Patient Placement Nurse IV, Capacity Management

Sutter Health Opportunity

Responsible for coordinating and optimizing patient flow in acute care facilities to ensure appropriate use of resources and timely patient care. This role involves collaborating with multidisciplinary teams to manage bed assignments, admissions, transfers, and discharges, balancing patient needs with health system capacity. The nurse works closely with hospital leadership, physicians, and other staff to assess real-time capacity data, predict future capacity challenges, and implement strategies to mitigate overcrowding. Strong clinical judgment, problem-solving, and communication skills are essential for ensuring smooth operations and delivering high-quality patient care.

Job Accountabilities

Patient Placement Services:

• Leads the command center in the coordination of patient movement and bed assignments, based on appropriate level of care and patient aggregation from health-system emergency departments, perioperative/procedural services, direct admissions, patient transfers, within the hospital and transfers from other hospitals identified by the transfer center, for health-system admission.
• Interacts with physicians, nursing staff, and administrators of system hospitals on the placement of patient populations in each acute care hospital and respective nursing units, by assessing patient diagnosis, acuity and location, applicable risk factors and unit criteria/bed availability.
• Leverages capacity dashboards and other real-time indicators to monitor real-time patient flow and capacity data to ensure efficient use of hospital resources. In addition, predicts future patient placement pressure points and participates in the execution of surge-capacity protocols.
• Communicates regularly with acute care hospitals to anticipate and respond to changes in patient volume.
• Facilitates market multidisciplinary capacity management huddles to review and expedite patient movement across all hospital campuses.
• Collaborates with physicians, nursing staff, and administrators within the health system to resolve bed availability issues.
• Develops strategies to address capacity constraints and minimize wait times including proactively level loading patients, with a working knowledge of each service line and level of care, across the health system.
• Liaises with nursing and providers to facilitate patient discharges, inter-facility and intra-hospital transfer processes.
• Ensures that patient care remains uninterrupted and aligns with hospital policies
• Coordinates accurate, current/up-to-date census and patient bed availability information for all system hospitals.
• Tracks the location of staffed beds available, allowing efficient patient placement for delivery of appropriate patient care.

Education

• Graduate of accredited school of nursing.

Certification & Licensure

• RN-Registered Nurse of California - California Department of Consumer Affairs

Typical Experience

• Critical care nursing background required, with a minimum of two (2) years of recent, relevant experience.
• Experience in Patient Placement, Bed Planning, and/or Nursing Administrative Supervisor roles within an acute care hospital setting.
• Hospital-based operational experience, even if the Patient Placement or Administrative Supervisor experience was for a minimum duration (e.g., six months).
• Demonstrated strong critical thinking skills developed through prior experience working in high-acuity clinical environments such as the Emergency Department (ED) and/or Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Skills and Knowledge

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.

• Demonstrates expertise and resourcefulness in level of care requirements, advanced nursing assessments, bed capacity management, service line capabilities, and acceptance pathways by care site.
• Demonstrates expertise in development, implementation and evaluation of specific transfer and bed management program.
• Demonstrates a high degree of critical thinking, problem solving and negotiating skills.
• Demonstrates ability to communicate effectively with all interdisciplinary team members, referrals agencies, patients, families, and other services.
• Demonstrates excellent customer service and professional administrative skills.
• Regular attendance to perform work on site during regularly scheduled business hours or scheduled shifts is required
• Well-developed time management and organizational skills, including the ability to prioritize assignments and work within standardized operating procedures and scientific methods to achieve and meet deadline.
• Work independently, as well as be part of the team, including accomplishing multiple tasks in an environment with interruptions.

Job Shift: Days

Schedule: Per Diem/Casual

Shift Hours: 12

Days of the Week: Variable

Weekend Requirements: As Needed

Benefits: No

Unions: No

Position Status: Non-Exempt

Weekly Hours: 0

Employee Status: Per Diem/Casual

Sutter Health is an equal opportunity employer EOE/M/F/Disability/Veterans.

Pay Range is $87.00 to $113.97 / hour

The compensation range may vary based on the geographic location where the position is filled. Total compensation considers multiple factors, including, but not limited to a candidate's experience, education, skills, licensure, certifications, departmental equity, training, and organizational needs. Base pay is only one component of Sutter Health's comprehensive total rewards program. Eligible positions also include a comprehensive benefits package.