By Sandra McAnallen
The profession of nursing has evolved significantly over the years, much as medicine itself has evolved. Today, many nurses are still in traditional patient-care-related roles, but career opportunities continue to expand and evolve.
For example, nurses today provide professional services through an enhanced role in the care coordination process. This includes placing a unique focus on population health management.
UPMC Health Plan currently employs more than 300 registered nurses. Many of our nurses perform tasks that may have been relatively unfamiliar to many nurses a generation ago. Foremost among those new roles is that of the practice-based care manager, a core team member who can be vital to the success of the patient-centered medical home.
The concept of the patient-centered medical home focuses on the primary care physician practices, and involves a team approach to care coordination. One of the team members is the practice-based care manager, who coordinates care transitions in coordination with the physician and the team in the delivery of patient-oriented primary care.
Care managers interact with members/patients in a number of ways, based on provider support/direction or directly to members who request support. The role of the nurse as a care manager has evolved to offer direct contact with members in the provider’s office, in the hospital, and, if necessary, in the member’s home. Face-to-face interactions have demonstrated an increase in the effectiveness of member education regarding medications, identifications of barriers to management of chronic illness, and promotion of preventive measures, including lifestyle changes needed to support improved health.
At UPMC Health Plan, our practice-based care managers work in high-volume primary care practice sites and serve as a direct link between the primary care physician and the health plan member. In some cases, there is a need for community-based care managers. The community-based care managers are nurses who work with complex and fragile members who need additional support in order to access health care services. In those cases, the nurse may visit the member in their home and may also accompany them for visits to the primary care physician or specialist, to assist in implementing and developing a plan of care. UPMC Health Plan care managers also connect a member with needed community resources.
Learning what it means to be part of a care process that focuses on individual members but delivers results that go well beyond individuals is another new experience for many nurses. But, it is one that they will become more familiar with in the years ahead as they assist the members in their care.
Other Jobs Nurses Can Try
Nowadays, there are many side jobs for nurses, wherein they can apply their knowledge in the medical world. While many of these jobs may not involve administering medications or doing routine nursing tasks, nurses are most sought for these roles.
Here are some examples:
- Medical Virtual Assistant: Nurses can work from home as a virtual medical assistant, answering patients’ queries on behalf of the doctor. Doctors can be so busy, and managing their web presence can be an additional task.
- Medical transcriptionist: People with a medical background, like nurses, are most-sought as a medical transcriptionist. This job involves transcribing patient records into an electronic file to be used for medical billing and insurance purposes.
- Telehealth Nurses: They work in call centers, providing medical advice, and evaluating patients’ symptoms.
Roles of Nurses During the Current Pandemic Crisis
Now more than ever, nurses are considered modern heroes because they are the frontliners, taking care of patients who have COVID-19. Aside from direct contact with COVID patients, nurses play an important role in educating the public about the mode of transmission and updates of coronavirus, like in patient-centered medical homes.
Here are the following roles of nurses during the coronavirus crisis:
- Primary Care Provider: Nurses are now sought to track people who are possible carriers of coronavirus or asymptomatic individuals. Governments are now hiring more nurses for contact tracing purposes, giving them above-average remuneration for the risks involved because of the life-threatening complications of COVID-19.
- Client Advocate: Nurses provide patient education, promoting awareness about the disease to avoid the spread of infection. They provide expert advice as to the best ways to do social distancing, wearing face shields, and other means to prevent acquiring coronavirus.
- Role Model: Nurses are role models when it comes to cleanliness, following strict disinfection best practices to avoid transmitting COVID-19 in the workplace and the household.
Sandra E. McAnallen is senior vice president for Clinical Affairs and Quality Performance for the UPMC Insurance Services Division. The UPMC Health Plan has been an industry leader in the successful implementation and development of the medical home concept. The concept has been implemented at all UPMC-owned primary care practices, as well as at numerous independent community practices.
Throughout the year, our writers feature fresh, in-depth, and relevant information for our audience of 40,000+ healthcare leaders and professionals. As a healthcare business publication, we cover and cherish our relationship with the entire health care industry including administrators, nurses, physicians, physical therapists, pharmacists, and more. We cover a broad spectrum from hospitals to medical offices to outpatient services to eye surgery centers to university settings. We focus on rehabilitation, nursing homes, home care, hospice as well as men’s health, women’s heath, and pediatrics.
