Home » Blog » Helping Patients Find Their Way

Helping Patients Find Their Way

Shenandoah University and Inova Partner on Patient Care Navigation Certificate Program for Nurses

Patient Care Navigators are becoming increasingly popular as health care becomes more complicated, making it difficult for patients to understand the best direction to take for their health needs. Nurses trained in this patient-centered service offer a human interpreter to help demystify administrative paperwork, medical jargon and available treatment options. Patients who are better educated on their healthcare needs become better consumers of healthcare dollars and understand when to call their physicians for care.

To help fill this need, Shenandoah University and Inova Health Systems have joined forces to offer a Patient Care Navigator certificate program for registered nurses. The program is open to currently licensed RNs from any organization and results in a continuing education validation.

Lisa Darsch, MSN, RN and adjunct faculty member at the Eleanor Wade Custer School of Nursing, developed the course with Nancy Loeffler, MHA, BSN, ACM, CCM and Chief Nursing Officer at Inova Medical Group.

This program will help prepare a generation of RNs from across the continuum of care to better provide for patients in the outpatient setting. With the length of hospital stays decreasing and more complex care being guided in physician offices and other outpatient settings, the general public needs a resource to gather information on care questions and delivery. Nurse navigators are uniquely qualified to provide this advice as they know the entire spectrum of care, starting with pre-hospitalization (e.g., joint replacement programs) to the inpatient side of care (e.g., congestive heart failure) to the postoperative/post hospital episode of care where we help patients reattain or improve their health. This attainment of health occurs when we guide persons through their outpatient services and ensure they’re seeing their physicians, taking medications and doing whatever is deemed necessary for their success.” 

— Lisa Darsch

Darsch said as hospitals are paid less by the government and insurance companies, they will be looking for more follow-up in the outpatient setting. “Our goal is to train an entire team of nurses to care for these patients,” she said.

“Because the program expands the access a patient has to further education on chronic disease states, lowers readmissions and helps save healthcare costs across the continuum, the best support we’ve had has come from the CMO and CEOs of the ambulatory sections of Winchester Medical Center and Inova Medical Group,” added Loeffler. “The typical students are RNs already studying navigation who want to learn more about what they should be doing, RN case managers wanting to know how to transition to a navigator or RNs trying to make the transition to a different position in nursing that is satisfying and patient-centered.”

The program began as a weekend offering in the fall of 2017. The latest class, in February, was a weeklong immersion. Classes are held at the Inova Center for Personalized Health building on the Inova campus and up to 100 nurses will be certified through the program in 2018.

“Presently, our biggest impediment to success is that nurses have to pay for the program out of pocket, but we are working to change this,” Darsch said. They are setting up a model where hospitals pay to train an entire group at once to eliminate this factor and already, some organizations are paying a portion of the tuition. The interactive nature of the class requires a classroom setting for the optimal educational experience and the course provides a total of 40 hours of continuing education credit, which RNs use to maintain licensure in their home states.

The word is spreading about the program, thanks to graduates who have been its best ambassadors. “Our exit surveys are amazing and show the true power of the knowledge we are conveying,” added Darsch. “We also work with graduates on opportunities to interview for navigator positions or help them maximize their network to keep them better informed about services available in the community. We are weaving a web of success that catches and closes the gaps in outpatient care. Saving one hospital readmission is equal to the cost of offering one class for 20 nurses so this should be the game changer for hospital readmission rates that facilities are looking to address. We are hopeful our program we will on the cutting edge of change in this area and are delighted INOVA participated in its development. At some point in the near future, we would also like to work with the American Nurses Association to make this a recognized specialty in the area of nursing.”

Categories: , , ,

Recent News

Headshots of Dr. Yunita Anwar (left) and Dr. John Winn (right), both of the Shenandoah University School of Business

WalletHub Taps Two SU Professors for Insight and Advice

Drs. Winn and Anwar Talk Insurance and Improving Credit

Shenandoah Pharmacy Graduates Secure Competitive PGY2 Residency Matches

Four pharmacy graduates advance into competitive PGY2 residencies in pediatric, psychiatric pharmacy, oncology, and investigational drugs and research

Professor explains content on a screen in a Shenandoah University educational leadership doctoral class.

New Higher Ed Concentration Offered in Shenandoah University’s Educational Leadership Doctoral Programs

Course topics delve into the primary responsibilities of higher education leaders

Headshot of J. Robert "Bobby" Spencer

Shenandoah University To Hold Special Performance To Benefit SSMT Living Legacy Endowment Fund

Original ‘Jersey Boy’ J. Robert Spencer headlines ensemble cast of Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre alumni

Shenandoah OT Programs Recognize Students & Educators of Distinction

2024-25 Awardees Hail From Four Occupational Therapy Programs

Students walk on campus with Sarah's Glen in the background.

Shenandoah University Participating In 2025 Virginia Private College Week

Prospective students who visit from July 21-26 will be entered to win an Amazon gift card and are eligible for an application fee waiver

Monthly Archives