RN Cardiothoracic Surgery Navigator

Actual pay is determined based on job-related factors such as relevant experience, education, credentials, skills, internal equity, and business needs.

Overview

The Cardiothoracic Surgery Nurse Navigator is a registered professional nurse with clinical expertise who functions under the direction of the Cardiovascular Service Line Administrator and Quality Director and Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery. This role serves as an advocate, educator, and facilitator of care for the Cardiothoracic Surgery patient and their family throughout the continuum of care, from initial consultation through preoperative preparation, admission, hospital stay, and postoperative evaluation.

Responsibilities include assessing the patient and understanding their individualized diagnosis, comorbidities, medications, and procedures to provide education and counseling about necessary steps to enhance optimal cardiothoracic surgery and recovery. The Nurse Navigator collaborates with providers and the clinical team on patient needs, barriers, and assessment changes, and coordinates care with case management to facilitate follow-up appointments, post-acute needs, and specialty/subspecialty consults. Post-discharge, the Nurse Navigator contacts the patient to reinforce discharge instructions, medication adherence, and follow-up appointments.

The RN Navigator serves as a clinical role model, educator, and liaison for the cardiothoracic surgery team, hospital staff, and community. They collaborate with providers and leadership to facilitate and promote improved patient outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Schedule procedures and pre-procedure diagnostic workups and follow-ups.
• Participate in patient calls to review preprocedural testing results, provide education, medication instructions, and document all interactions.
• Evaluate the patient’s progress toward surgical clearance and update the Advance Practice Provider (APP) or Physician as needed. Facilitate timely review of preprocedural testing results by the provider care team prior to surgery.
• Assess data and records to identify scheduling timeliness. Investigate alternative options with the APP/Physician and arrange for more appropriate or urgent scheduling as needed.
• Coordinate appointment scheduling and collaborate with case management to ensure quality patient care. Educate patients regarding protocols for tests and appointments.
• Demonstrate knowledge of and appropriately refer patients to community resources for support and assistance.
• Provide postoperative phone calls to discharged patients to reduce adverse events, ER evaluations, and readmissions, and ensure proper and timely postoperative follow-up. Communicate abnormal findings and concerns to the APP/MD promptly.
• Monitor the triage of patient phone calls and concerns, ensuring urgent and emergent issues are brought to the attention of the APP/MD.
• Respond to Epic inbox messages, including staff messages and direct messages from patients.
• Maintain and update pertinent clinical data items for each patient enrolled in the Cardiothoracic Surgery Program, particularly as it relates to STS registries.
• Identify and track quality indicators specific to the cardiothoracic surgery population. Identify opportunities to improve documentation of preoperative risks and ensure standardized quality indicators are tracked and analyzed.
• Facilitate multidisciplinary staff participation in quality management and program leadership. Attend CTS Quality meetings and other relevant committee meetings (e.g., VCSQI, STS Webinars, Registry Meetings).
• Actively work with the CTS team to identify, plan, promote, and implement process improvement and quality initiatives, including education and awareness.
• Assist with the evaluation of patient care outcomes for individual patients and groupings of patients. Identify, suggest, and support changes to improve overall patient care outcomes, including reductions in readmissions, patient satisfaction, patient education impact, and adherence to postoperative timelines.
• Provide consultation and education to healthcare providers and the system.
• Round with the team on cardiac surgery inpatients.
• Support patients and families in the transfer of care outside the system. Coordinate re-entry to RHS for follow-up care and serve as a contact for the family and care team while the patient is under the care of a referral center.
• Meet monthly with the team from the University of Virginia to review outcomes associated with transferred patients, discuss their experiences, and suggest system improvements to ease patient transfers.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing (Required).
• 2 years of Cardiology clinical experience (Required).
• 1 year of Cardiothoracic Surgery clinical experience (Preferred).

Skills and Abilities

• Strong written, verbal communication, and interpersonal skills to effectively interact with multidisciplinary teams, including physicians, nurses, coworkers, referring physician groups, and patients’ families.
• Ability to work independently and exercise sound judgment in interactions.
• Flexibility in scheduling, as the role is based around the patient’s procedure.
• Excellent problem-solving skills.
• Proficient computer skills, including Microsoft Office platforms (e.g., Excel) and/or Google Suite platforms.

Licenses and Certifications

• Registered Nurse (RN) - Virginia Department of Health Professions (VDHP) (Required).
• CPR/BLS Certification - American Heart Association/American Red Cross/American Safety and Health Institute (AHA/ARC) within 30 days (Required).
• Cardiac Vascular Nursing Certification (CV-BC) within 1 year (Preferred).

Pay

Hiring range: $81,000.00 - $111,375.00/Annual.