Linen Technician

The University of Kansas Health System•Kansas City, KS

About The Position

Under general supervision, to collect, transport, sort, weigh, and count laundry; to operate laundry equipment; and to do other work as required. Incumbents in the laundry worker class are typically assigned duties which may involve heavy lifting or strenuous physical labor. Need for 2nd shift.

Requirements

High School Graduate or GED

Nice To Haves

1 or more years of linen and laundry experience.

Responsibilities

Distributes clean linen and collects soiled linen throughout KUMC. These areas include all patient care units, ICU Units, Bone Marrow Unit, Burn Unit, Emergency Room, Hyperbaric, Radiology areas, Physical Therapy, Surgery, Same Day Surgery, Central Sterile, Dialysis units, Accommodation rooms, Orthodics, OBGYN clinic, Outpatient Suites, Outpatient Surgery clinic, Family Medicine clinic, Sports Medicine clinic, Kirmayer Fitness Center, School of Nursing, Children’s Development Unit, Peds Clinic, Dietary, Housekeeping, and other units and clinics throughout the facility.
Follows all safety and infection prevention and control policies and procedures. Reports all safety and infection control hazards to supervisor. Wears appropriate Personal Protective Equipment when handling soiled linen, laundry chemicals, cleaning chemicals, etc. Reports work related injury to supervisor. Assists supervisor with completion of incident report.
Removes bulk clean linen carts from the vendor’s truck and loads covered soiled linen bins on the truck for transportation to the vendor for processing.
Receives and sorts bulk clean linen and specialty items and places on the designated linen exchange cart or bulk delivery cart in preparation for transport to the customers.
Inventories and restocks nursing unit exchange carts daily.
Stocks linen exchange carts and bulk delivery areas according to established par levels in each unit and clinic.
Records linen usage daily and assists the supervisor in tracking linen usage information. Inputs linen usage data in to a hand held computing device.
Reports linen shortages, damaged linen, and poor quality of linen to supervisor immediately.
Transports linen exchange carts and bulk delivery carts throughout the facility seven days a week.
Replaces previous day’s exchange cart with a fresh cart stocked with a new 24-hour par level of linen each day. Takes used exchange cart, from the previous 24 hours of usage, down to the linen room to be restocked for the next day.
Makes floor rounds as assigned to insure that adequate linen supply is maintained throughout the course of the day. Makes adjustments to linen quotas as necessary to accommodate a higher census, increased demands, or unpredicted higher usage practices.
Communicates with the customer in the unit or clinic upon delivery of clean linen to notify them that a delivery has been made and to see if they agree with the linen quotas that have been delivered. Upon delivery, asks the customer to sign a delivery ticket in order to have a record of the delivery.
Collects soiled linens as assigned using designated covered transport carts. Transports all soiled linens to the designated storage area. May be asked to sort soiled linens for processing at KU in special cases but the bulk of soiled linen items are processed at an outside vendor. Wears proper protective equipment when handling soiled linens. Follows proper infection control procedures when handling soiled linen.
Operates a washer and dryer for the processing of soiled linen items. Follows the proper usage instructions for using laundry chemicals and laundry equipment operations. Cleans lint trap in the dryer and cleans the dryer itself as as needed. Follows proper safety and operating procedures.
Answers the telephone in the linen department using good customer services skills. Receives linen orders via telephone and is responsible to insure that these linen orders are filled in a timely fashion. Communicates to customer an expected delivery time and delivers linen on or before the expected delivery time. Any delays or variances from the normal or agreed upon delivery time must be communicated to the customer. Could be asked to carry a pager or radio and is responsible for handling requests in the same manner as telephone orders. Pages must be answered immediately and all radio communication and telephone communication must be handled in a professional and responsive manner.
Serves walk in customers at the linen department window and issues lab coats, scrubs, uniforms, or other items. Receives soiled lab coats, scrubs, and other items that are dropped off at this window. Documents all transactions at the linen department service window using the designated control log.
Assists the department in completing linen inventories and usage studies. Assists the department in completing customer surveys.
Promotes patient wellness and a positive public relation image to our public, and all Medical Center personnel. Shows consideration in interaction with co-workers/patients/visitors/ancillary departments. Cooperative in temporary assignments. Offers assistance to other staff members in completing assignments.
Participates in establishing own performance goals. Participates in team meetings, in-service training and special programs. Accepts constructive correction as a means for growth and development. Notifies appropriate person of reportable incident. Assists with completion of incident reports.
Other duties as assigned, including but not limited to, environmental cleaning, sanitation of exchange carts and shelving, and adhering to proper dress code. Assists supervisor with on-the-job training of new employees. Could be asked to assume some leadership responsibilities.
Must be able to perform the professional, clinical and or technical competencies of the assigned unit or department.