Orthopedics Surgical Liaison RN Navigator

Boston Medical Center (BMC) is more than a hospital. It´s a network of support and care that touches the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in need each year. It is the largest and busiest provider of trauma and emergency services in New England. Emphasizing community-based care, BMC is committed to providing consistently excellent and accessible health services to all—and is the largest safety-net hospital in New England. The hospital is also the primary teaching affiliate of the nationally ranked Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and a founding partner of Boston HealthNet – an integrated health care delivery systems that includes many community health centers. Join BMC today and help us achieve our Vision 2030 which is a long-term goal to make Boston the healthiest urban population in the world.

Position: Orthopedics Surgical Liaison RN Navigator

Department: Orthopedics

Schedule: Full Time

POSITION SUMMARY:

Reporting the Chief APP, the nurse navigator primary function is to serve as first contact for patients to assist with logistical navigation through the care continuum.  The NN will provide a link between patients and physicians; act as a liaison between clinical specialists and physicians to improve coordination of treatment.  The NN will guide patients and families through the health care system from the time of diagnosis through their duration of care by assisting them with access to needed services, teaching patients about required perioperative protocols, developing relationships with various providers and tracking interventions and outcomes.  The NN will help coordination of care for patients undergoing orthopedic surgery to ensure safe, effective, efficient patient-centered care.  The NN will serve as a central resource to patients and families to help ensure exemplary care is provided. The NN also provides education to patients and staff about the diagnosis and treatment modalities.  Training, evaluation and competencies for this role are overseen by the Chief APP of the department.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES / DUTIES:

Primary Responsibilities:

• Acts as liaison between physicians, clinical coordinators, patients and families, and administrative staff.
• Facilitates the patient’s progression from surgical booking, through pre-admission testing through the inpatient hospital stay and first post-operative visit.
• Ensures timeliness of key deliverables, working efficiently as a team member to provide quality services through communication, collaboration and cooperation in team conferences and one-on-one meetings to ensure a quality care-delivery process for patients across the continuum.
• Ensure compliance with preoperative education and screening protocols
• Conduct initial navigator assessment, assess patients’ support system, document potential barriers to treatment and/or discharge
• Assist in coordinating  pre- operative PT “pre-hab”, home safety evaluation, dental smoking cessation,  and other protocols to optimize patient prior to surgery and have awareness of medical clearance appointments, lab tests, and other diagnostic tests for medical clearance pre operatively
• Meet with patients and families and, ensure continued communication & feedback.
• Completes patient phone calls post op to enhance the patient experience and improve quality and safety of care for patients after surgery.  
• Develop program improvement projects based on data analysis and interpretation of clinical results thereby driving the orthopedic service line to the forefront of best practice.
• Develops, reviews and revises protocols/guidelines, implementing best practices, provides continued education for clinicians.
• Responsible for tracking of service line compliance, joint commission standards, and critical time frames for outstanding patient care.
• Ensures timeliness of key deliverables, working efficiently as a team member to provide quality services through communication, collaboration and cooperation
• Works in collaboration with physicians, APPs, nursing, physical therapy, marketing department, food service, pharmacy, outreach coordinators and all members of the healthcare team 
• Assists in coordinating anti-coagulation plan for patient in conjunction with treating team (orthopedic surgeon/PCP/cardiologist)
• Models quality patient/customer service by: demonstrating a willingness to serve all customers at all times; maintaining an awareness of patient needs and utilizing initiative to respond to those needs; maintaining confidentiality of all patient information; and functioning in a collaborative manner with other members of the team to ensure quality patient care
• Help to address quality of care concerns and implement quality improvement projects as it pertains to patients undergoing TJR when needed.
• Establishes and maintains excellent collaborative relationships with referring and consulting providers and staff; affiliated departments (medicine, surgery, radiology, pathology, medical and radiation oncology, patient financial services, etc.).
• Effectively delegates appropriate patient care activities to co-workers with appropriate knowledge and skill level and ensures that co-workers have completed the delegated tasks in a timely manner.
• Demonstrates flexibility and ability to positively adapt to changing staffing/clinical/patient census needs including but not limited to offering assistance to others, adjusting patient assignments and covering other providers within the practice as needed.
• Must adhere to all of BMC’s RESPECT behavioral standard
• Willing to learn and utilize Epic system, the O.R internal procedures, and other software systems in daily activities to effectively manage TJR patients throughout the continuum of care.

JOB REQUIREMENTS

EDUCATION:

Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing required.

CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS REQUIRED:

Current Massachusetts RN license, with minimum of 3 years of clinical experience-Ortho experience preferred, BSN required and Master’s degree preferred. Certificate 1 BLS required

EXPERIENCE:

Clinical experience of at least 3 years in a wide range of clinical areas including ambulatory orthopedic care.  At least 1-2 years experience with Boston Medical Center or other diverse multi-cultural patient population strongly preferred.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS:

• Demonstrates strong interpersonal, communication and writing skills; with a high level of initiative and follow-up capacity.
• Previous experience with patient satisfaction initiatives.
• Demonstrates leadership and problem-solving skills.
• Self-directed, organized and have acute attention to detail.
• Ability to lead meetings and create a culture of transparency, teamwork, quality, rewards and recognition, and accountability.
• Ability to collect, analyzes and interprets clinical data, including surgical outcomes, and identifies opportunities for improvement.
• Demonstrates experience interacting with community organizations.
• Flexible, with a strong ability to adapt to change.
• Experience /ability to learn computer systems required including web based applications and some Microsoft Office applications, Redcap database.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Disabled/Veterans

According to the FTC, there has been a rise in employment offer scams. Our current job openings are listed on our website and applications are received only through our website. We do not ask or require downloads of any applications, or “apps” job offers are not extended over text messages or social media platforms. We do not ask individuals to purchase equipment for or prior to employment.