Registered Nurse, Primary Care, 40 Hours (Days)

Boston Medical Center•Boston, MA

59d•Onsite

About The Position

Boston Medical Center (BMC) is a large and busy healthcare provider, emphasizing community-based care and aiming to make Boston the healthiest urban population in the world. The registered nurse in this role adheres to the rules and regulations of the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing and is primarily responsible for professional performance and direct patient care. This includes nursing assessment, diagnosis, planning, intervention, evaluation, and coordination of care for patients and their families across the health care continuum. The nurse is accountable for clinical, educational, quality, and fiscal patient care outcomes, following the model of care designed by the nursing department and in accordance with established agency policies, procedures, protocols, guidelines, and standards of practice.

Requirements

Nursing degree: Diploma, ASN or BSN (preferred)
Ability to obtain BSN within 4 years
Registration and current RN licensure in the state of MA in good standing required.
Licensed to practice professional nursing as a registered nurse in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by start date
Requires current basic life support (BLS) certification by start date
Basic computer proficiency inclusive of ability to access, enters, and interpret computerized data/information.
Effective interpersonal skills to facilitate communication with various members of the health care team, patients, and families.
Organizational skills to set priorities and efficiently complete assigned work.
Analytical ability to solve clinical nursing issues and conduct quality improvement research utilization projects.
Ability to effectively delegate appropriate patient care activities.
Effective verbal and written communication skills appropriate to the patient populations served.
Physical ability to meet the core job responsibilities in accordance with practice setting demands for the patient populations regularly served.
Ability to effectively manage stress due to critical issues related to patient care, changing organizational climate and personnel issues.
Candidate must have experience in the Ambulatory Outpatient setting as a Registered Nurse.

Nice To Haves

Some units may require Advanced Cardiac Life support (ACLS) certification.
Additional certifications may be required for certain practice areas.
Relevant clinical experience and/or specialty, certification required for certain practice areas, e.g., enterstomal therapy, epidemiology, peri-operative areas.
Multilingual skills (beyond that of English) in languages appropriate to the patient populations served by the medical center preferred.

