Bereavement Coordinator

EverTrue • Brentwood, MO

6d • $27 - $43

About The Position

The Bereavement Coordinator provides bereavement and social services assistance to hospice patients and their families. The role oversees bereavement programming and provides education, support, counseling, crisis intervention, and community resources to patients, families, staff, and community members. The coordinator assesses psychosocial and bereavement needs, participates in interdisciplinary care planning, and helps patients and families navigate changes in care, safety, and end-of-life planning.

The position also involves documenting services in the medical record system, coordinating with physicians and interdisciplinary teams, supporting discharge planning, and serving as a liaison with community agencies. Work includes travel into the community, where weather conditions and potentially unsafe environments may be encountered. The role requires managing the physical and emotional demands of working with acutely, chronically, and terminally ill patients.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree.
• Ability to follow instructions from physicians, nursing supervisors, and other professional staff.
• Ability to communicate effectively with managers, patients, families, and coworkers.
• Ability to assess home safety for oneself, patients, and other staff, including physical and psychological dangers.
• Ability to cope effectively with patients, families, and others from varied backgrounds, socioeconomic conditions, and value systems.
• Computer skills and excellent communication skills.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality of patient and family information, discussing care-related information only with people directly involved in the patient’s care and treatment.
• Ability to meet the physical demands of the assignment, including standing, walking, using hands, talking, hearing, sitting, reaching, stooping, kneeling, crouching, crawling, and occasionally climbing or balancing.
• Corrected vision and hearing within normal range, manual dexterity, and normal range of motion in all extremities.
• Ability to maintain objectivity while coping with the stress of working with acutely, chronically, and terminally ill patients.
• Ability to enter data into an EMR system and read normal typewritten print.

Nice To Haves

• Prior experience with a Medicare hospice program.
• Participation in community agency activities.

Responsibilities

• Oversee all aspects of the bereavement program, including mailings, phone calls, memorial services, and bereavement visits.
• Provide bereavement education and support to hospice patients and family members, as well as community members and other individuals who request assistance.
• Respond to emergent situations involving bereavement counseling.
• Develop and present bereavement-related programming based on community and hospice program needs.
• Plan and participate in group memorial services for staff, bereaved people, and the community.
• Participate in interdisciplinary team meetings to assess bereavement needs and establish a bereavement plan of care.
• Plan and facilitate a community grief support group.
• Assess counseling needs, including risk for pathological grief.
• Assess emotional factors related to terminal illness, caregiver ability to function, culturally specific needs, and patient and family responses to psychosocial interventions.
• Help physicians and interdisciplinary team members recognize and understand social or mental stressors and disorders that exacerbate terminal illness symptoms.
• Assess patient and family psychosocial status, risk of suicide, abuse or neglect, family dynamics, and communication patterns.
• Participate in developing and revising plans of care, follow physician orders, involve patients and families in care planning, and assess environmental resources and safety obstacles.
• Provide short-term individual counseling, crisis intervention, assistance with advance directives and funeral planning, and support with transferring fiscal, legal, and healthcare decision-making responsibilities.
• Use the medical record software system on a laptop or agency desktop to document patient care, beginning documentation in the patient’s home when appropriate and completing it after the visit.
• Prepare clinical and progress notes and submit them according to agency policy.
• Identify appropriate community resources and assess patients’ and families’ ability to access them.
• Educate patients and families about social service issues, including long-term placement, financial issues, and funeral planning.
• Identify support systems that can reduce stress and facilitate coping with end-of-life care.
• Evaluate long-term care needs when appropriate, assess the ability to accept a change in level of care, and communicate psychosocial information to inpatient facilities when the level of care changes.
• Identify patient and family needs upon discharge or a change in level of care.
• Serve as a liaison between patients or families and community agencies.
• Participate in discharge planning.
• Participate in interdisciplinary care team meetings and assist with developing and reviewing care plans, admissions, and discharges.
• Provide educational programs to staff and the community.

Benefits

• Paid Time Off (PTO) and PTO sell-back.
• Retirement savings benefits with an employer match contribution.
• Education financial assistance.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
• Wellness benefits.
• Pay advances (PayActiv).
• Caregiver support (TCARE).
• Leaves of absence.
• Special retail deals and discounts (Perkspot).
• Commuter support.
• Extended Sick Pay for part-time, full-time, and Weekend Option employees.
• Bereavement Pay for part-time, full-time, and Weekend Option employees.
• Jury Duty Pay for part-time, full-time, and Weekend Option employees.
• Medical and pharmacy coverage for full-time or Weekend Option employees.
• Dental insurance for full-time or Weekend Option employees.
• Vision insurance for full-time or Weekend Option employees.
• Flexible Spending Accounts for healthcare and dependent care for full-time or Weekend Option employees.
• Life insurance for full-time or Weekend Option employees.
• Short-term and long-term disability coverage for full-time or Weekend Option employees.
• Voya income protection benefits, including hospital, critical illness, and accident coverage, for full-time or Weekend Option employees.
• Pet insurance for full-time or Weekend Option employees.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time