PATIENT CARE ASSISTANT

Covenant Health•Knoxville, TN

4d•Onsite

About The Position

The Patient Care Assistant, Float Pool, is a direct patient caregiver 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 position may also function as a sitter for hospital patients who need full-time supervision. This role is listed as PRN/OCC, with variable hours per pay period and a night shift. Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center is a 444-bed hospital and a Joint Commission Comprehensive Stroke Center. It provides specialized services including bariatric, robotic, minimally invasive spine, and advanced orthopedic care. The hospital is part of Covenant Health, a nonprofit health system with nine hospitals and nearly 150 service locations.

Requirements

No minimum education is specified. Any combination of formal education and/or prior work experience sufficient to demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for the job is acceptable; this is typically equivalent to a high school diploma or GED.
CPR is required.
Must be trained and willing to function as a sitter for patients requiring full-time supervision.

Nice To Haves

A high school diploma or GED is preferred.

Responsibilities

Measure and record patients’ temperature, pulse, respiration, blood pressure, weight, height, and intake and output.
Encourage patients to turn, cough, breathe deeply, and use incentive spirometry as specified in the plan of care.
Ambulate patients and help them move in and out of bed, into wheelchairs, and during transport.
Attend to patients’ nutritional needs, including distributing meal trays, feeding, and filling and distributing water pitchers.
Provide morning or evening care, which may include bathing, oral hygiene, hair care, back care, dressing, changing bed linen, cleaning bedside surfaces, and straightening rooms.
Empty drains, canisters, urine bags, bedpans, and emesis basins, and record intake and output.
Help maintain a safe environment by reporting malfunctioning equipment and appropriately handling linen and storing supplies.
Provide general care, including positioning, lifting, and turning patients; helping 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 by the patient’s plan 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 who are using 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.
Demonstrate the ability to perform 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.
Train and be willing to function as a sitter for patients who need full-time hospital supervision.
Perform other duties as assigned.