Palliative Care Coordinator - Physician Practice

Hackensack Meridian Health•North Bergen, NJ

4d•Onsite

About The Position

The Palliative Care Coordinator provides psycho-social support to palliative care patients through the palliative care services consult team. Applies knowledge of psycho-social care in support of hospital quality improvement initiatives.

Requirements

Bachelors degree in nursing, social work or related field.
Minimum of 3 years experience working with patients with chronic and life threatening illnesses required.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
Demonstrated knowledge about home care, palliative care, hospice and advance care planning, and discharge planning.
Board certified in Palliative Medicine within one year of hire.
NJ State Professional Registered Nurse License or NJ Licensed Social Worker or NJ Licensed Clinical Social Worker.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in nursing, social work or related field.
Knowledge of palliative care interventions strongly preferred.
Basic skills in outcomes research strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Performs/documents psychosocial assessment.
Assists the palliative care team and/or directly facilitates patient-family meetings for goal setting and care planning.
Provides liaison function between palliative care team and hospital quality improvement, discharge planning, and social service departments as well as community hospice, home care agencies, long-term care facilities and other community services as needed.
Follows up with other medical specialists involved in patients' care to maintain coordination with palliative care interventions.
Attends weekly palliative care interdisciplinary rounds, the monthly Palliative Care Committee and periodic team meetings for the operational and administrative functions of the palliative care service.
Coordinates educational and outreach services relevant to the social service-palliative care interface.
Adheres to Joint Commission Standards as related to DSC for Advanced Palliative Care.
Maintains data for research purposes so that we may assess outcomes and utilize outcome data to modify our procedures to enhance patients' and families' comfort and adjustment.
Identifies the needs of the patient population served and modifies and delivers care that is specific to those needs (i.e., age, culture, language, hearing and/or visually impaired, etc.). This process includes communicating with the patient, parent, and/or primary caregiver(s) at their level (developmental/age, educational, literacy, etc.).
Adheres to the standards identified in the Medical Center's Organizational Competencies.