Discharge Coordinator

Job Summary and Responsibilities

As a Discharge Professional, you will provide critical support and meticulous coordination for patients transitioning from our care, ensuring a safe, seamless, and well-planned departure to their next care setting.Every day you will expertly assess patient needs, arrange post-discharge services, educate patients and families, and meticulously collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to ensure a comprehensive and individualized discharge plan is in place.To be successful, you will demonstrate outstanding organizational skills, strong communication abilities, and an empathetic, proactive demeanor, contributing significantly to reduced readmissions and improved patient outcomes post-discharge.

• Serves as a resource to department staff
  • Ensures standard of care is maintained.
  • Interacting with others in a way that gives them confidence in one's intentions and those of the organization.
• Coordinates process flow
  • Maintains appropriate coverage to ensure all patients are contacted post discharge.
  • Demonstrates appropriate prioritization and critical thinking skills.
  • Sharing authority and responsibility with others to move decision making and accountability downward through the organization enabling individuals to stretch their capabilities and accomplish the business unit's strategic priorities.
• Assists with daily responsibilities and coaching
  • Contacts patients discharged to home to ask designated questions; ensures patients received appropriate and effective discharge instructions.
  • Provides information and resources to patients as requested.
  • Collaborates with discharging units as needed.
  • Collaborates with physicians and community resources as needed.
  • Assesses and allocates resources as needed. Provides input and daily coaching to staff members.
  • Understands how to anticipate, recognize, and deal effectively with existing or potential conflicts.
• Provides and ensures quality patient care
  • Utilizes the nursing process including accurately assesses patient's physical, emotional, spiritual, and learning needs.
  • Develops an effective plan of care, provides appropriate care, patient teaching, and referral to other resources, evaluates and modifies the plan of care based on patient responses.
  • Documents accurately in the medical record.
  • Functions in a way that promotes attainment of unit strategic plan goals--holds staff members accountable, completes follow ups as necessary, rounds to observe compliance, performance manages as needed, etc
  • Prevents unnecessary readmission through proper education and follow-up.
  • Works collaboratively with physicians and nursing providing continuum of care prior to and after discharge.
• Role Models self-development
  • Participates in CEU programs as determined by specialty.
  • Collaborates on the annual assessment of learning needs with the Director and Educator.
  • Completes these within specified timeframe.
• Assists in providing positive impressions to patients and visitors. Promotes a caring and compassionate approach to all interactions
  • Promotes the use of the Five Fundamentals of Service (AIDET) for interactions with patients.
  • Communicates effectively with patients and families to resolve issues and provides service recovery where needed.
  • Participates in patient satisfaction activities.
  • Expected to be a patient experience ambassador. Any unresolved issues that the patient has should be addressed and service recovery performed. If staff are unable to resolve issue, the appropriate leader should be notified.

Job Requirements

Required

• Associate's Degree 
• Two years of clinical acute care experience, including discharge, planning and/or utilization management
• Direct experience working with physicians
• Basic Life Support - BLS through an American Heart Association

Preferred

• Bachelor's Degree

Where You’ll Work

Mercy Medical Center Redding offers comprehensive health care to nearly 300,000 residents in a six-county region. It is one of only two Level II trauma centers, the only Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and the only Joint Commission-certified Advanced Thrombectomy-Capable Stroke Center north of Sacramento north of Sacramento. Mercy Medical Center Redding is a 266-bed regional medical center providing inpatient and outpatient services as well as specialized cardiovascular care, stroke care, orthopedics, neurological surgery, comprehensive cancer care, maternity care, and a robust robotic surgery program. In addition, the hospital’s network of care includes Mercy Home Health and Hospice and Dignity Health Connected Living. 

One Community. One Mission. One California