THERESA BRZEZINSKI, RN
Case Manager
Raritan Bay Medical Center
Perth Amboy, New Jersey
Theresa Brzezinski is a case manager at Raritan Bay Medical Center working with 20 patients and families in the Intensive Care and Coronary Care Units. In her role as case manager, Ms. Brzezinski is responsible for facilitating service delivery for these critically ill patients from admission through discharge in conjunction with nursing and the medical staff, collaborating with all members of the interdisciplinary team to promote the delivery of quality, cost-effective health care, performing utilization review, and communicating with external case managers, outside review agencies and medical staff to facilitate the appropriate utilization of resources and to maximize reimbursement.
Ms Brzezinski is considered an outstanding case manager who willingly shares her knowledge and expertise with others. Nurse managers in the critical care areas have cited many situations demonstrating that Theresa consistently goes above and beyond the expectations of her position to ensure that her patients receive the best possible care while maintaining an excellent collaborative relationship with the interdisciplinary team, patients and their families. Ms. Brzezinski performs daily chart reviews on all patients so she can make an early identification of potential problems or early referral for needs that impact discharge. She develops relationships with patients and families that permit her to have those crucial conversations about moving from independent living to custodial care, end-of-life decision making, as well as organ and tissue donation.
Ms. Brzezinski has functioned in many roles in her association with RBMC. She began as a staff nurse and worked in pediatrics and a variety of medical-surgical settings. She was an assistant nurse manager and nurse manager in the telemetry unit, transferring to the Discharge Planning Department and adapting when this role evolved into Case Management, described by her department head as a “combination of social work, utilization review and discharge planning”. Ms. Brzezinski is involved in training new staff members and acts as a mentor to student nurses during their Case Management experiences. She teaches new staff to be certain of the facts and use critical thinking skills to pursue what is best for the patient. Her colleagues say that Ms. Brzezinski “seeks not to accept the status quo but rather breaks down barriers and takes every opportunity to share this knowledge with nurses, physicians, patients and families.” Nursing staff is comfortable discussing ethical concerns with her and she is often the liaison between the patient’s family and the Bioethics Committee.
The Tissue Sharing Network has acknowledged Ms. Brzezinski’s excellence in practice by nominating her for the Donor Advocate Award for 2006 and she was recognized at their annual “Circle of Life Celebration” gala in April 2007 for her commitment to this cause. Theresa was recognized by her peers when she received the Raritan Bay Medical Center Bob Hoyt award for exhibiting compassion, loyalty, warmth, friendliness, and selfless concern toward patients, visitors, and fellow employees during the year.