Registered Nurse - Emergency Department-Day

St. Josephs Medical Center•Houston, TX

About The Position

The Registered Nurse is accountable for observing, assessing, intervening, evaluating, rehabilitating, and providing health education for people who are ill, injured, infirm, or experiencing changes in normal health processes. The role also supports health maintenance and illness prevention; administers physician-ordered medications and treatments; supervises or teaches nursing; and contributes to the administration, supervision, and evaluation of nursing practices, policies, and procedures, including development of nursing care plans. In the Emergency Department, the nurse provides care for patients with traumatic injuries, cardiac symptoms, rapidly changing conditions, and life-threatening needs. Care is guided by Emergency Care Center guidelines, order sets, and Advanced Cardiac and Pediatric Life Support protocols. The nurse addresses pain control, provides age-appropriate care and education, and teaches patients or caregivers about home care, medications, pain management, referrals, follow-up, and when to seek additional care. The position is full-time, on the day shift from 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., and may rotate weekends.

Requirements

Current Registered Nurse licensure accepted by the Texas State Board of Nursing to engage in professional nursing.
BLS, ACLS, PALS, and TNCC certifications are required.
Technical, clerical, critical-thinking, and interpersonal skills relevant to patient care and the assigned area.
Ability to communicate effectively in English, verbally and in writing.
For triage assignment: at least one year of Emergency Department experience, completion of the ESI course, and documented competency in triage.

Nice To Haves

Emergency Room experience.
A baccalaureate degree or progress toward a baccalaureate degree.
National certification recognized by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
Bilingual or multilingual ability.

Responsibilities

Triage, assess, and prioritize arriving patients using the ESI Level 5 Triage System, when qualified and assigned to triage.
Perform primary and secondary assessments for patients with traumatic injuries and initiate immediate nursing care and therapy for patients with cardiac symptoms.
Assess and manage patients with rapidly changing or life-threatening conditions according to Emergency Care Center guidelines, order sets, and Advanced Cardiac and Pediatric Life Support protocols.
Manage patients’ pain-control needs.
Provide care and education suited to the age-related needs of infants, children, adolescents, young adults, and elderly patients.
Educate patients or caregivers about home care, safe and effective medication use, pain management and comfort, referrals and resources, and when to seek further care or follow-up.
Complete eight hours of stroke-specific education annually.
Incorporate patients’ physiological, psychological, cultural, developmental, and spiritual needs into care plans.
Direct, supervise, and guide support personnel implementing patient care plans, and evaluate delegated tasks.
Collaborate with interprofessional and intraprofessional colleagues to support quality outcomes.
Complete annual education and competency validation requirements and maintain competency.
Use the nursing process, professional judgment, and critical thinking to prepare, prioritize, and carry out patient care plans in accordance with assessment data, physicians’ treatment plans, and professional standards.
Promote patient safety by identifying unsafe practices, risks, and hazards and taking action to mitigate harm.
Implement measures to prevent exposure to infectious pathogens and communicable conditions.
Listen to and honor patient and family perspectives and choices, incorporating their knowledge, values, beliefs, and cultural backgrounds into care planning and delivery.
Share complete, unbiased, timely, and accurate information with patients and families and support their chosen level of participation in care and decision-making.
Collaborate with patients, families, healthcare practitioners, and healthcare leaders on policy and program development, implementation, and evaluation; facility design; professional education; and care delivery.
Take ownership of patient-safety concerns, acknowledge ongoing problems requiring attention, support a just culture, and encourage patient and family representation in decisions affecting families and direct care.
Support and communicate the medical center’s mission, vision, and values; follow Standards of Conduct, Corporate Compliance, and HIPAA policies.
Maintain knowledge of current standards of practice, trends, and developments; foster positive customer relationships and contribute to improving HCAHPS results.
Promote responsible use of hospital resources while ensuring quality patient care.
Perform other duties as assigned.