Sickle Cell Nurse Coordinators Bridging the Gap for the Future
Authors: Gipson Lashanta 
Published: June 2024

Presentation Date: 6/8/2024

Presentation Start Time: 6:00:00 PM

Background

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a group of inherited red blood cell (RBC) disorders causing serious medical complications such as infection, acute chest syndrome and stroke. Sickle cell nurse coordinators, who are registered nurses with focus on patients with SCD, play a critical role in Adult Sickle Cell Programs as they organize patient care and treatments by incorporating all members in the care team. Intricate coordination of health care services help prevent fragmented care while supporting patients being able to successfully navigate throughout the complex care continuum in most hospitals and clinics.

 • Sickle cell nurse care coordinators roles are diverse and can include:

 • Serving as a liaison between the patient and other healthcare specialists

 • Providing ongoing assessments to identify patient needs as part of a comprehensive care model

 • Providing ongoing education to patients, caregivers and other medical staff

 • Assisting with pediatric to adult care transition

 • Advocating for the patients

 • Serving as a resource for house staff members

Nationally, there is a paucity of experienced sickle cell hematologists. Addressing this diminishing workforce for complicated aging sickle cell patients will require creative solutions to improve the pipeline and appropriately prepare future doctors. The unique role of dedicated sickle cell nurse coordinators can be leveraged to support hematologists in training to become competent and captivated in learning how to appropriately care for adult sickle cell patients. Sickle cell nurse coordinators can deploy substantial influence by using their experience and knowledge to provide a means for continual innovation. Despite its significance, there is a lack of literature on the contribution of nurse coordinators and their definitive role in the care of patients with sickle cell disease. We propose a model of supportive teaching and multidisciplinary care that will increase empathy and interest in learning how to manage complex adult sickle cell care. We believe this model is reproducible and can increase the future of the adult sickle cell workforce. The aim of the study is to provide an introductory in the role of the sickle cell nurse coordinators and how their role can promote education during residency/fellowship training.

Methods

Next steps are to create and analyze a survey of the attitudes and career trajectory of fellows who have done and will do their training in this type of environment. The results from the survey will also be used to explore the participants’ views of the sickle cell nurse coordinators’ performance. Participants include 25 Hematology Fellows and Attendings in the diverse field of hematology/oncology.

Results

Although results are pending, this research holds promise in addressing the contribution of sickle cell nurse coordinators in promoting education during residency/fellowship training. The goal is to provide a clear overview and share results from surveys during presentation.

Conclusions

By conducting this qualitative study, the expected outcome is to present an overview of the role of sickle cell nurse coordinators and their contribution to preparing a future of competent healthcare professionals to become well adapted in the care of patients with sickle cell disease.