Cancer Care Coordinator

Overview

Assesses, promotes, and directs the quality of patient care given to patients with cancer in collaboration with staff. Provides clinical leadership through care coordination, patient education and support for patients/families of loved ones around issues regarding cancer. Responsible for public and professional education programs on cancer prevention and early detection.

• Provides for continuity of care by ensuring smooth transitions between care settings according to critical pathways (algorithms). Develops a relationship with patient and their primary care physician to facilitate and/or navigate through a cancer diagnosis, subsequent treatment and follow-up to reflect continuity of care. Personalizes the approach to patients with cancer to maximize service management.
• Completes a nursing assessment with a focus on disease site which has program accountability and identifies the patient s individualized needs. Integrates with other departments and disciplines to develop plan of care. Provides evidence-based practice in the role as cancer care coordinator.
• Guides patients with suspected cancer through the diagnostic phase. Tracks the testing and diagnostic reports through the system to ensure timeliness. Provides biopsy procedure follow-up phone calls as needed.
• Communicates necessary information and collaborates with physicians/office staffs, hospital departments/staff, health care providers, other disciplines and community agencies regarding the patient diagnosed with cancer.
• Refers patients to appropriate resources (i.e., Financial Counseling, cancer counseling center services, clinical trials nurse for research programs). Acts as advocate for patients with cancer. Maintains contact with patients requiring ongoing support as necessary. Identifies patients with compromised coping skills or lack of social support. Facilitates support group for patient with cancer and family members/significant others.
• Collaborates with other caregivers to develop optimal systems, which achieve the most effective patient/family outcomes. Provides in-services and education offerings to staff. Assists leadership in the interview process and with orientation and training of staff, student nurses, etc.
• Counsels and educates patients and their family members on issues of prevention and the early detection of other cancers in which they might be of risk. Evaluates and selects or designs patient education materials on specific disease site programs.
• Actively seeks opportunities to promote awareness of specific cancer disease site program. Provides community education/outreach, e.g., health fairs, phone banks, Cancer Awareness month. Provides workshops, seminars and presentations to audiences in the professional and lay community.
• Partners with leadership staff in cancer services to develop a vision for the care of patients in the specific disease site program. Participates in the development of the annual goals and objectives for the program services and in the development, implementation and maintenance of Quality programs that include evaluation of costs, patient care, and customer satisfaction. Utilizes data to implement 0best practices
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• Analyzes variances in standard treatment guidelines (NCCN guidelines algorithms) for initiatives with cancer to improve quality and efficiency, control costs, and provide systematic approach to the patient s total care.
• Must be able to demonstrate knowledge and skills necessary to provide care appropriate to the age of the patients served. Must demonstrate knowledge of the principles of growth and development over the life span and possess the ability to assess data reflective of the patient s status and interpret the appropriate information needed to identify each patient s requirements relative to his/her age-specific needs, and to provide the care needed as described in the department s policies and procedures.
  
  Age-specific information is developed further in the departmental job standards.

• Registered Nurse license issued by the state in which the team member practices
• Basic Life Support (BLS) for Healthcare Providers certification issued by the American Heart Association (AHA) needs to be obtained within 6 months unless department leader has determined it is not required.

• Bachelor s Degree in Nursing

• Typically requires 5 years of experience in clinical nursing.

• Working knowledge of the components of quality and acute patient care needs specifically related to the area/function in which care management will be performed.
• Excellent analytical and interpersonal communication skills necessary to negotiate with families, patient, physicians and third party payers for optimum plan.
• Demonstrated ability to work well with physicians and other professionals in a direct and positive manner.
• Demonstrated ability to operate all equipment necessary to perform the…