role of clinical coordinators in er

[peg gallagher]

I've recently taken a job as a clinical coordinator in an ER that see's 50k patients a year . The job is new to the hospital and not clearly defined ( we used to have assitant managers and they were expected to take an assignment) I'm not expected to take on a patient assignment , but when we are overwhelmed it can't be helped. I was hoping to get some input as to the role of a clinical coordinatore in other facilities.

[atownsendrn]

Not really sure what the role of a clinical coordinator is. I am a nurse manager in a small ER. Is that just a different title or a whole different position? Either way - good luck!!!

[RNCENCCRNNREMTP]

I have a role of Patient Care Coordinator on the night shift ina 36,000/year adult/pediatric ED. My role is to facilitate the care of all patients who present to the ED, whether that be to speed the admission/triage process, seeing that all ED RN standing orders get carried out, eliminating potential delays to diagnostic tests, working with support services to expedite care, acting as go between for MD/RN issues, taking a patient load as needed, being a resource person for MD/RN/Tech/support personnel.

[a1suzique]

I resigned as the Clinical Coordinator of my ER, in the perfect world we are facilitating flow, acting as resource for all staff, listening to the doctors complain, no pt assignment, take care of admissions, transfers, etc. I did the scheduling, yearly staff evaluations, attempted to advocate for the staff. Assisted in hiring and firing. But in my imperfect world, I was expected to maintain staffing levels- this means I worked over or was called in if we were short. 95% of the time I had a full pt load while doing everything else, was expected to carry a beeper 24/7, which I did NOT because my manager was not willing to pay me call pay, therefor I was NOT on call. The job was a real pain in the A*#! I resigned and transferred to PACU, where I make more money, work less hours, and expend much less energy. Also I don't have to listen to a manager downgrade his staff when they were busting their butts daily. Beware of positions without a clear role definition.

[debbyed]

Initially I was hired as a Clinical Coordinator with job descriptions simular to RNCEN...... This position worked very well and overall increases the efficiency of the ER and ER staff. Of course someone who lives in an office somewhere decided that since the clinical coordinator position was working so well they'd change it to include administrative and education components. I was a great traffic cop which was basically what I did, I'm not a great educator. I resigned my position and went part-time.