The Registered Nurse Coordinator is a key member of a multi-disciplinary patient care team, which includes providers, residents, fellows and other clinical support staff. The RN Coordinator provides direct and indirect professional nursing care for patients seeking care at OHSU for Oncology services including bone marrow/stem cell transplant, cellular therapies, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy treatments. They assess patient and family needs, assists in developing a plan of care, implements, educates, and evaluates the care delivered. The RN Coordinator serves as a key communication link between the patient, his/her family and the care team. The RN Coordinator is a continuous advocate for patients and their families, ensuring that clinical and business systems are customer service focused. The RN Coordinator practices in accord with professional standards, core values and with a commitment to service excellence. The RN Coordinator reports to the Care Management and Coordination Manager in Ambulatory Oncology.

The Knight Cancer Institute provides total patient centered medical care in a practice setting staffed by faculty (Physicians, Nurse Practitioners) as well as fellows of Oregon Health & Science University.

Department Specific Working Conditions:

• Hybrid work schedule with variable 10-hour days Monday-Friday.
• Must be able to work in a busy clinic environment and prioritize duties with multiple interruptions throughout the day.
• Must be able to use medical and non-medical unit equipment required to perform essential functions of this position.

Department Specific Responsibilities

1. The RN Coordinator works with the Providers to ensure that all baseline clinical information, both diagnostic and therapeutic, is gathered together in a systematic fashion prior to the patients visit. S/he works to ensure that new patients are prepared for the testing, evaluation and potential outcome of the visits ahead of time.
2. The RN Coordinator collaborates with the Nurse Navigators, Team Coordinators, Care Coordinators and Managed Care Coordinators to ensure that all appropriate business-related information is gathered prior to the visit, authorizations have been obtained and pre-registration has taken place.
3. The RN Coordinator collaborates with multiple interdisciplinary teams to ensure timely and accurate care is provided to patients and their families. (Cellular Therapy program, Intervention Radiology, Apheresis, Research etc.)
4. The RN Coordinator may be called upon to assign tasks to team members after assessing patient needs, staff skills and resources.
5. The RN Coordinator collaborates with other members of the team to ensure that patient flow is expedited during clinical practice sessions.
6. The RN Coordinator ensures that Provider orders that result from the new patient visit are recorded and executed. S/he also works to ensure that laboratory and other diagnostic findings are available to clinicians in a timely fashion after tests are performed. S/he tracks the post visit flow information to ensure that plans of care are executed in a timely fashion.
7. The RN Coordinator ensures that when hospitalization is required; those patients and their family members understand prior to admission, what they can expect during the pre-hospitalization, hospital stay and post discharge period. The RN Coordinator is expected to troubleshoot any problems that patients and their families may encounter in preparing for or during their hospital stay.

General Clinical/Patient Care

1. Identifies the needs of patients through observations of disease symptoms, emotional state, cultural and socioeconomic background and response to medical regimen and treatment. Uses knowledge of the cognitive, physical, emotional and chronological maturation process. Incorporates assessment of pain, nutritional and functional need.
2. Triages and responds or refers inquiries appropriately. Recognizes and reports specific physical and emotional conditions/needs/concerns of the patients to appropriate members of the health care team. Alerts Providers to unusual observations of patients to facilitate immediate attention e.g. respiratory distress.
3. Plans as appropriate for the needs of patients and uses knowledge of the cognitive, physical, emotional and chronological maturation process. Collaborates with Providers and other members of the clinical support team in planning for the needs of the patients.
4. Provides individualized nursing care that responds to the needs of patients and demonstrates an understanding of the range of treatment required by patients.
5. Responds to the emotional needs of patients by demonstrating sensitivity to the emotional state of patients. By developing a therapeutic relationship, the RNC will communicate to patients in an appropriate manner, utilizing assessment and professional problem solving to resolve conflict or barriers experience by the patient. Refers to appropriate members of the health team indicated.
6. Assesses patient/family learning needs; including barriers to learning and the most effective teaching methods. Implements patient teaching utilizing all available resources.

Inpatient Clinical Care

1. RN Coordinator will coordinator appointments and order planned admissions and communicate the plan to the inpatient staff to ensure optimal clinical outcomes.
2. RN Coordinator will work with the Nursing Manager and the service chief in development of protocol and pathway driven care for most common malignancies treated on the Hem/Onc service as well as key measures of quality of care for the Med Onc Service, including adherence to pathways.
3. RN Coordinator will work with the Nursing Manager and Clinical Director to periodically review key quality indicators. On the basis of these reviews, RN Coordinator will assist the Nursing Manager and the Clinical Director in developing or modifying relevant processes of care to ensure continuous quality improvement.

Outpatient Clinical Care

1. Assesses patient/family status and needs both actual and potential according to established standards
2. Educates patient/family on chemotherapy and plan of treatment as established by the Physician.
3. Coordinates and implements initiation of treatment plan of care.
4. Monitors, maintains and modifies the plan of care based on patient/family response to interventions.
5. Collaborates with call center staff and triage nurses to triages all patient calls; triages Provider calls and assists with communication when necessary. Uses standing orders to manage patient care when appropriate triage.
6. Recognizes and effectively responds to emergencies. Speaks with Providers directly in all emergency situations.
7. Assists with appropriate program placement if needed.
8. Acts as a patient advocate, preserving basic patients and family rights. Provides support to patients and families.
9. Demonstrates knowledge of practice specific standards of care in actual performance.
10. Clarifies and accurately executes provider orders, per established protocol.
11. Recognizes ethical issues and takes appropriate action in the provision of care.
12. Maintains current knowledge of pharmacology and competency in modes of administration.
13. Collaborates with support services based on patient and family needs (genetic counseling, social worker, nutrition, etc.)