Nurse Navigator (Big Rapids)

About the role

The Nurse Navigator position at The Cancer & Hematology Centers is dedicated to supporting patients and their families through the cancer care continuum. This role involves coordinating and guiding patients through various aspects of their treatment, ensuring they understand their diagnosis, treatment options, and support services.

Responsibilities

• Function as the primary clinical contact for patients, families, and caregivers at consultations and during treatment transitions.
• Carefully coordinate diagnostic work-ups, treatment starts, and follow-up visits across different oncology services.
• Collaborate closely with physicians, advanced practice providers, infusion nurses, pharmacists, social workers, dietitians, financial counselors, and community resources.
• Provide patient education on diagnosis, treatment plans, chemotherapy/immunotherapy, symptom reporting, side effect management, and clinic workflows.
• Support timely prior authorization, referrals, outside record retrieval, and coordination of tests or procedures to avoid delays in care.
• Identify and help address barriers to treatment adherence, including transportation, financial concerns, scheduling challenges, language access, and psychosocial needs.
• Track patient progress through key milestones and document navigation interventions, education, and outcomes in the electronic health record.
• Perform ongoing assessments and telephone triage to identify urgent symptoms or changes in condition and escalate to the appropriate provider promptly.
• Participate in care management services to coordinate continued follow-up, support high-risk patients, promote adherence to treatment and symptom management, perform proactive outreach, and ensure interdisciplinary team collaboration.
• Partner with Nursing Leadership to perform quality improvement activities, capture navigation metrics, support patient experience initiatives, and workflow optimization.

Qualifications

• Licensed Registered Nurse in the State of Michigan.
• Oncology Certified Nurse certification or acquisition within 1 year of employment.
• ONS Chemotherapy / Biotherapy Provider Card or acquisition within 6 months of employment.
• MICMT Training or acquisition within 60 days of employment.
• BLS certification or acquisition within 90 days of employment.
• Minimum of 2-3 years of nursing experience with exposure to nurse navigation, ambulatory oncology operations, infusion services, or multidisciplinary cancer clinic coordination preferred.
• Working knowledge of outpatient oncology treatment pathways, symptom management, patient education, and triage principles.
• Strong skills in communication, patient teaching, interdisciplinary coordination, and management of multiple clinic-based priorities.
• Experience with electronic health records, scheduling and referral workflows, and documentation standards in an ambulatory setting.
• Ability to function effectively in a fast-paced outpatient environment with strong attention to timeliness, accuracy, and patient service.

Benefits

This role offers a $2,000 sign-on bonus.