Job Description

As a clinical team member in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, the Nurse Navigator will be pivotal in driving the success and change of patients who are at risk of “falling through the cracks”. Utilizing a collaboration between public-private funding, this position will work directly with the Division (staff, faculty, fellows). This will involve a specific project to reduce readmissions to the hospital for a specific disease group but will also be the front lines of communicable change within the organization on best practices for identification of patients and providing resources for them. This is assumed to be cross functional and could involve more campuses in FPI/UMMS. Coordinates patient care activity on the phone and in the office and clinic, providing necessary support to the physician within established guidelines. Patient care activities within scope of nursing practice will include but are not limited to patient assessment, medication management, collaboration with healthcare providers, patient education, procedural management, and a variety of medically related tasks; and other duties as assigned.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Patient and Family Education: Explains diagnosis, treatment options, and procedures clearly and concisely; clarifies what to expect at each stage of the care journey; provides written materials and resources tailored to health literacy level.
• Barrier Identification and Removal: Identifies obstacles to care: transportation, financial strain, insurance issues, language barriers, childcare, housing instability and connects patients with social workers, financial counselors, interpreters, or community resources.
• Care Coordination: Serves as the central point of contact between patients, physicians, specialists, and ancillary services; schedules and sequences appointments, tests, and procedures to minimize delays; ensures smooth handoffs between different phases of care (diagnosis → treatment → survivorship)
• Data Tracking and Quality Metrics--Documents navigation activities and outcomes for program evaluation.
• Becomes familiar with issues that are important in the care of patients in order to participate in patient education and to serve as a patient/doctor education resource.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor's degree in nursing
• Current Maryland licensure or eligibility to obtain Maryland licensure
• Excellent customer service and communication skills
• Two to three years clinical experience
• CPR certification is preferred
• Must be able to work independently and take initiative
• Must have outstanding verbal and written communication skills as well as interpersonal skills
• Must be able to interact with a diverse patient base and be an empathic listener

Total Rewards

The referenced base salary range represents the low and high end of University of Maryland’s Faculty Physician’s Inc. salary range for this position. Some candidates will not be eligible for the upper end of the salary range. Exact salary will ultimately depend on multiple factors, which may include the successful candidate's geographic location, skills, work experience, market conditions, internal equity, responsibility factor and span of control, education/training and other qualifications. University of Maryland Faculty Physician’s Inc. offers a total rewards package that supports our employees' health, life, career and retirement. More information can be found here: https://www.umfpi.org/jobs/summary-employee-benefits