Patient Care Assistant

Covenant Health•Knoxville, TN

5d•Onsite

About The Position

The Patient Care Assistant is a direct patient caregiver who performs hands-on care, activities of daily living, and specified technical tasks for a group of patients under the supervision of the Team Leader. The role supports registered nurses and may include serving as a sitter for patients who need full-time hospital supervision. The position is in the Cardiology Unit at Parkwest Medical Center and is listed as PRN/OCC with variable hours and shifts. The assistant provides routine patient care, gathers and records observations, assists with mobility and nutrition, maintains a clean and safe care environment, and documents care as appropriate. The role also includes specified equipment and technical tasks, such as oxygen and suction setup, with phlebotomy and EKG duties requiring additional or special training. The assistant is expected to follow facility policies, infection-control practices, safety standards, and patient-care plans, and to complete annual education assignments.

Requirements

CPR is required.
No minimum experience is specified.
Education is not specified as a minimum; applicants must have a combination of formal education and/or prior work experience sufficient to demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for the essential tasks, 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 in the hospital.

Nice To Haves

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

Responsibilities

Take and record 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 distributing water pitchers.
Provide morning or evening care, including bathing, oral hygiene, grooming, back care, dressing, changing bed linens, cleaning bedside surfaces, 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, report out-of-order equipment, handle linen appropriately, and store supplies.
Provide general care including positioning, lifting, or turning patients; helping with bedpans, urinals, or commodes; 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 according to patients’ plans of care.
Perform phlebotomy after additional training, including labeling with two patient identifiers and maintaining, rotating, and restocking lab-draw supplies.
Perform EKGs after special training.
Answer patient call lights promptly and respond to patient requests.
Report significant changes in patients’ conditions to the RN.
Help maintain clean and orderly patient and work environments.
Follow infection-control policies, standard and transmission-based precautions, OSHA standards, safety measures, and proper body mechanics.
Document and maintain the patient record as appropriate.
Gather equipment for oxygen setup; check oxygen connections and placement; check proper functioning of equipment at the patient bedside; and ambulate patients with oxygen.
Set up suction equipment and check that it functions properly.
Demonstrate knowledge and competency in providing age-specific care and 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 serve as a sitter for patients requiring full-time hospital supervision.
Perform other duties as assigned.