Job Description
** General Summary**
Serves as the on-site nursing supervisor for the Medical Center 24 hours/7days per week. Collaborates, coordinates, and communicates with administrators, physicians, nurse leaders, staff, patients, support services, and external agencies to facilitate the delivery of quality patient care. In collaboration with unit and department-based leaders, the Nurse Coordinator assumes administrative responsibility for the Department of Nursing for assigned shifts, off sifts and holidays. Serves as a liaison between Maryland Access Center (MAC) and nurse manager and assists unit personnel in problem solving, interpretation of institutional policies and procedures, and coordination of patient care services.
Principal Responsibilities and Tasks
The following statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all job duties performed by personnel so classified.
A. Promotes the mission, vision, and values of the organization. Interprets and enforces hospital and nursing policies, practices and procedures with staff, patients, the public and other members of the healthcare team in a consistent and equitable manner.
B. Assess patient care requirements on each unit/area.
C. Incorporates unit rounds into daily activities
D. Assists MAC with patient flow issues and works with clinical leadership to ensure safe staffing on patient care units. Coordinate local patient flow and bed access. Monitors and evaluates patient flow and patient placement considering financial and regulatory issues.
E. Utilizes knowledge of legal principles that affect the provision of nursing care and educates nursing staff of those principles related to consent, blood administration, patient elopement, discharge against medical advice and other such issues.
F. Collaborates with hospital and physician leadership to define, reduce and eliminate barriers within the system which may impede patient flow.
1. Negotiates with physicians related to patient placement
2. Works within the critical care model
3. Negotiates off service patient placement with physicians, staff and managers
a. Works collaboratively with Maryland Access Center physician leaders and requisite physician leaders to resolve bed management issues
b. Communicates a rationale for placement decisions
8. Ensures smooth functioning of the bed management process to reduce wait times and avoid unnecessary movement of patients.
A. Makes timely bed assignment
B. Triages/prioritizes admissions from multiple sites, i.e., community referral, Express Care, ED, etc., and internal transfers
C. Manages complex decisions related to patient placement.
D. Matches the clinical needs of patients with staff competencies and unit resources to optimize patient placement decisions
E. Pre-assigns scheduled patients to beds
F. Ensures patients are placed in a clinically appropriate level of care
9. Maintains continuous knowledge of patient census, Alert Status, OR, STC Capacity Alert, or ExpressCare demands.
A. Ensures continuous analysis of patient throughput. Identifies barriers or process issues.
B. Tracks bed turnaround time and analyzes variances.
C. Prepares and communicates data on program outcomes to key constituencies communicating with managers in real time.
D. Leads performance improvement efforts related to patient placement and access.
Qualifications
** Education and Experience**
1. Graduation from an accredited School of Nursing with a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing required.
2. Current licensure in the State of Maryland or eligible for licensure.
3. Three years of nursing work experience in a Medical/Surgical and/or Critical Care unit is required.
4. BLS/ACLS certification required.
Knowledge ** _ , Skills and Abilities_**
1. Knowledge of policies and procedures related to hospital emergency codes, discipline and disaster plan is needed for resolving administrative and clinical matters.
2. Ability to deliver various educational programs to the off-shift nursing staff related to nursing care and standards, legal principles, CPR and the like.
3. Ability to respond, investigate, identify and problem-solve regarding issues related to administrative and clinical matters that require immediate and decisive action.
4. Ability to manage staff related to personnel issues such as absenteeism, tardiness, performance standards and to take the appropriate action.
5. Highly effective verbal and written communication skills are required to interact with patient families, departmental units, and medical staff on all essential matters and to instruct and evaluate nursing staff.
6. Ability to demonstrate knowledge and skills necessary to provide care appropriate to the patient population(s) served. Ability to demonstrate knowledge of the principles of growth and development over the life span and ability to assess data reflective of the patient's requirements relative to his or her population-specific and age specific needs.
** Patient Safety**
Ensures patient safety in the performance of job functions and through participation in hospital, department or unit patient safety initiatives.
Additional Information
All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.
Compensation