Patient Care Assistant

Covenant Health•Knoxville, TN

4d•Onsite

About The Position

The Patient Care Assistant provides direct patient care by performing tasks that assist registered nurses. Under the supervision of the Team Leader, the assistant provides hands-on care, assistance with activities of daily living, and specified technical tasks for a group of patients. The role may also include serving as a sitter for patients who require full-time supervision in the hospital. The position is in the Neuro Intensive Care Unit at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center. It is PRN/OCC, with variable hours per pay period, on the day shift. The facility is a 444-bed hospital and a Joint Commission Comprehensive Stroke Center, offering specialized services including bariatric, robotic, minimally invasive spine, and advanced orthopedic care. Fort Sanders Regional is part of Covenant Health, a nonprofit health system with nine hospitals and nearly 150 service locations.

Requirements

CPR is required.
No minimum experience is specified.
No minimum education is specified; a combination of formal education and/or prior work experience sufficient to demonstrate the required knowledge, skills, and abilities is acceptable, typically equivalent to a high school diploma or GED.
Must be trained and willing to function as a sitter for patients who need full-time supervision.

Nice To Haves

A high school diploma or GED may be preferred.
Additional phlebotomy training is required to perform phlebotomy tasks.
Special training is required to perform EKGs.

Responsibilities

Measure and record temperature, pulse, respiration, blood pressure, weight, height, and intake and output.
Encourage patients to turn, cough, breathe deeply, and use incentive spirometry as directed by the plan of care.
Ambulate patients and assist them with transfers to and from beds and wheelchairs, including transport when needed.
Support patients’ nutritional needs, including distributing meal trays, feeding, and providing water pitchers.
Provide morning or evening care, including bathing, oral hygiene, grooming, back care, dressing, linen changes, and bedside and room tidying.
Empty drains, canisters, urine bags, bedpans, and emesis basins, and record intake and output.
Help maintain a safe environment by reporting malfunctioning equipment and handling linen and supplies appropriately.
Position, lift, and turn patients; assist with bedpans, urinals, or commodes; provide preoperative supportive care; and apply or remove abdominal binders, anti-embolism stockings, and sequential compression devices.
Empty and clean ostomy bags according to procedure.
Collect urine, stool, and sputum specimens as ordered.
Perform range-of-motion tasks and assist with ambulatory devices as specified in the plan of care.
Perform phlebotomy after additional training, including labeling samples with two patient identifiers and maintaining, rotating, and restocking lab-draw supplies.
Perform EKGs after special training.
Answer call lights promptly and respond to patient requests.
Report significant changes in patients’ conditions to the RN.
Help keep patient and work areas clean and orderly.
Follow infection-control policies, including standard and transmission-based precautions, OSHA standards, safety measures, and proper body mechanics.
Document and maintain patient records as appropriate.
Gather equipment for oxygen setup and check oxygen connections, placement, and equipment function; ambulate patients with oxygen.
Set up suction equipment and check that it functions properly.
Provide age-specific care appropriate to the population served and demonstrate the skills on the Nursing Assistant checklist.
Follow policies, procedures, and safety standards; complete annual education assignments; work toward goals and objectives; and participate in quality-improvement initiatives as requested.
Train and be willing to serve as a sitter for patients requiring full-time hospital supervision.
Perform other duties as assigned.