POD Charge (Santa Rosa)

Northern California Behavioral Health System•Santa Rosa, CA

18h•Onsite

About The Position

Under the supervision of the DON, Nurse Manager, and/or the House Supervisor, the POD Charge performs key responsibilities and meets position requirements as outlined in the hospital’s RN job description. The POD Charge is also responsible for overseeing admissions and discharges, unit operations, fiscal and staff management, and overseeing patient care services. The POD Charge supports, and directs, Nursing staff assignments and facilitates communication with other disciplines, departments, and community resources. The POD Charge maintains knowledge of, participates in further training provided, and understands the potential risks regarding occupational health hazards (e.g. bloodborne pathogen exposures).

Requirements

Current license as a Registered Nurse in the State of California.
Current Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) certification required, or obtained within initial orientation period.
Verbal de-escalation and physical intervention program as approved by the DON.
Knowledge and experience of psychiatric diagnosis and associated risks, medications, biological systems, nursing process, treatment planning, and leadership.
At least 6 months experience in the Nursing department at SRBHH required.

Nice To Haves

The POD Charge will pass initial and annual competency evaluations including (not limited to): suicide prevention, safe use of restraints, de-escalation interventions, medication knowledge, code blue/emergency interventions, infection prevention, and appropriate use of seclusion and restraints.
The POD Charge will need to complete additional competencies related to managing patient care, staffing systems, and internal reporting requirements.
The POD Charge has a high level of knowledge of Policies, Procedures, Unit Operations, Hospital Operations, Health Care Regulations and educates staff on key issues.
The POD Charge will demonstrate that, in addition to being competent, they are skilled in applying knowledge and competency in their daily nursing practice.

Responsibilities

Works closely with Assessment and Referrals (A&R) and House Supervisors to provide oversight of admissions and discharges. This includes timely assessments and inpatient admissions.
Assists POD Nurses in unit operations including (but not limited to) timely completion and review of daily patient assessments, admissions, discharges.
Provides accurate reporting to House Supervisors on all POD incidents in a timely manner throughout the shift.
Monitors inventory of POD supplies. Requests replenishment of supplies as needed.
Gathers and compiles data for daily shift and routine reporting.
Prepares shift assignments and reviews with oncoming Nurse Manager or House Supervisor.
Prepares and/or supports staff in submitting Incident Reports (IR) in an accurate and timely fashion; follows up with staff education to prevent reoccurring incidents.
Maintains a clutter free working environment.
In conjunction with the nursing leadership, monitors and evaluates staff assignments to prevent unnecessary overtime and ensure appropriate staffing levels based on census, staffing grid, and acuity assessments.
Evaluates patient observation levels, blocked beds, and precautions. Consults with POD Nurse and/or Provider, along with House Supervisor.
Communicates all observation changes to the House Supervisor and Nurse Managers.
Reports any increase or decrease in staffing needs to the Staffing Coordinator.
Reports any staffing concerns to Nursing Leadership.
Documents approved overtime as appropriate via Time Adjustment Forms.
Directly supervises nursing staff’s meal/rest break assignments and ensures adherence to the meal/rest break schedule.
Provides staff with feedback on performance, as well as provides on the spot education, as needed.
Takes action where staff performance or conduct is not meeting expectations by educating staff and reporting/escalating concerning behaviors up through Nursing Leadership.
Participates in assessing, preparing, and delivering Introductory Period and Annual Employee Performance Evaluations.
Supports a high-quality orientation and ongoing education for clinical staff.
Continually educates staff on key issues relating to hospital policies and procedures and health care regulations.
Ensures POD Nurses perform accurate and timely shift-to-shift reports.
Monitors clinical issues for high acuity patients or patients with unusual problems and related staffing level concerns.
Proactively works with leadership when a patient complaint becomes a potential grievance and alerts the House Supervisor and the hospital’s Internal Patient Advocate.
Performs related duties as requested by Nursing Leadership.