The posting
Overview
Blue Ridge Cancer Care is seeking an experienced and highly motivated Collaborative Practice Nurse (CPN) to support oncology patients across the continuum of care. The CPN serves as a clinical resource and care coordinator, partnering closely with providers, nursing teams, and interdisciplinary staff to improve patient outcomes, enhance the patient experience, and support value-based care initiatives.
This role focuses on proactive patient management, care coordination, symptom assessment, patient education, and navigation of complex clinical needs. The ideal candidate is a strong communicator, critical thinker, and patient advocate who thrives in a collaborative environment and is passionate about delivering high-quality oncology care.
Responsibilities
Respond promptly to patient inquiries via calls, portal messages, and emails, ensuring timely communication and intervention.
- Utilize open-ended questions and computerized algorithms/pathways to assess and manage a wide range of patient symptoms and side effects, documenting all interventions thoroughly to maintain comprehensive medical records.
- Determine the urgency of patient symptoms/side effects, aggressively managing them to prevent unnecessary emergency department and hospital utilization.
- Collaborate with physicians through electronic communication, face-to-face meetings, or phone calls for cases requiring emergency care that cannot be addressed independently through standard protocols.
- Coordinate with providers to facilitate outpatient clinic visits for patients when appropriate, ensuring continuity of care.
- Prepare, organize, and lead Patient Care Conferences (huddles), communicating interventional outcomes to the full care team efficiently.
- Perform assessments for patient risk stratification, basic psychosocial assessments, and provide emotional support, delegating or making referrals for further screening and support as needed.
- Develop and implement nursing diagnoses and corresponding action plans, supporting oral chemotherapy education, adherence, and side effect monitoring.
- Engage in survivorship and advance care planning visits, making necessary referrals to support patient needs.
- Participate in research, quality, and performance improvement initiatives, including reporting on navigation metrics, while supporting patient advocacy and empowerment.
- Serve as a mentor/preceptor, providing guidance to less experienced nurses and performing other duties as required.
- Identify potential and real gaps in care delivery, seeking opportunities to address and close these gaps.
- Stay informed on practice operations guidelines, healthcare economics, value-based care, and quality programs, with travel to outlying clinics as needed based on care team requests.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s prepared Registered Nurse (BSN) preferred, Oncology Certification (OCN) a plus, Nurse Navigator Certification a plus 5 (five) years work experience as a Registered Nurse. Oncology experience preferred. Critical Skills: Demonstrated leadership, interpersonal, collaboration, communication, and active listening skills Ability to apply the full nursing process in day-to-day clinical operations, including assessment, analysis and nursing diagnosis, care planning, implementation and outcomes evaluation Ability to assess health disparities, identify needs of populations and cultures found within the general facility service area, describe a patient navigation process to address those needs, and document outcomes Highly adaptable due to shifting priorities around value-based care/quality program requirements; ability to prioritize and re-prioritize quickly Strong organizational, critical thinking, and follow-through skills Ability to apply and/or oversee care coordination in conjunction with the multidisciplinary team Strong verbal and written communication skills Ability to problem-solving cross-functionally or independently, and know when to pull in leaders or other care team members to come up with a solution Thrives in a team environment; embraces teamwork, but also enjoys and is successful at working independently Additional Knowledge/Skills Working computer, Microsoft, and internet skills, including an electronic EMR system Basic knowledge of local community resources PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Requires full range of body motion including handling and lifting patients, manual and finger dexterity, and eye-hand coordination. Requires standing and walking for extensive periods of time. Occasionally lifts and carries items weighing up to 40 lbs. Requires corrected vision and hearing to normal range. -Required to lift and assist patients as requested. WORK ENVIRONMENT: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Exposure to communicable diseases, toxic substances, ionizing radiation, medical preparations and other conditions common to an oncology/hematology clinic environment may occur. Salary Scale: The general pay scale for this position at BRCC is $62,933.07 - $96,824.00. The actual hiring rate is dependent on many factors, including but not limited to prior work experience, education, job/position responsibilities, location, work performance, etc.
