Stroke Coordinator

The Stroke Coordinator oversees the hospital's stroke care processes and quality.  This is an excellent opportunity to develop administrative and leadership skills while advancing your neurological expertise.  This dynamic role is a key contributor to the long-term development of a regional system of care for stroke across UPMC Central PA, in collaboration with other site Stroke Coordinators and program leadership.

Position Detail:

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• Full-time Regular, 40 hours per week, Salaried position
  
• No travel expected
  
• Work Schedule:  Monday thru Friday, business hours
  
• No weekends/holidays
  

Department Expectations:

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• Ensure consistency in delivery of stroke care from admission to discharge
  
• Ensure site compliance with regulatory requirements and published clinical practice guidelines
  
• Respond to Emergency Department and inpatient stroke alerts to provide support and facilitate timely treatment
  
• Provide support, education and guidance for relevant nursing and provider teams
  
• Collaborate with regional Stroke Coordinator colleagues and leadership to continually develop the regional Stroke program
  

Purpose:
Collects and reports data for the stroke patient population in monitoring and providing feedback to medical and nursing staff. Performs audits from medical records, computerized data, observations, and other methods. Acts as a liaison and educator to UPMC Neuroscience staff as well as multiple referral centers and EMS agencies.

Responsibilities:

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• Initiates opportunities for UPMC physicians to visit other facilities not currently participating in the UPMC Stroke and interventional program if applicable.
  
• Acts as a best practice resource to coordinators at other UPMC facilities related to stroke services.
  
• Assists in development and facilitates orientation and ongoing education for all neuroscience nursing courses.
  
• Serve as the Joint Commission liaison for the individual neuroscience service line.
  
• Responsible for marketing the Stroke and Neurointerventional Program 9if applicable), developing relationships and visiting with referring hospitals and EMS personnel regarding feedback on stroke patients.
  
• Educates various EMS practitioners on stroke field assessment priorities.
  
• Identifies areas of noncompliance within the neuroscience service line, communicating issues to medical and nursing staff to seek resolution.
  
• Responsible for overseeing concurrent data abstraction on stroke patients, as related to the Joint Commission, core measures, and meaningful use.
  
• Collaborate with all inpatient services (i.e., ED, ICU, Nursing floors, etc.) leading stroke initiatives.
  
• Attend in-house stroke codes with focus on addressing process breakdowns, collaborate on in-house stroke related projects, assist RNs in maintaining specific data points, assist in all stroke policy reviews.
  
• Interact with physician/resident/APP/Fellow as it relates to patients on service, addressing any issues identified by this group. Roll out to staff/faculty any pertinent changes related to process. Own the variety of process flow documents. Collaborate with medical director/Stroke Champion for yearly updates. Maintain documents for site survey purposes
  

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• Diploma from an accredited school of nursing required.
  
• MSN preferred.
  
• A minimum of 3 years of experience for a Primary Stroke Center, Advanced Primary Stroke Center or Acute Stroke Ready of neuroscience nursing experience and 5 years for those facilities that are Thrombectomy Capable and Comprehensive.
  
• NIH Stroke Scale and Modified Rankin Score certifications are required within 3 months of hire.
  
• Demonstrated competence in professional nursing practice.
  
• Excellent written and oral communication skills required.
  
  Licensure, Certifications, and Clearances:
  
• CPR required based on AHA standards that include both a didactic and skills demonstration component within 30 days of hire
  
• Registered Nurse (RN)
  
• Act 34
  

*Current licensure either in the state where the facility is located or, if the facility is in a state covered by the multistate Nursing Licensure Compact (NLC) agreement, a multistate license issued by a participating NLC state. Hires and current employees working on an out-of-state NLC license who later change their residency to the state where the facility is also located will have 60 days upon changing their residency to apply for licensure within that state.

UPMC is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Disability/Veteran