PRN Cardiac Navigator

Position Summary / Career Interest:

The Cardiac Navigator plays a pivotal role in coordinating care across various cardiology specialties such as surgical valve, congenital heart conditions, heart failure, Amyloid, EP procedures like Watchman implants, and cardio-oncology. Responsibilities include triaging referrals, scheduling pre-appointment testing, and ensuring smooth patient experiences. Working closely with physicians in a growing clinic, Cardiac Navigators are valued for their role in streamlining patient care pathways and improving overall clinic efficiency. Hours: M-F 8-4:30, but flexible if needed. PRN ROLE The nurse navigator is a licensed registered professional nurse who is a clinical expert and actively promotes the delivery of evidence-based nursing interventions.  The navigator has expertise in a specialty nursing area and/or specific patient populations.  The navigator role crosses care settings to promote health and healing for a specific patient population.  The primary focus of the role is to improve access, timeliness to treatment, and care coordination within the health care organization. 

Responsibilities:

• Assess needs for new patients referred to a specialist prior to their first visit to identify the need for support services or other resources.
• Demonstrates thorough documentation of patient assessment and interventions completed in the electronic medical record.
• Refer new patients to the specialty program’s supportive services based on the navigation needs assessment.
• Provide educational and emotional support throughout the intake and treatment planning process, and then remain a resource for the patient throughout their course of care.
• Ensure new patients are scheduled with the appropriate multidisciplinary provider, at the appropriate location, in the appropriate time frame. 
• Collaborate with intake scheduler to ensure necessary medical information is complete and available for the patient’s first appointment, including imaging and pathology slides, if applicable.
• Assist in coordinating needed diagnostic studies prior to first visit, when possible, to expedite the start of treatment.
• Develop relationships with referring physicians and ensure follow up and treatment plan is communicated.
• Complete intake logs and report monthly to program manager for outcome metric reporting.
• Demonstrates competence in the areas of critical thinking, interpersonal relationships, and technical skills.
• Demonstrates the ability to provide care/service safely and efficiently for the each patient.
• Serves as a liaison and resource for patients, physicians, and other health care professionals involved in the provision of care for the patient.
• Assists in the development of clinical goals and objectives for the Nurse Navigation Program in collaboration with the Nurse Manager.  
• Supports and promotes the principles of service excellence in all interactions with patients, their family members, their other health care providers and all members of The University of Kansas Hospital staff.
• Actively participates in quality improvement initiatives, utilizing information from relevant sources, such as databases and benchmarks.
• Participates in the efficient, economic, and competent performance of The University of Kansas Hospital.
• Maintains accurate and current knowledge base of trends, issues, research findings and local, state and national health related resources and services for the patient population navigation services are being provided.
• Acts as a consultant to other members of the nursing and clinical staff for patients with complex health problems requiring specialized nursing care.
• Demonstrates leadership through participating in department and hospital committees, councils and taskforces. 

*Must be able to perform the professional, clinical and or technical competencies of the assigned unit or department.

*Note: These statements are intended to describe the essential functions of the job and are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities. Skills and duties may vary dependent upon your department or unit. Other duties may be assigned as required.

JOB REQUIREMENTS Required: Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing Registered Nurse in Kansas BLS Certification 3-5 years Nursing Experience 1-2 years of case management, ambulatory care coordination, or other related experience relevant to the specific patient population navigating Basic computer skill set for data entry and EMR usage Must have current active multistate state Register Nurse (RN) license in good standing in state in which you live OR active single state RN license in good standing in the state you will be working with proof of application of a multistate RN license in the state in which you live. Staff hired prior to 2/1/2024 are required to obtain a multistate state RN license from the state in which they live at the time of their next RN license renewal by 3/31/2026. Preferred: Master’s Degree in Nursing Greater than 5 years of nursing experience Specialized Certification for the specific patient population navigating (such as OCN, etc.)

We are an equal employment opportunity employer without regard to a person’s race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity and sexual orientation), national origin, ancestry, age (40 or older), disability, veteran status or genetic information.