Registered Nurse-Medical Surgical Telemetry

Baystate Health•Greenfield, MA

6h•Onsite

About The Position

Responsible for the provision of basic nursing care to assigned patients in accordance with current FMC Standards of Care. Administers and monitors therapeutic interventions proficiently. Demonstrates proficiency in applying the nursing process to assigned patients and families. Assumes accountability for the outcomes of nursing care. Collaborates with health team members, patients/families in the provision of care. Provides direct supervision to other health team members in the implementation of the patient care plan. Effectively delegates care to peers, Licensed Practical Nurses, Nursing Assistants, Orderlies and other direct care givers consistent with their level of education and expertise. Acts as an advocate for patients/families/significant others. Assumes accountability for own professional practice and for aspects of nursing care delegated to others. Practices within accepted ethical and legal parameters of nursing. This description covers the essential functions of the position.

Requirements

None

Nice To Haves

Minimum of 1 year of nursing experience
Evidence of a commitment to professional growth through participation in continuing education
MHU - CPI within 30 days of hire
Oncology - Oncology certification required within 2 years of hire
Cardiopulmonary – ACLS required by end of orientation
ICU and Med/Surg - ACLS required by end of orientation
OB – NRP and ACLS required by the end of orientation
Surgical Services - ACLS and PALS required by the end of orientation
ED - ACLS, PALS, and CPI by the end of orientation

Responsibilities

Provides age-appropriate care to patients, demonstrating knowledge of developmental stages and applying developmental theories and concepts when planning and implementing care.
Performs comprehensive nursing assessments, uses professional judgment to obtain selective data, arrives at nursing diagnoses and discharge planning needs, and ensures all assigned patients have a completed admission profile, health database/patient history.
Performs proficient ongoing assessments of assigned patients, recognizing subtle changes in health status, recognizing changes that require immediate intervention, anticipating predictable changes in patient status, determining frequency of observation, furnishing physician and appropriate health team members with pertinent assessment data, and documenting pertinent assessment data clearly and concisely.
Formulates a detailed, realistic plan of care specific to each patient's identified needs, develops and updates a realistic plan of care with measurable and achievable goals, promptly initiates a plan of care upon identification of an actual or potential problem, reassesses priorities and makes appropriate changes in plan of care with patient/family's input, and formulates realistic and attainable goals appropriate to the hospital setting and discharge needs.
Analyzes the psycho-social impact of illness & hospitalization on individuals and families, collaborates and negotiates with patients and families to arrive at an agreed upon plan of care, utilizes and communicates with physicians and interdisciplinary team members to establish goals, and incorporates psycho-social, spiritual and cultural needs into plan of care.
Proficiently implements the individualized plan of care, demonstrates proficiency in clinical nursing skills, independently organizes own assignment and prioritizes plan of care accurately, delegates aspects of care to other personnel consistent with job description and skill, consistently initiates interventions to maintain a safe and therapeutic environment, anticipates outcomes of physician orders and nursing actions, demonstrates flexibility in care without deviating from FMC standards, procedures or policies, and responds consistently to urgent and life-threatening situations with appropriate actions.
Provides formal and informal teaching relevant to health care needs of patients utilizing available resources, ensures patients/families are informed concerning treatments, procedures and hospital policies and routines, documents each phase of the learning process, reinforces teaching and implements change as needed, and considers patient/family's level of knowledge and readiness to learn.
Effectively implements and revises the discharge plan, initiates interdisciplinary discharge plan at time of admission, completes appropriate discharge/transfer form and documents accordingly, and prepares patient/family for the changes in the health care delivery system.
Establishes a pattern of ongoing evaluation and modification of patient care interventions while demonstrating accountability and responsibility for professional nursing practice, evaluates and modifies patient plan of care on a continuing basis, observes patient responses to treatment, illnesses and hospitalization and compares the expected with the actual outcomes, documents present status and notes significant alterations from anticipated status, and utilizes available resources to assist in the evaluation process.
Accurately determines the effectiveness of his/her nursing care, evaluates whether selected nursing interventions were appropriate to reach set goals, uses patient outcomes to evaluate effectiveness of nursing interventions, continually re-evaluates strengths and weaknesses for accountability of nursing care, and demonstrates credibility and honesty in nursing practice.
Accurately and concisely communicates pertinent patient information while maintaining confidentiality, documents patient care and patient responses promptly, clearly and thoroughly on appropriate forms, understands and utilizes professional hierarchy in problem solving related to significant changes in patient status and documents appropriately, communicates pertinent patient information in a concise manner through shift to shift report and intra-hospital transfer, and maintains a patient's right to privacy and confidentiality.
Acts as an advocate for patient families, acts as a representative in communicating patient/family's needs to physicians and other health care team members, understands and supports Franklin Medical Center's "Patients' Bill of Rights.", intervenes consistently in situations where patient integrity is threatened, and supports and encourages patient/family's decisions maintaining respect for life and dignity.
Assumes accountability for management of patient care and will provide direct supervision to other health team members, demonstrates behaviors that will promote effective management of patient care, develops and evaluates patient care assignments, considering the patient needs and capability of the nursing personnel, promotes cost containment by utilizing human and material resources efficiently, provides constructive feedback regarding performance of peers to unit supervisor/designated individuals, consistently initiates incident reports when indicated and provides information for timely follow-up, and orients to charge role and acts as alternate charge nurse as designated.
Demonstrates proficiency in applying the principles of teaching/learning to patient/family & with minimal assistance identify own professional educational needs, assesses each patient/family's comprehensive learning needs in relation to health and illness, individualizes standardized teaching plans to meet specific needs of patient/family, participates in patient care conferences (discharge planning) and communicates critical information at change of shift report.
Identifies own professional educational needs with minimal guidance, performs a realistic self evaluation to determine own strengths and weaknesses, orients to preceptor role, consistently supports the growth and development of students and new personnel, attends continuing education programs (5-8 contact hours or equivalent) related to the achievement of own professional goals, is a member of unit-based committee, task force or change producing group, attends and participates in 80-90% of Unit Staff meetings, and demonstrates ability to develop a therapeutic relationship with patients, families and other members of the health care team.
Promotes active participation in quality assurance research activities of health team members within realm of responsibility, demonstrates active participation in quality assurance/research activities, identifies 1-2 patients and/or nursing problems that need to be systematically investigated, communicates consistently with colleagues about quality assurance/research findings and their relevance to nursing practice, participates in and ensures follow-through of research/quality assurance data collection, is able to state current Unit CQI initiatives, and communicates an attitude of positive customer focused interactions in daily work activities.