RN Educator, Nephrology

ChenMed•Decatur, GA

6d•$76,732 - $109,617•Onsite

About The Position

The Patient Educator, Specialty (RN) collaborates with medical practitioners and leaders to incorporate chronic disease education into care plans for a specialized patient population. The role promotes and facilitates disease education with patients and their families to support active involvement in care and care decisions, improve health outcomes, increase patient engagement, and reduce hospital and emergency room admissions. The educator also provides direct specialty nursing services as needed and ensures compliance with applicable regulatory standards, policies, procedures, and guidelines. The position coordinates care among primary care physicians, community specialists, vendors, hospitals, transitional care teams, and case management. It monitors chronic disease program performance across multiple medical centers, identifies opportunities and gaps, and contributes to quality improvement strategies and patient education program development. Education is individualized to patients’ cultural, religious, emotional, language, physical, cognitive, and learning needs. The role documents services according to internal policies and external requirements, builds relationships with stakeholders, and may perform other duties as assigned by the manager.

Requirements

Valid, active RN license; a Nursing Compact license is preferred.
At least 3 years of dialysis experience.
Teaching or training experience; clinical or patient education experience is preferred.
Basic Life Support (BLS) certification.
Strong business acumen and acuity.
Excellent knowledge of general nursing and nursing education functions, practices, processes, procedures, techniques, and methods.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
Ability to gather, analyze, and interpret information.
Strong customer service orientation.
Ability to work across multiple centers of expertise and with stakeholders at different levels.
Ability to identify problems and recommend solutions.
Ability to establish priorities and coordinate work activities.
Detail orientation.
Ability to work effectively independently and as part of a team.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite products, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, as well as database and presentation software.
Ability and willingness to travel locally, regionally, and nationwide up to 40% of the time.
Fluency in spoken and written English.
Ability to use and exercise independent judgment.

Nice To Haves

Nursing Compact license.
Clinical or patient education teaching/training experience.
Experience working with geriatric patients.
Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) or similar nursing certification.

Responsibilities

Provide chronic disease education to a specific patient population and coordinate care among primary care physicians, community specialists, vendor services, and hospitals.
Monitor chronic disease program performance across multiple medical centers; identify gaps and implement improvements in patient and quality outcomes.
Assist in developing strategies for quality improvement and disease-education management.
Collaborate with medical center leaders and primary care physicians to assess needs and develop and implement patient education programs.
Educate patients and family members while considering cultural and religious practices, emotional barriers, motivation, physical or cognitive limitations, language barriers, and readiness to learn.
Identify opportunities to reduce fragmentation of health care.
Support informed health care decision-making by helping patients and family members understand the patient’s health status.
Observe patients’ and family members’ ability to cope with the patient’s health status, prognosis, and outcomes, and adapt communication as needed.
Promote healthy lifestyles to support patients’ overall health.
Select, adapt, and individualize educational materials to suit patient age, culture, religious practices, language, and other needs.
Document patient care services in patient charts and department records in accordance with policies and applicable laws and regulations.
Study, evaluate, and redesign processes to improve quality, implementing changes as needed.
Coordinate care with transitional care teams and case management to reduce hospitalizations and lengths of stay.
Build trusting relationships with internal and external stakeholders to identify opportunities and develop remediation strategies.
Perform other duties as assigned or modified at the manager’s discretion.