RN - Patient Logistics

OhioHealth

11d

About The Position

This Registered Nurse position in the Transfer Center coordinates patient transfers and bed management across OhioHealth facilities. The role requires strong triage and computer-navigation skills; shadowing for 3–4 hours is strongly recommended to understand its responsibilities. The Transfer Center operates 24/7, with weekend and holiday rotations. Nurses receive calls from outlying facilities, assess transfer needs, identify appropriate services and level of care, and coordinate with receiving facilities to support timely, safe care. The position manages inbound transfers to eight OhioHealth facilities, with the number of facilities growing. The nurse obtains patient reports and demographic information, communicates relevant clinical details to the appropriate units and clinicians, and coordinates air or ground transport as requested. The role may handle several cases at once and supports protocols for urgent situations such as stroke, STEMI, trauma, cardiac arrest, critical limbs, and OB/GYN emergencies. Responsibilities also include hospital-wide patient flow, admission and level-of-care review, bed assignment, transfers between levels of care, resource coordination, customer service, education, and process improvement. As a High Reliability Organization, OhioHealth expects the role to focus on safety, quality, and efficiency. The job profile is an overview and is not an exhaustive list of duties; responsibilities may change.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Nursing.
Registered Nurse licensure through the Ohio Board of Nursing.
Three to five years of experience in an emergency department or critical care.
Effective verbal and written communication skills.
Problem-solving and organizational skills.
Computer skills, including CareConnect, and typing skills.
Understanding of clinical pathway development and quality improvement.
Previous leadership experience, such as charge nurse or preceptor.
Ability to triage patients, navigate computer systems, and manage multiple cases.
Availability for night shifts and weekend and holiday rotations.

Responsibilities

Maintains patient flow throughout the hospital, including the emergency department, operating rooms, invasive recovery, cath labs, and nursing units.
Assesses admissions for appropriateness, level of care, medical necessity, and resource utilization; triages calls and reviews documentation for timely bed management of direct admissions and emergency department transfers.
Initiates clinical pathways for emergency and direct admissions, screens observation admissions using approved criteria, and directs patients to the most appropriate level of care.
Contacts physicians to clarify orders and address changes in level-of-care appropriateness; activates patients to assigned units and beds and ensures correct status assignment.
Plans and coordinates safe inpatient transfers to meet admission needs and works with nursing units to identify patients who can move to lower levels of care.
Collaborates with nursing administration to allocate organizational resources effectively.
Continuously evaluates patients for changes in required level of care and appropriate placement, including general medical, telemetry, intermediate, or critical care.
Provides customer service to patients, families, physicians, outlying hospitals, physician offices, nursing facilities, urgent cares, home care, hospice, and other telephone contacts.
Provides education and support on bed-management practices to interns, residents, and attending physicians.
Provides organizational resources and information about policies and procedures, department locations, crisis management, staffing, and department responsibilities.
Identifies process-improvement opportunities and provides ongoing feedback.
Acts as a liaison among central Ohio hospitals to identify bed availability and support timely, accurate patient placement.
Receives transfer requests from outlying facilities, obtains patient reports and demographic sheets, identifies needed services and level of care, and ensures clinical information reaches appropriate units and clinicians.
Coordinates air or ground transportation and manages multiple transfer cases to support timely acceptance and efficient transport.
Implements and follows processes for acute cases, including stroke, STEMI, trauma, cardiac arrest, critical limb, and OB/GYN emergencies, across OhioHealth campuses.