TRAUMA PROGRAM COORDINATOR

United Regional•Wichita Falls, TX

About The Position

The Trauma Program Coordinator assesses and identifies trauma patient needs and develops, implements, and evaluates patient activities and education for Trauma Services. The role focuses the health care team on optimal patient outcomes and appropriate resource utilization, supports and guides patients and caregivers toward optimal care, and serves as a program liaison to physicians and other health care professionals. The coordinator works with internal and external stakeholders and inpatient and outpatient teams to coordinate care, review patient and family assessments, address identified needs, maintain and validate trauma registry data, monitor outcomes and trends, and support reporting to state and national trauma databases. The role also contributes to injury prevention, patient teaching, case review, performance improvement, staff education, and disaster-management readiness. It requires clinical trauma nursing competency, effective communication and collaboration, sound judgment, and the ability to work under stressful conditions and irregular hours.

Requirements

High school graduation or equivalent.
Current Registered Nurse licensure with the Texas Board of Nurse Examiners.
Successful completion of ACLS, TNCC, and ENPC.
Five years of current experience in an emergency department and/or critical care.
Clinical competency in trauma nursing, including the ability to develop, implement, evaluate, and teach Trauma Services education activities.
Proficiency with unit-specific standards.
Ability to communicate effectively in English, verbally and in writing.
Ability to understand information from supervisors, charts, reference books, manuals, and labels; follow reasonable instructions; change duties frequently; and record information accurately.
Ability to set priorities, make decisions based on available data, and supervise others.
Effective interpersonal relationship, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
Ability to communicate orally and in writing with a wide variety of health care professionals and senior leadership.
Critical-thinking, analytical, teaching/coaching, and research skills.
Good computer skills.
Ability to meet the physical requirements of the role, including extensive standing and walking, lifting and carrying up to 50 pounds, and pushing and pulling heavy objects.
Ability to work under stressful conditions and irregular hours; some exposure to communicable diseases or body fluids.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree preferred.
TCRN or CEN desirable.
TNCC and ENPC Instructor certification optional.

Responsibilities

Assess and identify trauma patient needs using accrediting-agency standards, performance-improvement monitoring results, and requests from nursing administration or staff.
Collaborate with departmental and divisional personnel to assess, plan, implement, and evaluate staff programming within the corporation’s philosophy, goals, and objectives.
Review nursing and medical assessments of trauma patients and families, supplement information, and help resolve identified issues.
Collaborate with stakeholders to ensure patients receive care at the appropriate level.
Coordinate individualized, seamless care with inpatient and outpatient health care teams.
Assist with collecting, coding, and scoring trauma data and developing processes to validate registry data.
Ensure accurate entry and maintenance of trauma registry data in collaboration with the trauma registrar.
Monitor trauma outcomes, evaluate trends, and assist with trauma patient data collection.
Assist with periodic trauma data reporting to the state registry, NTDB, and TQIP.
Identify opportunities for injury-prevention programming in local communities.
Assist in developing patient-teaching protocols.
Participate in case review.
Support trauma education and care across disciplines and age groups, including triage, crisis intervention, pediatric and adult trauma care, and appropriate public access to the health care system.
Interface with pre-hospital care providers, including EMTs, paramedics, fire personnel, and police.
Support activation and implementation of hospital and community disaster management and recognize legal considerations related to patient care.
Demonstrate awareness of patient-care and unit-function legal issues, patient rights, and confidentiality; manage situations in a manner that reduces risk.
Provide input into nursing performance-improvement activities and standards development; develop education related to monitoring results and assist with PI review and registry data extraction.
Support and adhere to hospital policies and procedures.
Serve as a clinical role model by demonstrating competency in emergencies and selected technical skills and maintaining required clinical knowledge and competency.
Maintain required provider competencies, including BCLS, ACLS, TNCC, and ENPC.
Perform other tasks and responsibilities as necessary.