A Day in the Life: Medical Office Nurse Coordinator

Olympic Medical Center is currently hiring clinic nurses, called Medical Office Nurse Coordinators, which includes a $7,500 new hire incentive. For more information and to apply today, visit OMC’s Careers page.

Most patients of Olympic Medical Physicians Primary Care may not know what a Medical Office Nurse Coordinator is and what the role entails, but the important work behind the scenes by these clinical professionals plays a key role in coordinating patient care. When a patient calls the clinic with a medical concern, it is most often the Medical Office Nurse Coordinator who will return that call and address the patient’s concern.

Katie Lee, RN, has been with OMC for almost three years, in the role of Medical Office Nurse Coordinator at OMP’s Primary Care clinic in Port Angeles.

“Primary care is a big job,” Lee says. “We see patients of all ages with all manner of health conditions. It takes a team working together to provide excellent primary care. That’s what we do.”

Working on a team along with doctors, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, medical assistants, care navigators and discharge coordinators, the Nurse Coordinator is often a bridge from patient to provider, and vice versa, beyond office visits.

“Every interaction with a patient is an opportunity to help patients improve their health,” Lee says. “And if we can capitalize on that, we can really have an impact on the health of people in our community.”

As a medical office nurse coordinator, a typical workday revolves around patient education and fostering communication between patients and providers.

On an average day at the primary care clinic, Lee says her tasks can include:

• Relaying results from labs, pathology reports, imaging, and cardiac testing from a provider to a patient and answering patient questions about their results,
• Providing patient education on a plan of care and disease process,
• Facilitating phone calls and messages from patients,
• Coordinating care between departments, specialists, Home Health, assisted living facilities and hospice,
• Outreach to patients who have been recently discharged from the hospital, started a new medication or have multiple chronic health conditions,
• Seeing patients for Medicare Wellness Visits,
• Patient care such as administering vaccines and medications, performing wound care or collecting a urine sample by catheter.

“I feel valued by [the] providers. They appreciate the work I do for them, and they trust my judgment as a nurse” Lee says.

Lee counts the ability to communicate and collaborate as important to being a good fit for the position.

“Interpersonal skills are paramount because we need to communicate with our team, with patients and with other medical professionals involved in the patient’s care,” Lee says. “We need to ensure everyone is on the same page. This requires clear, direct communication.”

Medical Office Nurse Coordinators at OMC must have a current Washington State Registered Nurse license and CPR certification. At least one year of experience in an ambulatory medical clinic is preferred.

For Lee, one of the most rewarding aspects of the position is being able to play a role in helping patients navigate hurdles to arrive at the care they are seeking.

“Helping solve patient problems, no matter how big or small gives me a sense of satisfaction that I have made a difference in that patient’s life that day,” Lee says.

Olympic Medical Center is currently hiring clinic nurses, called Medical Office Nurse Coordinators, which includes a $7,500 new hire incentive. For more information and to apply today, visit OMC’s Careers page.