What does a clinical team lead do?
Shannon, a clinical team lead at Enhabit Home Health & Hospice, defines multitasking as dealing with many different processes and situations one right after the other over the course of a day.
“As a clinical team lead, I multitask a lot,” she said. “You have to be able to go from one process to another – one situation to another – and still go back and complete your original task. It’s almost like being a mom or a grandma and having to deal with a lot of things going on at once.”
What is a clinical team lead?
At Enhabit, a clinical team lead is a jack of all trades. They are registered nurses who provide patient care but also work in the office influencing care delivery for all patients. They contribute to the company’s overall success by effectively facilitating the relationship between physicians, referral sources, patients, caregivers and employees.
“We are the gatekeeper of all,” Shannon said. “We can jump in when the branch director is out. We’re able to schedule patients and handle medical records or referrals. We are everywhere, all over the office. We’re not only just here for the field staff, but the back office staff too.”
Considering a clinical team lead combines patient care and managerial qualities, it is a great role for nurses who are looking to take their next career step into management.
What does a clinical team lead do?
A clinical team lead is versed in most roles at a branch – from nursing to scheduling. They help keep the branch operation smooth and seamless, stepping in to help wherever necessary.
“We not only handle processing orders, referrals or visits that come in, but we’re also taking physician, patient and caregiver calls,” Shannon said. “We follow up with physicians when clinicians aren’t able to because they’re spending their day seeing patients since we’re spending most of our day in the office processing workflow on the computer.”
Specific clinical team lead responsibilities include:
- Encouraging, mentoring and inspiring others to provide A Better Way to Care®
- Providing oversight of patient care, assisting with case conference, reviewing and approving orders
- Assisting the branch director in providing ongoing education and training to all branch clinicians to ensure understanding of documentation requirements to meet regulatory standards
- Executing patient visits to include OASIS assessments and participation in on-call rotation as needed
As a critical function of the team, clinical team leads often take care of administrative tasks so clinicians can focus on patient care.
“Clinicians are seeing 7-9 patients a day,” Shannon said. “They don’t have that time to sit and follow up with different doctors to make sure patients have everything they need. It’s very important for clinicians to know they don’t have to worry about these things because their clinical team lead has their back.”
What is it like to be a clinical team lead?
While Shannon is usually busy in her role, she wouldn’t have it any other way. Being a clinical team lead has allowed her to make countless connections with family members and lend a listening ear.
“A lot of times patients go into these doctor’s offices and they’re in and out; physicians are in for two seconds and out two seconds later,” she said. “Nobody sits down with them and has a true heart-to-heart conversation. As a home-based care clinician, we’re in their home, on their time, in the moment and in the real with them.”
To Shannon, the home health environment is unique and important because it allows extra time to really understand the patient’s story and the entire journey.
“While providers have hundreds of patients in an office setting, we have the ability to really sit down and soak in what patients are telling us in their home,” she said. “So, when I write up my notes for my patients, you’ve got a whole story there – you know exactly what the patient needs and exactly what the family’s concerns are. Sitting in their space in the moment with them gives us the chance to do that.”
Making a difference
And while Shannon finds joy in making a difference in patient and family lives, they also make a difference in hers. After unexpectedly losing her father in January 2021, Shannon had an experience with a patient she will never forget.
“I had a dementia patient – which is what my father had – who had a daughter,” she said. “When visiting, I talked to her as a nurse but I think a lot of it was daughter-to-daughter too. I let her know what she was going to experience and how I dealt with it myself.”
“We cried together. She told me at the end of that visit, ‘I prayed for the Lord to send me an angel – and you were that angel.’ Those are just the moments that mean a lot and highlight that we’re not just here for the patient, but for the family as well.”
How to further my career in home health
If you’re a nurse interested in building personal connections both inside the field and at the branch, a clinical team lead may be a good fit for you. Even if it seems daunting, Shannon’s advice is just to go for it.
“If you are comfortable in your assessment skills, your data collection and your communication, take the leap,” she said. “I came from school nursing and I was fresh. I didn’t know home health at all. But you just have to take the leap of faith to know that this door is opening for you for a reason and you just have to jump with it – that’s exactly what I did.”
At Enhabit, clinical team leads are graduates of an accredited school of professional nursing and licensed in the state of employment where they are practicing. They typically have a minimum of two years of nursing experience in a medical, surgical or subacute setting.
To be successful as a clinical team lead, you will need a good understanding of regulatory guidelines of a home health agency and skilled competency with technology.
To learn more about home health career opportunities at Enhabit, search our open career opportunities near you or sign up for job alerts by texting “CARE” to 98199.
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