Our team members are the heart of what makes us better. At Hackensack Meridian Health we help our patients live better, healthier lives — and we help one another to succeed. With a culture rooted in connection and collaboration, our employees are

team members. Here, competitive benefits are just the beginning. It’s also about how we support one another and how we show up for our community. Together, we keep getting better - advancing our mission to transform healthcare and serve as a leader of

positive change.

The Capacity Management RN is responsible for all activities related to Capacity Management including, but not limited to, coordinating the patient placement, access case management and the patient flow required to provide appropriate, effective, and efficient patient care. The Capacity Management RN is empowered to remove barriers and bottlenecks related to patient placement and flow. Notifies and communicates with Nurse Managers, Administrative Supervisors, Physicians, Medical Directors on Call, and Administrator on Call when appropriate.

A Day in the life of a Capacity Management Nurse at Hackensack Meridian Health may include:

• Uses clinical expertise to coordinate the placement of elective and emergent admissions as well as transfers from other facilities in accordance with clinical standards and guidelines ensuring that all patients are admitted or transferred to the most appropriate available bed
• Clinically knowledgeable of disease entities, epidemiological issues, and circumstances that have implications for the placement of patients
• Assures communication and implementation of the Capacity Management plan for the day as defined at the daily bed meeting to the patient placement staff and all patient care areas, physicians, senior leadership and operations departments as needed
• Communicates daily Capacity Management plan to the evening staff and Administrative Supervisors in order to assure continued implementation and focus on the day¿s plan
• Reviews patients conditions as necessary, independently, or in conjunction with case management staff, ETC, Administrative Supervisor, or charge nurse to ensure appropriate placement for required services
• Tracks bed availability, maintaining appropriate logs/records
• Works directly with Plant Ops and Environmental Services on daily Room of the Day (ROD)
• Direct oversight of the Daily Census Bed Reports (3 times a day)
• Walking rounds on all nursing units to identify & discuss barriers to discharge, build relationships with staff & educate staff to the role of the Capacity RN
• Monitors bed availability on all nursing units as well as pending discharges assessing the ability to meet the ADT needs of the cath lab, ETC, PACU, and direct admissions
• Acts as a resource to patient placement staff as to the type of patient that each unit can accept and the type of equipment or medications that can be used or given on each unit, using policies and procedures as a guide
• Makes recommendations to the Director for Capacity Management for closing or downsizing units and manages the transfer of patients from the ETC/PACU or direct admits when an overflow unit is opened assuring that patients are admitted in a controlled manner
• Regularly communicates with and provides status reports to Director for Capacity Management regarding impending need for divert, operating room holds, or cath lab delays. Calls additional bed meetings as needed. Additional ETC functions:
• Knowledge of ETC volume of patients and type (admission, observation, treat & release).
• Patient Acuity. o ICUs. o Stepdown. o Unit Based Telemetry. o Remote Telemetry. o Psych.
• Critical Care patients. o Identify barriers/blocks to patients obtaining bed assignment.  Isolation.  Intensivist.  Mid-Level acceptance
• Maintain constant communication. o ETC Leadership and Supervisors. o Critical Care Manager/Charge Nurse. o Downgrades. o Facilitate Transfers (Call MDs, Units, etc).
• Facilitate movement in the ETC to effectively manage flow in the ETC and flow to the floors
• Isolation Patients. o Communicate with infectious disease department. o Obtain list of all isolation patients. o Cohort appropriate patients. o Identify lab results that clear isolation on Patient
• Observation. o Communication with Manager of Observation Patients. o Identify candidates for hallway beds. o CDU patients that can go to IP Floors. Surge. o Reply appropriately to ETC requests. o Share bed capacity plan via email to leadership. o Update with discharges. o Obtain equipment needed.
• Transport patients to the floors as needed

Education, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required:

• Bachelor's degree in Nursing from an accredited nursing program and three years of professional nursing experience
• Knowledge of nursing principles, practices, and techniques
• Knowledge of state and agency laws and regulations governing general professional nursing practices
• Skill in both verbal and written communication
• Skill in applying professional nursing methods and techniques
• Skill in maintaining effective working relationships

Education, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Preferred:

• National Certification desirable.
• Master's degree in nursing or other related field.
• Previous experience in Capacity Management

Licenses and Certifications Required:

• NJ State Professional Registered Nurse License