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 and Essential Job Functions
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 task forces.
Must be able to perform the professional, clinical and or technical competencies of the assigned unit or department.
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.
Required Education and Experience
Bachelor Degree Nursing
3 or more years of nursing experience.
1 or more years of case management, ambulatory care coordination, or other related experience relevant to the specific patient population navigating.
Preferred Education and Experience
Master Degree Nursing
5 or more years of nursing experience.
Required Licensure and Certification
Licensed Registered Nurse (LRN) - Multi-State - State Board of Nursing Must have current active multistate state Registered Nurse (RN) license in good standing in 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 4/30/2026.
Basic Cardiac Life Support (BLS or BCLS) - American Heart Association (AHA)
Preferred Licensure and Certification
Specialized Certification for the specific patient population navigating (such as OCN, etc.)
Knowledge Requirements
Basic computer skill set for data entry and EMR usage.
Time Type:
Full time
Job Requisition ID:
R-53907
Important information for you to know as you apply:
The health system is an equal employment opportunity employer. Qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, ancestry, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally-protected status. See alsoDiversity, Equity & Inclusion.
The health system provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. If you need to request reasonable accommodations for your disability as you navigate the recruitment process, please let our recruiters know by requesting an Accommodation Request form using this link asktalentacquisition@kumc.edu.
