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 may also include serving as a sitter for patients who need full-time supervision in the hospital. The position is in Oncology at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center and is listed as full time, 72 hours per pay period, on the day 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 hospital provides a range of specialized services and is recognized as a Joint Commission Comprehensive Stroke Center. Covenant Health offers employees benefits that include tuition reimbursement, student loan assistance, certification bonuses, and leadership development programs.

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 job is acceptable, typically equivalent to a high school diploma or GED.
CPR is required.
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.

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 specified by the plan of care.
Ambulate patients and assist them with transfers to and from beds and wheelchairs, and with transport as needed.
Meet patients’ nutritional needs, including distributing meal trays, feeding patients, and providing water pitchers.
Provide morning or evening care, including bathing, oral hygiene, grooming, back care, dressing, changing bed linen, and tidying the room and bedside area.
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, or 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 correctly labeling specimens 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, 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 its connection, placement, and function; ambulate patients receiving 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 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 function as a sitter for patients who need full-time supervision in the hospital.
Perform other duties as assigned.