 | Local Leadership
Clinical Educators
Continuous staff development is a critical element of providing excellence in nursing care. To ensure nurses have the educational opportunities, skills and competencies, clinical nurse educators (CE's) are assigned to each of our nursing units. Our CE's provide support and resources in their areas of clinical expertise, education and nursing practice for the nursing staff in their area.
Trauma Nurse Clinicians
Our trauma nurse clinicians work closely with physicians and collaborate with the interdisciplinary team to assure quality patient care outcomes across the continuum for our trauma patients. By ensuring a seamless quality of care, improved teamwork and efficient use of resources the clinicians improve patient and family satisfaction and care.
Nurse Supervisors
There are three RN supervisors in the Regions emergency department (ED). These nurses coordinate and implement operational changes and policies for the department and provide support and coordination of the daily events in the ED. The supervisors work closely with the ED nurse managers, ED charge nurses and directly with patients.
Nurse Managers
One nurse manager is assigned to each unit/area of nursing practice. Nurse managers are responsible for the day-to-day nursing practice and operations on patient care units. They are leaders who work closely with their nursing staff and other disciplines in the hospital to ensure our patients receive the best care. Regions is committed to the professional development of our nurse managers and offers support, both internally and externally, to achieve advanced skills and competence. All of our nurse managers will be masters-prepared within the next few years. Additionally, our nurse managers are encouraged and supported to network outside the organization to ensure a continuous exchange of ideas and information. For example, the current president of the local chapter of AACN is our CICU nurse manager.
Clinical Nurse Specialists
Our Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS) are autonomous leaders who provide an important component in improving quality of care and moving Regions to levels of excellence. Our CNSs are role models.
The role of the CNS encompasses three areas:
- Patient Care: Our CNSs are clinical and assessment experts, they have a direct role in improving patient outcomes. Their role includes providing direct patient and family care, and collaborating with the inter-disciplinary team.
- Nursing Practice: Our CNSs are innovative leaders of evidence based practice with a high focus on standardizing patient care. They provide support and development of staff and managers within a specific clinical arena. Also, our CNSs lead research and evidence based practice (EBP) into the clinical care of our patients.
- Organizational Commitment: Regions CNSs have an active role in nursing councils and committees, they are change agents that provide educational sessions, training on new products and lead nursing practice and decisions to providing excellence in care.
Clinical Team Leads
Our clinical team leads are valuable members of our team. These nurses plan, organize, coordinate and are a resource in the day to day operations on the nursing units. Clinical team leads function in a variety of roles: care coordinator, educator, resource manager, advocate, and others.
Patient Flow Coordinators
Our seven patient flow coordinators (PFC's) are the most well-known nurses in the hospital. They are here 24/7/365 and regularly communicate with nursing units in search of beds for admissions and patient transfers. They work with our clinical team leaders and nurse managers to provide safe staffing to the units and ensure the smooth transition of patient flow.
Charge Nurses
Our unit charge nurses provide leadership and act as a designated resource in advancing the goals and objectives of the unit and nursing department. In the absence of the nurse manager, the charge nurse monitors clinical needs and serves as a clinical resource to assure safe, quality care.
Case Managers
The Care Management department consists of nurse case managers and social workers who possess skills and experience in planning for patients needs during and after their hospital stays. They develop and coordinate an individualized plan of care and implement plans for a safe discharge. The Care Management staff has vast knowledge of community resources and services available to meet the individual needs of patients. Care Management promotes the delivery of high quality patient care and assists with the progression of care.
Nurse case managers work on both inpatient units and within the Emergency department. They partner with physicians and other healthcare professionals to develop a plan of care and communicate it to patients and their families. In addition, case managers gather data and follow specific protocols to make recommendations which enhance the efficiency of care delivery. Case managers can assist in scheduling care conferences, communicating with insurance companies, and coordinating services. They assure a safe discharge by assessing whether a patient needs transitional care prior to returning home or home care services after getting there.
A social workers primary responsibility in the hospital setting is to help patients and their families understand and adjust to a new medical crisis or chronic medical condition. Patients and families will receive support when working through the emotions of a serious diagnosis or making necessary decisions. Social workers are able to help work with legal systems to implement guardianships or advance directives. Additionally, they provide chemical health assessments, arrange skilled nursing placement, coordinate home care services, and secure other community services to create a safe discharge.
 Back to top
|
