By: Lydia Rogers ~Staff Writer~
An innovative nursing care coordinator program has recently been added to Xavier’s expanding list of academic programs.
At the start of the Spring 2014 semester, the Xavier Leadership Center, the Xavier Nursing Program and Catholic Health Partners teamed up to create the new Nurse Care Coordinator program on campus.
This program will be the first of its kind in the region and is one of the first in the country.
The development of the care coordinator program was a response to a national trend in the healthcare system that has shifted to patient-centered care and the improvement of communication within the healthcare delivery system.
“A care coordinator is at the core of the communication between the specialists and makes sure the patient’s care is holistically being administered,” Director of Xavier’s School of Nursing Susan Schmidt said. “The typical nurse in a hospital is more task-oriented and does not do risk management, as well as work across systems.”
The program was developed when Lynne McCabe, director of Community Care Coordination Programs for Catholic Health Partners, contacted Xavier and asked to start a certificate program for her nursing staff.
Catholic Health Partners, Ohio’s largest healthcare organization, is a mission-driven non-profit. With the recent changes to the healthcare system, the organization had been looking to form a program to train its nurses as care coordinators and found Xavier to be the most beneficial option.
The nursing school compiled the curriculum, and Catholic Health Partners, which requested the partnership, is the financial provider.
“It’s cutting edge in terms of providing the best health care preparation for nurse coordinators who will strive to improve patient satisfaction, to improve patient outcome and reduce per capita cost of healthcare delivery services,” Schmidt said.
The care coordinator training and certificate program is included in Xavier’s graduate program.
Students who wish to participate will receive the care coordinator certificate as well as three graduate school credits.