RN Cardiothoracic Surgery Navigator

Riverside Hospital•Newport News, VA

8d•Onsite

About The Position

The Cardiothoracic Surgery Nurse Navigator is a registered professional nurse with clinical expertise who functions under the direction of the Cardiovascular Service Line Administrator and Quality Director and Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery. This role serves as an advocate, educator, and facilitator of care for the Cardiothoracic Surgery patient and their family throughout the continuum of care. This includes the point of initial consultation, preoperative preparation, admission, hospital stay, and postoperative evaluation. Responsibilities include assessing the patient's individualized diagnosis, comorbidities, medications, and procedures to provide patient and family education and counseling for optimal cardiothoracic surgery and recovery. The Navigator collaborates with providers and the clinical team on patient needs, barriers, and assessment changes, and coordinates care with case management to facilitate follow-up appointments, post-acute needs, and specialty/subspecialty consults. Post-discharge, the Navigator contacts the patient to reinforce discharge instructions, medication adherence, and follow-up appointment adherence. The RN Navigator acts as a clinical role model, educator, and liaison for the cardiothoracic surgery team, hospital staff, and community, collaborating with providers and leadership to promote improved patient outcomes.

Requirements

Bachelors Degree, Nursing (Required)
2 years Cardiology clinical experience (Required)
Registered Nurse (RN) - Virginia Department of Health Professions (VDHP) (Required)
CPR/BLS Certification - American Heart Association/American Red Cross/American Safety and Health Institute (AHA/ARC) within 30 Days (Required)

Nice To Haves

1 year Cardiothoracic Surgery clinical experience (Preferred)
Cardiac Vascular Nursing Certification (CV-BC) within 1 Year (Preferred)

Responsibilities

Schedule procedure and pre-procedure diagnostic workup and follow up.
Participate in patient calls to review preprocedural testing results, provide preprocedural education, medication instructions, and accurate documentation of all interactions.
Participate in evaluation of the patient’s progress towards surgical clearance and updates the Advance Practice Provider / Physician as needed.
Facilitate the review of preprocedural testing results by the provider care team in a timely manner prior to surgery.
Assess data and records to identify timeliness of scheduling.
Investigate alternative options with the Advance Practice Provider / Physician and arrange for a more appropriate, urgent schedule as needed.
Coordinate appointment scheduling and collaborate with case management, as needed, to ensure quality patient care.
Educate patient regarding protocols for tests/appointments.
Demonstrate knowledge of, and appropriately refer patients to appropriate community resources for support and assistance.
Provide postoperative phone calls to discharged patients to reduce adverse events, ER evaluations, readmissions, and ensure proper and timely postoperative follow up.
Communicate any abnormal findings and concerns to the APP/MD in a timely manner.
Monitor the triage of patient phone calls and concerns, ensuring pertinent, urgent, and emergent issues are brought to the attention of the APP/MD.
Respond to Epic inbox messages (personal Epic inbox, as well as shared inboxes from other key team members when applicable).
Maintain and update pertinent clinical data items for each patient enrolled in the Cardiothoracic Surgery Program, as it relates to STS registries.
Identify and track quality indicators specific to the cardiothoracic surgery population.
Identify opportunities to improve documentation of preoperative risks.
Ensure standardized quality indicators are tracked and analyzed across the Cardiothoracic Surgery Program.
Facilitate multidisciplinary staff participation in quality management and program leadership.
Attend CTS Quality meetings and other committee meetings (VCSQI, STS Webinars, Registry Meetings) as appropriate.
Actively work with CTS team to identify, plan, promote, and implement process improvement and quality initiatives, including but not limited to appropriate education and awareness.
Assist with the evaluation of patient care outcomes for individual patients and groupings of patients.
Identify, suggest, and support changes within the area to improve overall patient care outcomes.
Provide consultation and education to healthcare providers and the system.
Round with the team on cardiac surgery inpatients.
Support patient and family in transfer of care outside of system.
Coordinate re-entry to RHS for follow-up care.
Serve as a contact for the family and care team while patient is under the care of a referral center.
Meet monthly with team from University of Virginia to review outcomes associated with transferred patients, review the experience of transferred patients, and suggest system improvements to ease the transfer of patients to University of Virginia.