PATIENT CARE ASSISTANT

Covenant Health•Knoxville, TN

3d•Onsite

About The Position

The Patient Care Assistant is a direct patient caregiver on the Pulmonary Unit 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 may also serve as a sitter for patients who need full-time hospital supervision. The position is full-time, 72 hours per pay period, on the night shift. Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center is a 444-bed hospital and part of Covenant Health, a nonprofit health system with nine hospitals and nearly 150 service locations. The medical center offers stroke, bariatric, robotic, minimally invasive spine, and orthopedic services.

Requirements

CPR is required.
No minimum prior experience is specified.
No minimum education is specified. Applicants must have a combination of formal education and/or prior work experience sufficient to demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for the job; this is 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

Take and record patients’ temperature, pulse, respiration rates, blood pressures, weights, heights, and intake-output measurements.
Encourage patients to turn, cough, breathe deeply, and use incentive spirometry as specified in 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, hair care, back care, dressing, changing bed linen, cleaning bedside areas, straightening rooms, and other supportive care as needed.
Empty drains, canisters, urine bags, bedpans, and emesis basins, and record intake and output.
Help maintain a safe environment, report malfunctioning equipment, handle linen appropriately, and store supplies.
Provide general care, including positioning, lifting, and turning patients; assisting 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 as specified in patients’ plans of care.
Perform phlebotomy after additional training, including correctly labeling samples 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 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 and placement.
Check that equipment at the patient bedside is functioning properly.
Ambulate patients who are using oxygen.
Set up suction equipment and check that it functions properly.
Provide care appropriate to the age-specific needs of the population served.
Demonstrate skills listed on the Nursing Assistant checklist.
Follow policies, procedures, and safety standards; complete annual required education; 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 require full-time hospital supervision.
Perform other duties as assigned.