Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1212411
10 Working Nurse l WorkingNurse.com February 17–March 23, 2020 MY SPECIALTY by Keith Carlson, RN, BSN, CPC, NC-BC Please describe the trajectory of your nursing career. I began my career in 2012 by finding an internship program in pediatrics at Children's Hospital of Orange County. I floated a lot to the NICU there and fell in love with it. In 2013, I was trained as a staff nurse in the NICU at Cedars-Sinai. While working the night shift there, I earned my master's in nursing education, which led me to the career path I'm currently traveling. Why did you choose pediatrics? Both the relationships with the families and advocating for this very special pop- ulation who can't speak for themselves have always appealed to my heart. When I was in school, I knew pediatrics was for me. I so enjoy talking with the kids, helping them through rough proce- dures and counseling and supporting the parents. My ability to connect and ease worries took on a new level of impor- tance when I started working in the NICU. What is your positionn at Henry Mayo and what does it entail? I'm the clinical navigator of the NICU, which along with L&D and postpartum comprise the perinatal department. As clinical navigator, I'm responsible for connecting with staff and assessing their skills over time. I also round on par- ents and families to troubleshoot any potential patient experience issues. Being a navigator is an umbrella posi- tion that includes process improvement, troubleshooting clinical issues, unit- based issues, clinical skills assessments, systems analysis and collaboration with many other units. A navigator has so many things to do that we can't just be put in a single box. In order to navigate the realm of the NICU, you must have space, time and resources. I feel I have a lot of room to be creative and flexible in this position, whether it's doing data entry, researching patients, pulling information for chart audit or creating education for the unit. How does the clinical navigator support the NICU nurses? I work very closely with the clinical man- ager of the NICU, but my role is definitely advisory. I make sure my nurses are heard, acknowledged and respected. I empower them to use their voices to speak up if there are issues in the unit or if a process needs improvement. It could be as simple as improving and/or optimizing the documentation in the electronic medical record, or some- thing more complex, like examining evi- dence-based research about a patho- physiologic process and sharing that knowledge with the nurses. Another recent example is that we completely revamped the policies and created charting interventions, flow- sheets and order sets for our brand-new cooling blanket, which we will start using in March 2020. This is a huge deal. I am also creating brand-new compe- tencies for new hires as well as annual education, skills fairs and educational modules. Michael Russo, RNC-NIC, MSN, CLC NICU Clinical Navigator Perinatal Services Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital Valencia NICU Clinical Navigator Improving processes and systems while empowering the nursing team COMPASSION FOR ALL Michael Russo "lives" in the NICU, supporting nurses and families alike. He says just taking a few extra minutes to listen makes a huge difference.