PATIENT CARE ASSISTANT

Covenant Health•Knoxville, TN

11d•Onsite

About The Position

The Patient Care Assistant provides direct patient care and assists registered nurses with hands-on care, activities of daily living, and specified technical tasks for a group of patients under the supervision of the Team Leader. The position may also serve as a sitter for patients requiring full-time hospital supervision. The role is in the Orthopedic Medical Surgery department at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center.

Requirements

CPR certification is required.
No minimum experience is specified.
Education is not specified; a combination of formal education and/or prior work experience sufficient to demonstrate the required knowledge, skills, and abilities is acceptable. 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 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, 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.
Support patients’ nutritional needs, including distributing meal trays, feeding, and filling and distributing water pitchers.
Provide morning or evening care, which may include bed baths, oral hygiene, hair care, back care, dressing, changing bed linen, 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 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 labeling specimens with 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 receiving oxygen.
Set up suction equipment and check its function.
Demonstrate knowledge and competency in meeting age-specific needs of the population served and in performing skills on the Nursing Assistant checklist.
Follow policies, procedures, and safety standards; complete required annual education; work toward goals and objectives; and participate in quality-improvement initiatives as requested.
Be trained and willing to serve as a sitter for patients requiring full-time hospital supervision.
Perform other duties as assigned.