About the position
At Houston Methodist, the Patient Care Assistant/Unit Administrative Assistant (PCA/UAA) position is responsible for performing key functions that support the interprofessional team in delivering high quality, cost-effective care. The PCA/UAA position demonstrates basic knowledge and skills necessary to communicate appropriately and carry out delegated nursing assistant level tasks for assigned patient populations, assisting in the delivery of patient care and services under the supervision of a licensed nurse. This position performs basic patient care activities of daily living (ADL's) within unit-specific defined limits and job scope, such as assistance with patient elimination, hygiene, comfort, safety, nutrition, and progress activity and maintains competency requirements for computer medical terminology and other job-related functions, while practicing Patient and Family Centered Care in concert with Houston Methodist ICARE values: Integrity, Compassion, Accountability, Respect and Excellence. The PCA/UAA position assists with calls to physicians and their office, bed management, transfer services or other floors, coordinating with Operations Administrator as needed, answering incoming telephone calls for the unit and transfers as appropriate.
Responsibilities
- Answers incoming telephone calls for the unit and transfers as appropriate.
- Facilitates and supports effective throughput with timely communication.
- Greets patients and visitors to the unit, assisting with directions, information and guidance.
- Works well with others to make contributions to the work effort as a whole and facilitates problem resolution.
- Interacts with peers, staff, and physicians in a supportive and respectful manner.
- Encourages open communication to achieve mutual understanding.
- Collaborates with all members of the interprofessional team by actively communicating and reporting pertinent patient care information.
- Provides direct patient care under the direction of a registered nurse.
- Documents care administered, diagnostic measurements, treatments and procedures in accordance with established policies and procedures.
- Responds to the call light system, contacting nursing personnel as appropriate.
- Pulls/prints daily reports per unit standard.
- Organizes the unit workflow, paperwork as needed, proactively problem-solves, anticipating needs.
- Coordinates the requests to Facilities Management and Biomed regarding department needs or broken equipment.
- Rounds through the unit to check for environmental or equipment needs.
- Serves as an in-house courier which may include retrieving blood, hand-delivering labs, tele boxes, etc.
- Reports observations, conditions and problems of patients to licensed personnel.
- Provides for the privacy of patients and families.
- Conducts hourly rounding to ensure patient needs are met.
- Monitors and addresses noise level of unit to improve patient satisfaction.
- Contributes towards improving department scores for patient satisfaction.
- Assists with patient and staffing needs across the service line or hospital.
- Utilizes resources with cost effectiveness and value creation in mind.
- Offers innovative solutions in performance improvement projects.
- Seeks opportunities to identify self-development needs.
Requirements
- High School diploma or equivalent education.
- Eighteen months of Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) or Patient Care Assistant (PCA) experience.
- One year of secretarial/office, college/vocational training, or six months of internal cross-training within Houston Methodist.
- Prior health care experience and/or medical terminology preferred.
- BLS - Basic Life Support (AHA).
- CNA - Certified Nursing Assistant - State Licensure for Skilled Nursing Facility(SNF)/Rehab departments only.
- Demonstrates the skills and competencies necessary to safely perform the assigned job.
- Sufficient proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing the English language.
- Ability to effectively communicate with patients, physicians, family members and co-workers.
- Ability to operate and troubleshoot equipment (fax, PC, printers, telephones, etc.).
- Proficient computer application skills.
