PATIENT CARE ASSISTANT

Covenant Health•Sevierville, TN

67d

About The Position

The Patient Care Assistant is a direct patient caregiver on the Medical Unit who performs hands-on care, assists with activities of daily living, and completes 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 full-time, 72 hours per pay period, on the day shift at LeConte Medical Center, a 79-bed community hospital in Sevier County and part of Covenant Health.

Requirements

Successfully complete Covenant’s orientation and in-house Nursing Assistant training program before working with patients.
CPR certification is required.
Education or prior work experience sufficient to demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for the job; typically equivalent to a high school diploma or GED. A high school diploma or GED may be preferred.
Additional training is required to perform phlebotomy.
Special training is required to perform EKGs.
Must be trained and willing to function as a sitter for patients requiring full-time supervision.

Nice To Haves

High school diploma or GED.

Responsibilities

Follow hospital and departmental policies and procedures, objectives, quality assurance programs, and safety standards.
Take and record patients’ temperature, pulse, respiration, blood pressure, weight, height, and intake-output measurements.
Encourage patients to turn, cough, breathe deeply, and use incentive spirometry as specified by the plan of care.
Ambulate patients; assist them in and out of bed and into wheelchairs; and transport them when needed.
Attend to nutritional needs, including distributing meal trays, feeding patients, 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 malfunctioning equipment, handle linen appropriately, and store 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 in the patient’s plan of care.
Perform phlebotomy after additional training, including labeling samples 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 who are using oxygen.
Set up suction equipment and check that it functions properly.
Demonstrate skills listed on the Nursing Assistant checklist.
Complete required annual education assignments, work toward goals and objectives, and participate in quality-improvement initiatives as requested.
Complete training and be willing to serve as a sitter for patients requiring full-time hospital supervision.
Perform other assigned duties within the scope of practice.