Stroke coordinators perceived roles, responsibilities, & resources: Florida Stroke Registry insights.

Background: Optimization of stroke care plays a critical role in post-stroke outcomes. The stroke coordinator role includes leadership of stroke care teams, education of staff, patients, and emergency personnel, and stroke care quality improvement initiatives. The current study aimed to characterize Florida stroke coordinator responsibilities, stroke coordinators roles, and resources available and job satisfaction through a statewide hospital survey. Methods: We report on a 20-item Stroke Coordinator Roles and Responsibility Survey that was administered to stroke coordinators from participating Florida hospitals. Topics included description of stroke center (i.e., size and type); experience of stroke coordinator; roles/responsibilities (data abstraction details, number of sites covered, description of additional duties); resources available; adequacy of training; satisfaction with compensation. We characterized various roles and resources available to coordinators and examined their variations by center type, size, and additionally by years in current position using the Chi square test. Results: Surveys were deployed to 148 stroke coordinators covering 180 stroke hospitals from August to December 2023. A total of 55 responses (response rate 37 %) were available for analysis from 25 comprehensive/thrombectomy capable and 24 primary stroke centers with some coordinators covering multiple sites. Stroke coordinators who have been in their current role >5 years were more likely to work in large (63 % vs 29 %, Conclusions: Stroke coordinators face challenges with chart abstraction workload, fulfilling multiple roles, and limited available resources. Dissatisfaction is present with perceptions of inadequate training and compensation. Organizations should focus on addressing these concerns to stabilize and strengthen the stroke coordinator role, enhancing the quality and performance of the stroke program.