Responsibilities

Consistently and effectively utilizes all steps of the nursing process in the provision of timely, safe, efficient and appropriate patient/centered care.
Assesses the patient and family in a systematic and ongoing manner for both overt and covert signs and symptoms in accordance with the standards of clinical nursing practice.
Collects pertinent data using appropriate assessment techniques and prioritizes data according to the patient’s immediate condition or needs.
Involves the patient, family/significant others and appropriate health care providers in the collection of data when appropriate.
Consistently uses clear, concise and effective written/oral communication and complies with departmental policies when sharing/documenting relevant patient care data.
Identifies emergency/crisis situations, communicates such in a timely manner to appropriate health care team members, and responds appropriately when needed.
Analyzes the assessment data to determine appropriate nursing diagnoses, demonstrating use of critical thinking skills.
Identifies expected outcomes individualized to the patient, deriving and documenting realistic, appropriate clinical and educational patient-centered outcomes.
Develops outcomes as measurable goals which include a time estimate for attainment and provides direction for continuity of care.
Mutually formulates outcomes with the patient, significant others and health care team when appropriate.
Develops a plan of care that prescribes interventions to attain expected outcomes, reflecting the patient’s condition and prioritizing needs.
Develops the plan with the client, significant others and appropriate health care providers, reflective of current nursing practice standards, policies, procedures, protocols and guidelines.
Plan reflects effective use of available resources and appropriate internal/external referrals in order to provide comprehensive care to patients and families.
Implements interventions identified in the nursing and medical plan of care, prioritizing patient care interventions based on fluctuating patient and unit needs.
Demonstrates the knowledge and skills necessary to provide care appropriate to the age groups of patients regularly served.
Consults appropriate resources when patients outside regularly served age populations are present.
Effectively delegates appropriate patient care activities to co-workers with appropriate knowledge and skill level and ensures that co-workers have completed the delegated tasks in a timely manner.
Provides for a safe, clean unit environment through use of appropriate risk management practices.
Demonstrates safe technical competence based on patient needs, including direct care skills, informatics, and equipment monitoring/utilization.
Implements patient care interventions/treatments and administers medications in accordance with established practice standards, policies, and protocols.
Educates patient and family regarding current illness, procedures, treatments, plan of care as well as health maintenance, promotion, and illness/injury prevention.
In emergency/crisis situations, demonstrates effective decision making, re-prioritizes patient care needs, initiates appropriate response actions, and directs other team members.
Documents interventions according to departmental policy.
Evaluates the patient’s progress toward the attainment of clinical and educational outcomes, conducting systematic and ongoing patient reassessments and evaluations.
Evaluates the effectiveness of interventions in relation to desired outcomes and includes the patient, significant others and appropriate health care providers in the evaluation process as needed.
Demonstrates use of critical thinking skills through the incorporation of ongoing assessment data in the revision of diagnoses, outcomes and the plan of care.
Provides follow-up care in person via home visits and via telephone when needed and when appropriate.
Documents patient’s response to interventions as well as revisions in diagnoses, outcomes and plan of care according to departmental policy.
Systematically evaluates the quality, cost, and effectiveness of nursing practice.
Participates/leads quality improvement and/or research activities as appropriate to the individual’s position, education, skills, and practice environment.
Uses the results of patient satisfaction, quality improvement and/or research data to initiate changes in practice.
Accounts for completing daily patient classification data and incident reports in a timely manner.
Participates in cost containment initiatives and practices.
When two or more practice options exist that achieve the same quality of expected patient outcome, evaluates factors related to safety, effectiveness and cost when selecting the appropriate option.
Practices in compliance with established practice standards, policies, procedures, protocols, guidelines, statutes and regulations.
Functions without supervision in a manner appropriate for level of experience and education.
Responsible for seeing things through to completion and for informing appropriate staff of outcomes.
Offers, seeks out and acts upon constructive feedback regarding professional practice to improve daily practice and to achieve goals identified during performance appraisal.
Takes appropriate steps to effectively resolve peer conflicts or investigate questionable activities.
Maintains accurate annual professional development record.
Demonstrates flexibility and ability to positively adapt to changing staffing/clinical/patient census needs.
Demonstrates reliability in regard to attendance and punctuality standards.
Maintains a presentable appearance in accordance with dress code requirements including wearing a visible identification badge.
Acquires and maintains current knowledge in nursing practice and participates in ongoing educational activities to enhance clinical knowledge and update requisite skills.
Independently identifies need for in-service/educational sessions and seeks experience to meet such needs and to maintain clinical skills.
Completes mandatory requirements: annual BLS certification, institutional mandatory education, and departmental/unit specific competencies.
Actively participates on unit or departmental based task forces, councils, or committees.
Takes initiative to share knowledge and skills willingly with colleagues, students, and novice practitioners.
Provides peers with constructive feedback regarding their practice and professional skills.
Acts as a resource for new employees, float staff, and other unit team members.
Assists in the orientation and/or acts as preceptor for new employees and/or nursing students.
Delivers care in a manner that preserves/protects client autonomy, dignity, confidentiality, and rights.
Acts as a patient advocate in order to facilitate meeting identified patient needs.
Delivers care in a non-judgmental and nondiscriminatory manner that is sensitive to and demonstrates respect for patient diversity.
Seeks available resources to help formulate ethical decisions.
Communicates and consults with client, significant others and members of the health care team regarding required patient care.
Works cooperatively and constructively with all departments and health care team members to establish an environment that supports the process of collaboration.
Participates as an integral member of the health team during family/staff meetings, formal/informal shift rounds/reports, and medical/grand rounds.
Coordinates appropriate internal and external referrals to assist patients to gain access to services, pre-approvals, etc.
Coordinates discharge activities including arranging for home/agency referrals when necessary.
Interprets/translates for patient/family/visitors when conversant in their native language as needed.
Acts as a shift charge nurse when requested/needed and oriented to charge.
Performs all other related duties as assigned.