Job Description

Full-Time: 1.0 FTE/80 Hours Biweekly

Monday-Friday

General Summary

The Nurse Navigator is an advanced nursing role responsible for navigating a patient across the continuum within a defined episode of care. This position involves educating and providing support to patients to ensure understanding of treatment plans. The Nurse Navigator oversees, directs, and delivers evidence-based nursing care while serving as a professional role model and clinical expert. Additionally, fostering a professional environment supporting nursing excellence and collaborative decision-making is crucial.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Collaborate with interprofessional teams to develop and manage patient care plans.
• Provide education on disease processes, treatment modalities, and agreed-upon care plans for patients and families.
• Act as a liaison between patients, families, healthcare teams, community resources, and entities to ensure seamless care provision.
• Facilitate open communication within interprofessional teams through verbal and written channels.
• Demonstrate flexibility, problem-solving skills, and healthy coping mechanisms while prioritizing tasks proactively.
• Assess patients to establish baseline information for individualized care plans.
• Assist patients and families in scheduling ancillary testing and other necessary services throughout the care continuum.
• Plan for continuing care, including community services, home care, and hospice services as required.
• Advocate for patients to identify and eliminate barriers to care. Connect patients with appropriate resources, healthcare, and support services within and outside the facility.
• Streamline referral processes and transitions into specialty services to ensure efficiency and meet patient and family needs.
• Support patient safety goals, nursing quality indicators, and regulatory requirements.
• Monitor patient progress, goal attainment, and feedback to evaluate care effectiveness.
• Maintain knowledge of professional guidelines, standards of care, and clinical improvement strategies.
• Support a professional environment conducive to shared decision-making and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Common Expectations:

• Demonstrates a commitment to patient, visitor and staff by: complying with all applicable safety regulations; learning the impact of medical errors and methodology that will lead to reduction of errors; reporting actual and potential errors, as well as hazardous conditions; identifying opportunities to standardize processes and "error proof" systems that will lead to increased safety; and participating in safety education programs and root cause analyses as required.
• Demonstrates knowledge of the principles of growth and development over the life span of the assigned patient population. Assesses and interprets patient age specific data and provides appropriate, age specific treatment. Provides direct patient care to assigned patient age group(s).
• Maintains established policies and procedures, objectives, quality assessment, safety, environmental and infection control standards.
• Provides outstanding service to all customers; fosters teamwork; and practices fiscal responsibility through improvement and innovation.

Qualifications

Minimum Education:

• Bachelors Degree Nursing Required

Work Experience:

• 5 years Nursing Experience Required

Licenses:

• Licensed Registered Nurse Upon Hire Required or
• Registered Nurse Multi State License Upon Hire Required

Courses and Training:

• Certification in appropriate nursing specialty Preferred

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Proven outstanding interpersonal skills; demonstrated ability to function as a team player

Benefits Offered:

• Comprehensive health benefits
• Retirement savings plan
• Paid time off (PTO)
• Education assistance
• Financial education and support, including DailyPay
• Expanded Paid Parental Leave

For additional details: Benefits & Incentives | WellSpan Careers (joinwellspan.org)

WellSpan Health’s vision is to reimagine healthcare through the delivery of comprehensive, equitable health and wellness solutions throughout our continuum of care. As an integrated delivery system focused on leading in value-based care, we encompass more than 2,300 employed providers, 250 locations, nine award-winning hospitals, home care and a behavioral health organization serving central Pennsylvania and northern Maryland. Our high-performing Medicare Accountable Care Organization (ACO) is the region’s largest and one of the best in the nation. With a team 23,000 strong, WellSpan experts provide a range of services, from wellness and employer services solutions to advanced care for complex medical and behavioral conditions. Our clinically integrated network of 3,000 aligned physicians and advanced practice providers is dedicated to providing the highest quality and safety, inspiring our patients and communities to be their healthiest.