From left: Patti Stivers, Temera Schneider, Ayrin Babbitt, Karine McGarrity and Judith Carter
UofL Health has a new team to ensure our patients have the tools and resources they need for successful care after a visit to one of our hospitals.
Transition of care nurse navigators support and work collaboratively with the transitional care management team of nurse care managers to complete all transitions of care. This team utilizes clinical skills to identify barriers or gaps to be managed by the nurse/social work care manager and ensures completion of care coordination and post-discharge appointments for our highest risk patients.
These nurse navigators contact patients who have been or will be discharged from our four hospitals: UofL Hospital, Jewish Hospital, Mary & Elizabeth Hospital and Shelbyville Hospital. Once they get in contact with patients, they make sure patients have a safe transition home with follow-up visits scheduled.
The goals for their work are to help our patients:
- Navigate the health system
- Improve patient safety
- Decrease re-admissions
- Increase our overall patient experience
The team consists of a group of highly-skilled nurses that brings more than 80 years of experience to serve our diverse patient population. Those team members are Ayrin Babbitt, Judy Carter, Karine McGarrity, Temera Schneider and Patti Stivers.
Ayrin has been in the health care setting for 14 years. She started her career in health care at UofL Hospital in 2007 working as a PCA. She has since gone on to obtain her LPN and RN credentials. Ayrin is also a recent graduate of the RN to BSN program at Galen College of Nursing. Her background includes pediatric, medical-surgical and emergency nursing.
Judy obtained her BSN from Emory University in 1984. She started her nursing career as a charge nurse in Labor and Delivery at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Ga. After relocating to Louisville, Ky., in 1984, she was initially employed at UofL Hospital on the Labor and Delivery unit for three years. Judy later returned to UofL Hospital to join the care coordination team. During her time with care coordination, she initiated the role of Emergency Department case manager at UofL Hospital. She worked in this role for 10 years before moving to the nurse navigator role. She maintains an interest in holistic and complementary health care after completing a holistic nursing program through the New York College of Health Professions. She has experience in dermatology and massage therapy.
Karine started her career in health care seven years ago working at a federally qualified health care center. She then went on to graduate from Jefferson County Technical School with a nursing degree and is currently pursuing her BSN through the University of Louisville RN to BSN program. She has experience working in both the CVICU and mixed acuity floors within UofL Hospital.
Temera has been a registered nurse for 14 years after receiving a nursing degree from Spalding University. She started her career at UofL Hospital working on the Bone Marrow Transplant ICU. Her background includes roles with home health, navigation and case management.
Patti has been a registered nurse for 28 years. She started her nursing career at UofL Hospital working on a surgical step-down unit and eventually moved into case management. She came to the navigator role from Jewish Hospital where she was a complex case manager in the Care Coordination department. Patti has also served as a case management manager at Mary & Elizabeth Hospital and UofL Hospital.
