PATIENT CARE ASSISTANT

Covenant Health•Knoxville, TN

9d•Onsite

About The Position

The Patient Care Assistant, Float Pool, functions as a direct patient caregiver performing tasks to assist registered nurses. Under the supervision of the Team Leader, the assistant provides hands-on care, assistance with activities of daily living, and specified technical tasks for a group of patients. The position may also function as a sitter for patients who need full-time supervision in the hospital. The role is PRN/OCC with variable hours per pay period and varied shifts.

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 essential tasks is acceptable; this is typically equivalent to a high school diploma or GED. Preference may be given to individuals with a high school diploma or GED.
No minimum experience is specified.
CPR is required.
Must be trained and willing to function in a sitter capacity for patients who need full-time supervision in the hospital.

Nice To Haves

A high school diploma or GED is preferred.

Responsibilities

Take and record temperature, pulse, respiration rates, blood pressures, weights, heights, and intake-output measurements.
Encourage patients to turn, cough, take deep breaths, 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.
Attend to patients’ nutritional needs, including distributing meal trays, feeding, and filling and passing out water pitchers.
Provide morning or evening care, including bathing, oral hygiene, grooming, back care, dressing, changing bed linen, cleaning bedside surfaces, straightening rooms, and other supportive care as needed.
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; 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 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 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.
Be trained and willing to function as a sitter for patients who need full-time hospital supervision.
Perform other duties as assigned.