PATIENT CARE ASSISTANT

Covenant Health•Knoxville, TN

9d•Onsite

About The Position

The Patient Care Assistant is a direct patient caregiver who performs tasks to 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 function as a sitter for patients who need full-time supervision in the hospital. The position is in Oncology, GYN Surg at Parkwest Medical Center and is full-time, 72 hours per pay period, on the day shift.

Requirements

No minimum education is specified. Any combination of formal education and/or prior work experience sufficient to demonstrate the knowledge, skill, and ability needed for the essential tasks is acceptable; this is typically equivalent to a high school diploma or GED.
CPR is required.
Must be trained and willing to function in a sitter capacity for patients who need full-time supervision in the hospital.

Nice To Haves

Preference may be given to individuals with a high school diploma or GED.

Responsibilities

Take and record patients’ temperature, pulse, respiration rates, blood pressures, weights, heights, and intake-output measurements.
Encourage patients to turn, cough, take deep breaths, and use incentive spirometry as specified by the Plan of Care.
Ambulate patients and assist them in and out of bed, into wheelchairs, and with transport when necessary.
Attend to patients’ nutritional needs, including distributing meal trays, feeding, and filling and passing out water pitchers.
Provide morning or evening care, which may include bed baths, oral hygiene, combing hair, back care, dressing patients, changing bed linen, cleaning over-bed tables and bedside stands, straightening rooms, and other supportive care.
Empty drains, canisters, urine bags, bedpans, and emesis basins, and record intake and output.
Help maintain a safe environment, including reporting malfunctioning equipment, appropriately handling linen, and storing supplies.
Provide general care, including positioning, lifting, or turning patients; assisting with bedpans, urinals, or commodes; providing preoperative supportive care; and applying or removing 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 by patients’ plans of care.
Perform phlebotomy after additional training, including correct labeling using two patient identifiers and maintaining, rotating, and restocking lab-draw supplies.
Perform EKGs after special training.
Promptly answer patient call lights and respond to patient requests.
Report significant changes in patients’ conditions to the RN.
Help maintain clean and orderly patient and work environments.
Follow established infection-control policies, including standard and transmission-based isolation 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 and placement.
Check that equipment at the patient bedside functions properly.
Ambulate patients who are using oxygen.
Set up suction equipment and check that it functions properly.
Demonstrate knowledge and competency in meeting the age-specific needs of the population served.
Demonstrate the ability to perform skills on the Nursing Assistant checklist.
Follow policies, procedures, and safety standards; complete required annual education assignments; work toward goals and objectives; and participate in quality-improvement initiatives as requested.
Train and be willing to function as a sitter for patients who need full-time hospital supervision.
Perform other duties as assigned.