Cardiac Clinical Care Coordinator

Scottie Dombrowski, RN, MSN

Scottie Dombrowski, RN, is Stamford Hospital's Clinical Care Coordinator for Cardiac Surgery, or our "Patient Navigator." She has been a nurse at Stamford Hospital for nearly 40 years, working in a variety of departments including in the intensive care unit, cardiac catheterization lab and cardiac rehabilitation. Now her role is to make sure everything goes smoothly, pre-operatively through the recovery period and beyond, for every patient, along with their loved ones. Dombrowski, a skilled cardiac nurse is our patient navigator, who serves as the "go to" person for heart patients and families . She is an expert patient care coordinator, who knows exactly what needs to be done, by whom and how to make it happen.

Scottie's relationship with patients and families begins as soon as the decision to have heart surgery is made. She calls patients to help coordinate and schedule pre-op testing and answer questions. She's involved all the way through the weeks of post-operative care and months of cardiac rehabilitation.

On the day of the surgery, Scottie attends the pre-op consultation with the surgical team … she accompanies patients into the operating room and is there till long after they're asleep and surgery is underway … she spends time with the family, keeping them updated about what's happening and how the patient is doing and also helping them begin to relax as well. Scottie provides family members with beepers so they can spend time in the courtyard, visit the coffee shop, take a walk or even meditate or pray in the chapel. She gives them her beeper number as well, and encourages them to contact her anytime they have a question or concern through the day. Since the surgery can take as long as six hours, Scottie periodically visits the OR to see how things are going and provides regular updates to the family.

Post-surgery, Scottie visits with patients while they recover in the hospital. She says an important part of her role is to provide reassurance: "Many people need to be able to talk about what they're feeling - and hear that it's normal. They want to know they've made the right decision to go through with this and also that they will get better, that it's worth it." The conversations continue - daily, weekly, whatever the patient feels comfortable with - when they have returned home.

Scottie embodies the entire team's commitment to help patients heal and return to a happy, healthy life. "Our team we've is extremely experienced - every single person has an impressive level of expertise," she said. "I feel very privileged." Her job, she says, is a dream that has come true. "Stamford Hospital has been talking about bringing open heart surgery to this community as long as I've been here," she says. "I love helping patients and families. I might have the best job in the hospital.