PATIENT CARE ASSISTANT

Covenant Health•Morristown, TN

19d•Onsite

About The Position

The Patient Care Assistant works as a direct patient caregiver, performing hands-on care, activities of daily living assistance, and specified technical tasks for a group of patients under the supervision of the Team Leader. The role may also involve serving as a sitter for patients who need full-time supervision in the hospital. The position is in the Medical Unit at Morristown-Hamblen Healthcare System and is listed as PRN/OCC, with variable hours per pay period on the day shift.

Requirements

No minimum education is specified. A combination of formal education and/or prior work experience sufficient to demonstrate the knowledge, skill, and ability to perform the essential tasks is acceptable; this is typically equivalent to a high school diploma or GED.
CPR is required.
Must be trained and willing to function in a sitter capacity for patients requiring full-time supervision.

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 pressure, weights, heights, and intake-output measurements.
Encourage patients to turn, cough, breathe deeply, and use incentive spirometry as specified by the plan of care.
Ambulate patients and assist them in and out of bed, into wheelchairs, and with transportation when necessary.
Address 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 patients, changing bed linen, cleaning bedside furniture, 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, including reporting malfunctioning equipment, handling linen appropriately, and storing 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 ordered urine, stool, and sputum specimens.
Perform range-of-motion tasks and assist with ambulatory devices as specified by patients’ plans of care.
Perform phlebotomy after additional training, including correctly 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 established 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.
Follow policies, procedures, and safety standards; complete annual required education; work toward goals and objectives; and participate in quality-improvement initiatives as requested.
Train and be willing to serve as a sitter for patients who need full-time hospital supervision.
Perform other duties as assigned.