’s system. I can talk with my supervisor, callers and see charts on the screen.”

• What got me interested in this: “I had hospital and home-health nursing experience, but with five children, I needed a flexible schedule. I fell into CHOA’s advice line because I could work from home and after 5 p.m.

“I love to talk, have an outgoing personality and get to use my professional nursing skills, so this job was perfect.”

• Best part of my job: “Being able to help parents take the best care of their kids, whether it’s to put a child with whooping cough in a shower to alleviate symptoms immediately, or [to] call 911 because of a life-threatening allergic reaction.”

• Most challenging part: “Often, parents are upset and frustrated from not being able to get through to their doctor. They may have talked to others before getting to the advice line.

“It’s my job to turn their experience around, to calm them down and to help them have a good outcome. For me, that’s very rewarding.”

• What people don’t know about my job: “How busy we are. I may take six to seven calls an hour and work a 12-hour shift. My door is shut and the children know not to make any noise.

“You develop hyper-listening skills. I can be talking to a parent and hear a child wheezing in the background. All of that information goes into my assessment.”

• What keeps me going: “I enjoy being able to help other parents and to have a job that lets me have a home life. I am constantly learning new things and increasing my practical nursing skills.”

• Preparation needed: “You need to be an experienced registered nurse and have excellent phone and customer-service skills. We constantly upgrade protocols, based on our experience and nursing judgment.”

• Salary range in Georgia: $18 to $34 an hour, depending on experience and certifications.

— By Laura Raines, Pulse editor. Got an interesting job that you love? E-mail your story to pulseeditor@ajc.com.