Patient Care Assistant, Emergency Room - 32 Hours, Nights

UMass Memorial Health•Southbridge, MA

20h•Onsite

About The Position

Under the direction of the appropriate licensed clinician, and in keeping with unit specific standards, this role provides patient care to meet the personal needs and comfort of patients, and assists members of the healthcare team. As an integral member of the patient care team, the Patient Care Assistant serves both internal and external customers including patients, nurses, physicians and other colleagues who support the delivery of care and services. The Patient Care Tech III (PCT III) level indicates an additional skill set, making individuals eligible for this level if they are performing unit secretary duties, telemetry monitoring, remote video monitoring, or are working in specialized departments such as the Emergency Department, ICU, Dialysis, Spine Procedure Room, Endoscopy, Neurointerventional Radiology, Angiography, Radiology Short Stay, and Harrington Telemetry Certified & Step-Down Unit. UMass Memorial Health emphasizes that everyone is a caregiver, working together as a health system of over 20,000 employees in pursuit of healing for patients, community, and each other.

Requirements

Minimum of a high school education or GED.
Current Basic Life Support.
Demonstrated competency attainment in the PCT II level or 1 year of acute care/hospital experience or 1 year of EMT Paramedic experience.
Ability to read, write and communicate in English in a clear and concise manner.
Medical Terminology.
Computer skills.
Strong interpersonal skills to gather information from individuals, build relationships that support collaborative work within the department and across the organization and provide exceptional service to patients.
Must have proven problem-solving abilities for routine situations and requests assistance from identified resources when more direction is needed.
Must be able to remain calm when under stress or in emergency situations.

Responsibilities

Provides clear, timely communication to the RN regarding observations and changes seen in patients, such as changes in skin condition, vital signs, and/or mental status.
Provides constant observation of high-risk patients as assigned by the Resource Nurse or designee.
Participates in the development and maintenance of a safe environment, utilizing interventions to de-escalate patients and participating in restraints in accordance with training and education as directed if unsuccessful.
Assists patient with daily living activities such as personal hygiene, ambulating, meals and nourishment.
Assists in moving, lifting, positioning, and transporting patients by utilizing proper safety techniques and body mechanics in all work-related activities.
Maintains patient safety by performing patient safety checks, utilizing fall prevention alternative devices/strategies as directed, and following the Restraint Policy standards when caring for a restrained patient.
Takes and records vital signs (temperature, pulse, respirations, blood pressure and pulse oxymetry).
Measures and records patients’ height and weight.
Performs EKG’s, performs Point of Care (POC) tests and bladder scanning according to hospital standards.
Collects, labels, and prepares specimens for transport to lab.
Performs Phlebotomy in certain locations.
Demonstrates sensitivity and responsiveness to patients’ needs by acting as a source of information and building positive rapport and relationships.
Performs other selected unit specific procedures such as battery changes for telemetry units, checking status of unit equipment, cleaning equipment between patients and proper storage of supplies.
Assists RN/Licensed Independent Practitioner with treatments and procedures by preparing patient; obtaining and setting up equipment and supplies, such as intravenous and hemodynamic lines, and utilizing sterile technique when indicated.
Helps in positioning the patient and providing the patient with emotional support.
Cleans up equipment and supplies following the treatment and/or procedure.
Observes, measures, records oral food and fluid intake.
Sets up full strength tube feeding solutions and refills tube feeding bags as directed.
Empties and records output, as approved, from a variety of sources, e.g., Foley catheter, ostomy appliances and drainage systems.
Performs ostomy care on established ostomate patients as directed.
Answers telephone using appropriate telephone etiquette, takes and relays messages.
Utilizes intra-department communication systems, such as pagers and intercom.
Replenishes patient and unit supplies and equipment.
Keeps current with hospital and unit changes by reading communication boards and/or books, bulletin boards, posted notices and reads and responds to UMMHC e mails on a regular basis.
Functions as unit secretary assisting with patient admissions, transfers, and discharge procedures at least 5 shifts (40 hours) every 6 months (for PCT III in Unit Secretary specialty).
Has administrative responsibilities including, but not limited to, maintaining logs, organizing patient care charts for admission/discharge/transfer and maintenance of medical records (for PCT III in Unit Secretary specialty).
Enters data or retrieves medical information from the electronic medical record systems (for PCT III in Unit Secretary specialty).
Continuously observes multiple patients utilizing the remote video monitoring system (for PCT III in Remote Video Monitoring specialty).
Complies with established departmental policies, procedures, and objectives.
Attends variety of meetings, conferences, seminars as required or directed.
Demonstrates use of Quality Improvement in daily operations.
Complies with all health and safety regulations and requirements.
Respects diverse views and approaches, demonstrates Standards of Respect, and contributes to creating and maintaining an environment of professionalism, tolerance, civility and acceptance toward all employees, patients, and visitors.
Maintains, regular, reliable, and predictable attendance.
Performs other similar and related duties as required or directed.