Registered Nurse - Case Manager/Care Coordinator

Veterans Health Administration • Fayetteville, AR

6d • Onsite

About The Position

The Nurse Cancer Care Navigator Registered Nurse (RN) is responsible for executing position responsibilities that demonstrate expert leadership, experience, and creative approaches in providing complex patient management. This role provides patient management, care coordination, and disposition planning for cancer patients. The Cancer Care Navigator assists Veterans, family members, and caregivers in navigating the healthcare system to find the most appropriate options and services to meet their complex health care needs. This involves coordinating care with multiple providers across all levels and sites of care, ensuring seamless integration with Veterans Affairs (VA) and community programs for continuity of care. The role includes overseeing the patient's journey through the diagnostic and treatment continuum, ensuring timely scheduling and completion of all steps, and tracking the overall treatment plan. The Cancer Care Navigator follows select patients from the earliest suspicion of cancer through diagnosis, treatment, survivorship/surveillance, or palliation/end of life. They will interface with outside referral agencies, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards. The position requires anticipating and implementing preventive patient care measures, assessing patient status, and interpreting information to identify age-specific needs. Guidance and education are provided to patients and caregivers, with collaboration among professionals at all levels. The role addresses psychosocial, nursing, and medical needs through participation in an interdisciplinary care team, ensuring individualized and tailored plans of care. The Cancer Care Navigator reports on service needs, contributes to problem resolution, and evaluates care and outcomes for timely and appropriate service provision. They advocate for holistic care through patient/family education and provider interaction, implementing educational plans. Collaboration in policy development, implementation, evaluation, and revision is expected. Performance and leadership are demonstrated to improve care for a group of patients, with formal or informal constructive feedback provided to peers. Support for colleagues and knowledge sharing are essential for safe, quality nursing care, fostering a safe and supportive environment for professional development. Outcomes of evidence-based decisions and practice changes are evaluated for individuals, groups, and populations. Documentation of broad and complex outcomes at the program or service level is required. Maintaining competencies and certifications in oncology and infusion clinic ensures safe, evidence-based patient care, operational flexibility, and continuity of services.

Requirements

• U.S. Citizenship; non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment.
• Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
• Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents).
• Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical evaluation.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• You may be required to serve a probationary period.
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.
• English Language Proficiency. In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7403(f), no person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English.
• Graduate of a school of professional nursing approved by the appropriate accrediting agency and accredited by one of the following accrediting bodies at the time the program was completed by the applicant: The Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) or The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE); OR Individuals attending a master's level bridge program in nursing who have completed coursework equivalent to a bachelor's level degree in Nursing may have opportunity to become registered as a nurse with a state licensing board prior to completion of the bridge program. Upon achievement of a State license, the individual may be appointed on temporary basis and later converted to a permanent appointment upon successful completion and graduation from the bridge program. (Reference VA Handbook 5005, Appendix G6); OR In cases of graduates of foreign schools of professional nursing, possession of a current, full, active, and unrestricted registration will meet the requirement for graduation from an approved school of professional nursing to warrant an appointment as a Nurse who has completed an associated degree/entry level Nursing education program. Credit for foreign nursing education higher that associate degree/entry level requires a formal degree equivalency validation from a recognized equivalency evaluation accepted by VA such as International Consultants of Delaware (ICD).
• Current, full, active, and unrestricted registration as a graduate professional nurse in a State, Territory or Commonwealth (i.e., Puerto Rico) of the United States, or the District of Columbia.
• Graduate Nurse Technician (GNT) Exception: Candidates who otherwise meet the basic education requirements, but do not possess the required licensure, may be appointed at the entry step of the grade and level applicable to the completed nursing education as a GNT on a 120-day temporary appointment while actively pursuing licensure (may be extended up to two years on a case-by-case-basis.)
• Grandfathering Provision - All persons currently employed in VHA in 0610 series and performing the duties as described in the qualification standard on the effective date of the standard (1/29/2024) are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the grade held including positive education and licensure/certification.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in oncology/hematology nursing, with demonstrated expertise in cancer care navigation, care coordination, patient education, symptom management, and interdisciplinary collaboration across the continuum of cancer care.
• Using telehealth modalities for patient assessment and follow up.
• Coordinating referrals and diagnostic treatment services.
• Addressing barriers to care.
• Oncology Nursing Certification or other relevant oncology/cancer navigation certification.

Responsibilities

• Assesses, plans, implements, and evaluates care based on age specific components.
• Assumes responsibility for the coordination of care focused on patient education, self-management, and customer satisfaction throughout the continuum of care.
• Provides patient management, care coordination, and disposition planning for cancer patients.
• Assists Veterans, family members, and caregivers with receiving the most appropriate options and services to meet their complex health care needs.
• Coordinates care with multiple providers across all levels and sites of care.
• Assures services interface within the Veterans Affairs (VA) and community programs to provide continuity of care to patients.
• Provides oversight of the patient's journey through the diagnostic and treatment continuum, ensuring that all steps in the process are scheduled, timely and completed, while tracking the overall treatment plan.
• Follows select patients from the earliest suspicion of cancer through the continuum of cancer care including diagnosis, treatment, survivorship/surveillance, or palliation/end of life.
• Interfaces with outside referral agencies, and ensures that their business and clinical practices are in compliance with regulatory standards.
• Anticipates and implements preventive patient care measures.
• Possesses the ability to assess data reflective of the patient's status and interpret the appropriate information needed to identify each patient's requirements relative to their age-specific needs, providing care as considered necessary.
• Provides guidance and education to patients and caregivers and collaborates with other professionals at all levels.
• Addresses psychosocial, as well as nursing and medical needs of patients and their families/caregivers, through participation with the interdisciplinary care team.
• Ensures the plan of care and educational requirements are individualized and tailored specifically to support each individual patient's needs.
• Reports status of service needs and contributes to problem resolution and modification of processes as necessary.
• Evaluates care and outcomes to ensure timely and appropriate provision of services.
• Advocates for holistic care through patient/family education and provider interaction and implements an educational plan to meet the patient care needs.
• Collaborates in the development, implementation, evaluation, and revision of policies, procedures, and/or guidelines.
• Demonstrates performance and leadership that is broad enough to improve the care for a group of patients.
• Provides peers with formal or informal constructive feedback for improvement.
• Supports colleagues and other nurses through knowledge sharing to provide safe, quality nursing care.
• Fosters a safe and supportive environment conducive to the professional development of health care professionals.
• Evaluates outcomes of evidence-based decisions and practice changes for individuals, groups, and populations.
• Responsible for the documenting broad and complex outcomes at the program or service level, that can be demonstrated at any organizational level within a facility.
• Maintains and demonstrates competencies and necessary certifications in both oncology and infusion clinic to ensure safe, evidence-based patient care, operational flexibility and continuity of services.

Benefits

• Competitive salary
• Regular salary increases
• Potential for performance awards
• 50 days of paid time off per year (26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)
• Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting)
• Federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA
• Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)
• 1 full and unrestricted license from any US State or territory

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Associate degree