Nurse Navigator 1 - Site Disease Group - Full Time

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Location: Remote

CORE JOB SUMMARY

 The Nurse Navigator is the initial point of contact for a patient entering the health system and assures timely scheduling of the first appointment, and coordination of care after completion of the first appointment and supports the patient throughout the care continuum. The Nurse Navigator serves as a liaison between patients, families, caregivers, and the multidisciplinary care team.  The incumbent demonstrates a commitment to quality patient care, implements creative and innovative ways to meet the diverse needs of the patients and ensures best practices.

CORE JOB FUNCTIONS

• Triages new patient appointments to the appropriate provider(s) and assures timely scheduling of initial appointments.
• Reviews outside medical records for appropriate scheduling.
• Assess barriers to care and refers to support services, local, and national organizations when needed.
• Educates on the treatment plan for patients based on diagnosis.
• Supports patients throughout the care continuum.
• Counsels individuals and patients on positive health practices.
• Collaborates with a multidisciplinary team of experts to outline the best treatment for patients.
• Performs holistic evaluation of specialty population, making use of enhanced proven techniques and procedures to achieve better results.
• Implements the improvement of patient care, and healthcare policies and resources.
• Mentors other healthcare professionals by functioning as a preceptor or coordinating preceptors for visiting professionals, students, new graduates, and orienteers.
• Maintains professional knowledge by affiliating with professional and technical organizations, and participating in applicable continuing education programs, conferences, seminars, and workshops.
• Adheres to University and unit-level policies and procedures and safeguards University assets.

Sylvester Navigation Program: Department Specific Functions

• Citi Trained Certified or must obtain within 3 months of being hired.
• 3 years of specialty experience or relevant navigation experience.
• Assess patient needs upon initial encounter and periodically throughout navigation, matching unmet needs with appropriate referrals and support services.
• Identifies potential and realized barriers to care and facilitates referrals as appropriate to mitigate barriers.
• Reviews, patients’ medical records, test results and any other documentation required for the first visit.
• Verifies timely scheduling of appointments, diagnostic testing, and procedures to expedite the plan of care and to promote continuity of care.
• Participates in coordination of the plan of care with the multidisciplinary team, promoting timely follow-up on treatment and supportive care recommendations.
• Serves as a liaison for patients, families, caregivers, staff, and referring physicians.
• Orients and educates patients, families, and caregivers to the cancer healthcare system, multidisciplinary team member roles and available resources.
• Help to explain treatment recommendations to patients and caregivers and appropriately answer questions.
• Communicates with physicians as needed by phone, via email, or in person for new patient referrals and scheduling priorities.
• Work with oncology administrators to understand any changes in reporting metrics.
• Identify bottlenecks in the patient pathway and gaps in care; propose process improvement measures to address them.
• Communicates with other staff to coordinate patient care activities.
• Participate with other members of the healthcare team to provide patients with supportive care services.
• Refers patients to local and national community support groups/services.

Coordination of Educational Activities: 

• Identify and document individual patient’s barriers to learning.
• Educate patients and families about disease process, treatment options, potential side effects.
• Assist patients with treatment decision making; develop and use decision aids as appropriate
• Provide pre and post-operative education to all groups.
• Educate patients about survivorship, set expectations for the post-treatment transition, remain available to patients and families for questions during the continuum of treatment and at survivorship.
• Assist with identification of survivors and delivery of the survivorship care plan.             
• Advocate for patient and support with end-of-life/palliative care decisions.
• Educate patients and families about diet, exercise, smoking cessation and other wellness and cancer prevention strategies.

Psychosocial Support

• Administer psychosocial screening to patients at the time of intake; repeat screening at regular intervals or as needed.
• Make referrals to social worker, financial counselor, or support services as needed; facilitate scheduling and monitor patients to ensure follow-though.
• Check in with patients via phone on day prior to surgery and/or treatment start; ensure patients know exactly what to expect before, during and after procedure.
• Facilitates shared decision making with the patients, caregivers, families, and care team.
• Supports a smooth transition of patients from active treatment into survivorship, chronic cancer management, and end-of life care.
• Promotes advances care planning by assisting patients in formulating a discussion with their care team.

Multidisciplinary Clinical Support

• Perform preliminary screening of patients that may be eligible or interested in participating in clinical trials.
• Facilitate new patient referrals into the clinical trials program.
• Attend Tumor Board Conference and be available for coordination of care recommended post conference.
• Maintain communication with the tumor registry when needed.
• Actively solicit and record feedback from referring physicians and their staff; develop recommendations for improving clinical operations to better meet their needs.
• Meet with physicians who have the potential to become referral sources for the cancer program to provide information about the cancer center and its related programs.
• Ensures documentation of patient encounter and provided services.
• Assist in developing patient education materials.
• Develop collaborative relationships with local individuals, agencies and organizations that provide cancer education and support for cancer patients.
• Collaborate with community outreach programs designed to increase public awareness of cancer, cancer prevention and the importance or regular screening.

This list of duties and responsibilities is not intended to be all-inclusive and may be expanded to include other duties or responsibilities as necessary.

Accountabilities

CORE QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor of Science in nursing required 

• Valid State of Florida Registered Nurse (RN) license

• Basic Life Support Certification (BLS) 

• One year previous nursing experience in oncology required

• Strong, effective communication skills with patients, families, and clinical team for innovative patient care and trust 

• Ability to collaborate with peers in the best interest of the patient to provide consistent quality of care 

• Ability to adapt and exhibit flexibility to handle new, different, or changing environments 

• Demonstrates strong time management skills to prioritize, triage, and act proactivity

• Ability to uphold professional ethics and maintain patient confidentiality 

• Knowledgeable on all aspects of patient care including assessing, planning, coordinating, monitoring and evaluating the patients’ progress through continuum of care

The University of Miami offers competitive salaries and a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, tuition remission and more.

UHealth-University of Miami Health System, South Florida's only university-based health system, provides leading-edge patient care powered by the ground breaking research and medical education at the Miller School of Medicine. As an academic medical center, we are proud to serve South Florida, Latin America and the Caribbean. Our physicians represent more than 100 specialties and sub-specialties, and have more than one million patient encounters each year. Our tradition of excellence has earned worldwide recognition for outstanding teaching, research and patient care. We're the challenge you've been looking for.

The University of Miami is an Equal Opportunity Employer - Females/Minorities/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities are encouraged to apply. Applicants and employees are protected from discrimination based on certain categories protected by Federal law. Click here for additional information.

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