Stroke Program Coordinator

The Stroke Program Coordinator is an expert registered nurse who works closely with the multidisciplinary team developing, implementing, and evaluating standards of care and protocols to improve patient care, practice, and systems within the stroke program at Billings Clinic. The Stroke Program Coordinator provides leadership for the nursing care and management of patient's experience diagnosed with a stroke in adult populations. The Stroke Program Coordinator works with the stroke team to ensure all patients receive high quality evidence-based care through the practice oversight, develops and provides stroke continuing education, and coordinates and participates in performance improvement processes and stroke research.

Essential Job Functions

• Advancing bedside nursing practice to improve the assessment of patient and family needs while educating on acute stroke and stroke preventions.
• Working in multidisciplinary team developing, implementing, and evaluating standards of care and protocols to improve patient care, practice, and systems.
• Collaborating with clinical leaders to ensure a well-coordinated, multidisciplinary program of care and education across settings.
• Integrating related research into practice, educates organization on any clinical trials, and tracks research while participating in stroke research.
• Identifying key outcomes specific to stroke self-care management, analyzing current educational initiatives, planning for improvements, and systematically integrating them into practice within the Billings Clinic system while coordinating with regional sites for continued improvement on stroke education and implementation of evidence based best practice standards.
• Supports and models behaviors consistent with Billings Clinic's mission, vision, values, code of business conduct and service expectations. Meets all mandatory organizational and departmental requirements. Maintains competency in all organizational, departmental, and outside agency standards as it relates to the environment, employee, patient safety or job performance
• Maintains knowledge and adheres to standards and criteria designated by DNV and the American Heart Association (AHA)/American Stroke Association (ASA) "Get with the Guidelines" to maintain stroke accreditation.
• Collects, reviews, and analyzes information for evaluating patient care outcomes.
• Maintains the stroke registry for the purpose of performance improvement by measuring and evaluating plans to improve both the processes of care and the outcome. Supervises the collection, coding, scoring, and development processes for validation of data.
• Facilitates in designing the registry to facilitate performance improvement activities, trend reports, and research while protecting confidentiality.
• Coordinating stroke care management utilizing effective communication across the continuum of stroke care, including planning & implementation of clinical protocols/practice management guidelines, monitoring care of in-hospital patients, serving as a resource for clinical practice, and discharge planning.
• Identifies multidisciplinary opportunities for improvement in a timely manner and assists team members with problem resolution through plan development, implementation, and evaluation.
• Monitors quality, continuity of care, clinical outcomes and system issues related to care delivery, developing quality filters, audits, and case reviews, identifying trends and sentinel events, and helping to outline remedial actions while maintaining confidentiality.
• Coordinates stroke committee and multidisciplinary stroke peer review meetings.
• Participates in case review, standardizing practice guidelines, and directs community stroke education and prevention programs.
• Participates in the development of stroke care systems at the community, state, and national levels.
• Stabilizes the complex network of many disciplines that work together to provide high-quality care, serving as an internal resource for physicians and staff in all Billings Clinic departments, and acting as a liaison for Stroke Care with the community and state.
• Works with Stroke Medical Directors to develop and evaluate stroke evidence-based guidelines, pathways, and protocols to reduce inappropriate variation in care.
• Participates in research selection, analysis, and distribution of findings, and facilitates protocol design for accurate data collection, feedback, and analysis.
• Identifies needs and sets goals for own growth and development; meets all mandatory organizational and departmental requirements.
• Facilitates and ensures that comprehensive, multidisciplinary collaboration of stroke care occurs with the patient, family, physicians, and other health care providers. Identifies fragmentation/duplication and assists the team in defining effective utilization of resources.
• Exhibits exceptional knowledge in the stroke patient's clinical care. Maintains competency in all organizational, departmental, and outside agency environmental, employee or patient safety standards relevant to job performance.
• Provides expert nursing care in an expanded role to patients with stroke
• Provides consultation to nursing, pharmacy, medical staff, and others to develop, implement, and evaluate a comprehensive plan of care, including a discharge plan, for patients with stroke to achieve desired patient outcomes.
• Verbally communicates pertinent information with key clinicians in a timely manner. Utilizes appropriate documentation tools for effective written communication.
• Intermittently provides reinforcement of stroke education to patients and family.
• Consults with all team members across the continuum to ensure optimal patient transition plans.
• Intermittently participates in Acute Stroke Code activations to ensure protocols are followed.
• Provides post hospital contact to evaluate transition and outcome.
• Provides telemedicine program support with establishing new sites and site support for existing sites. Ensures highest standards in patient/family education
• Provides and supports stroke education for Billings Clinic and regional staff development.
• Role models best practice in stroke education, inspiring inpatient clinical staff to actively engage in stroke prevention education.
• Develops and operationalizes a philosophy of learning for patients and families with stroke.
• Utilizes an empowerment model to create patient partnerships, employing strategies that foster self-management for stroke prevention.
• Personalizes educational interventions to match the patients' and families' unique learning needs, barriers, and preferences
• Consults with clinical staff concerning nursing care in patients who have experienced stroke.
• Establishes collaborative relationships with physician staff and other members of the team for effective interdisciplinary management within the hospital and beyond.
• In concert with the Stroke Program Manager, develops and delivers educational programs for all staff that care for patients who have experienced stroke.
• Works across disciplines and physical areas to ensure best practice is consistent with patients who have experienced stroke.
• Assists in providing interdisciplinary awareness of American Stroke Association and DNV guidelines.
• Designs and implements processes that contribute to efficient, cost-effective care for patients who have experienced stroke.
• Designs and makes available pertinent learning tools and resources
• Assists in outreach efforts to inform the greater community regarding stroke.

Minimum Qualifications

Education

• Bachelors degree in nursing required

Experience

• Five years of professional nursing (one within the Billings Clinic) in a related cardiac care area such as critical care, ambulatory telemetry unit, or emergency services

Certifications and Licenses

• Current RN license in the state of Montana, at hire