Patient Flow RN - 0.75 FTE, 12-hr, Evening Shift

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Evening - 12 Hour (United States of America)

The Patient Flow RN is a new role with Stanford Health Care, designed to work within the Emergency Department supporting the transfer program. With the role being new, we are seeking a motivated and flexible individual that is able to implement and monitor the program to track and refine the process and streamline the transfer program. An applicant with strong interpersonal skills will be vital as this position would work closely with external facilities to gain transfer acceptance, communicate with patients in regards to the transfer, and more.

This role would report to the Hospital Operations Manager.

Preferred experience:
- EMTALA Risk Management
- Knowledge of insurance coverage
- Transfer Center experience

This is a Stanford Health Care job.

A Brief Overview
The Patient Flow Nurse plays a vital role in optimizing the movement of patients through the healthcare system, ensuring a smooth transition from admission to discharge. This role enhances hospital operations and improves the overall patient experience by minimizing delays in admissions, transfers into or outside the system, and discharges while maximizing resource utilization and patient safety. The Patient Flow Nurse collaborates with patients, families, healthcare providers, and various departments to identify and address barriers in the patient throughput process, contributing to the refinement of practices that enhance efficiency.

In addition, the Patient Flow nurse focuses on improving patient access and flow by utilizing clinical expertise and critical thinking skills to resolve delays in care and discharge barriers such as prioritizing needed imaging or service consultations. This role involves monitoring real-time data, triaging alerts, and investigating throughput obstacles. The Patient Flow Nurse works closely with Operations leadership to prioritize daily tasks and partners with the care team to implement effective resolutions, ultimately enhancing the patient experience and ensuring efficient care progression. The Patient Flow Nurse will collaborate with the transfer center to coordinate transport, and is not responsible for care coordination as delineated in case management's role, such as discharging patients to skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). An example initiative includes prioritizing outgoing transfers from the Emergency Department (ED), partnering with the ED providers and handing off to the transfer center to facilitate the transfer process to SHC-Tri-Valley.


Locations
Stanford Health Care

What you will do

• Patient Transfers and Throughput Management
  o Screen patients for anticipated internal or external transfers to the healthcare system and discharge planning needs.
  o Collaborate with the transfer center to arrange patient transfers between locations, such as from the Emergency Department to outside hospitals.
  o Expedite the transfer and discharge process to decrease length of stay.
  o Participate in care progression in collaboration with case management and the care team, such as appropriate tests and assessments to inform safe transfer and discharge to other hospitals.
  o Document findings and recommendations for patient transfers or transports.
  o Facilitate patient throughput with a focus on admissions and discharges.
  o Attend relevant daily rounds and huddles, representing patient throughput.

• Patient Flow and Discharge Planning
  o Facilitate patient throughput with a focus on admissions and discharges.
  o Triage barriers to discharge to optimize hospital capacity.
  o Collaborate with care coordination teams to facilitate timely implementation of discharge plans for patients with complex needs.
  o Manage each patient's transition through the system and ensure care team accountability for transfers and/or discharge.

• Collaboration and Communication
  o Liaise with Operations leadership and team members regarding clinical priorities and synchronization based on system needs.
  o Liaise with hospital management to activate escalation policies to reduce emergency department overcrowding.
  o Maintain communication with other hospitals to manage escalations efficiently.
  o Perform effective handoff communication to support continuity of care.

• Quality Improvement and Process Efficiency
  o Collaborate with leadership to identify quality and process improvement strategies and enhance process efficiency.
  o Conduct chart audits to ensure care plans are updated, particularly re