PATIENT CARE ASSISTANT

Covenant Health•Crossville, TN

62d•Onsite

About The Position

The Patient Care Assistant works on the Medical Surgical Unit as a direct patient caregiver, performing 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. This is a full-time, night-shift position at Cumberland Medical Center in Crossville, Tennessee, scheduled for 72 hours per pay period. Cumberland Medical Center is part of Covenant Health, East Tennessee’s largest nonprofit health system. It is an acute care hospital offering private patient rooms and a range of care services, including cardiology, orthopedics, maternity, cancer treatment, wound care, emergency and critical care, surgery, imaging, cardiac rehabilitation, sleep disorder care, and hyperbaric medicine. The Patient Care Assistant must complete Covenant’s orientation and in-house Nursing Assistant training before working with patients. A Tennessee Nursing Assistant certification is preferred, and CPR is required.

Requirements

Successfully complete Covenant’s orientation and in-house Nursing Assistant training program before working with patients.
CPR certification is required.
Possess 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.
Be trained and willing to function as a sitter for patients requiring full-time supervision.

Nice To Haves

Tennessee Nursing Assistant certification is preferred.
A high school diploma or GED may be preferred.

Responsibilities

Take and record patients’ temperature, pulse, respiration rates, blood pressure, weight, height, and intake and output.
Encourage patients to turn, cough, take deep breaths, and use incentive spirometry as specified in the Plan of Care.
Ambulate patients and assist them in and out of bed, into wheelchairs, and during transport as needed.
Support patients’ nutritional needs, including distributing meal trays, feeding patients, and filling and distributing water pitchers.
Provide morning or evening care, including bed baths, oral hygiene, hair care, back care, dressing, linen changes, cleaning bedside furniture, tidying rooms, and other supportive care.
Empty drains, canisters, urine bags, bedpans, and emesis basins, and record intake and output.
Help maintain a safe environment, including reporting malfunctioning equipment and handling linen and supplies appropriately.
Provide general care, including positioning, lifting, and turning patients; assisting with bedpans, urinals, and 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 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 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 and perform skills on the Nursing Assistant checklist.
Follow policies, procedures, and safety standards; complete annual education assignments; work toward goals and objectives; and participate in quality improvement initiatives as requested.
Complete sitter training and be willing to provide full-time supervision for patients who need it.
Perform other duties as assigned.