Weekend Ward Clerk

Kinder Retirement & Rehabilitation Center•Kinder, LA

13h

About The Position

The Ward Clerk is responsible for daily operations of the Nurse’s Station and assigned medical-records duties at Kinder Retirement & Rehabilitation Center. The role is for weekend coverage, with 12-hour shifts on Saturday and Sunday. The Ward Clerk supports residents, nurses, and other staff by maintaining records and supplies, assisting with communications and appointments, and keeping the nursing station orderly. Resident information must be kept confidential, and the clerk is expected to conduct themselves professionally and interact with residents, families, and coworkers in a calm, courteous, and supportive manner.

Requirements

Genuine interest in the elderly.
Patience and tactfulness in communicating with others.
Good listening skills.
Ability to recognize situations that should be referred to the Charge Nurse or another department supervisor.
Sufficient understanding and self-discipline to respond appropriately to residents’ needs and feelings.
Interest in learning and advancement.
Ability to work congenially with others.
Ability to work hours assigned by the Administrator.
Ability to deal with a variety of employees, residents, and relatives with sociability, courtesy, and sympathy.
Memory for details, initiative, and judgment in promoting favorable public relations.

Nice To Haves

High school education or equivalent is preferred.

Responsibilities

Check the appointment calendar, ensure residents are ready for appointments, and prepare relevant physician orders, progress sheets, and Medicaid cards for residents to take with them when appropriate.
Keep charts organized, update chart name tags after room or doctor changes, prepare new charts, and update names on medicine bins as needed.
Remain at the Nurse’s Station to answer call lights and summon assistance, respond to door-buzzer alerts involving residents who may have wandered, monitor the front door for confused residents at risk of elopement, and answer resident and business telephone calls.
Maintain the resident pass book, notify nurses of residents’ departure and return times, notify dietary when residents will be away during mealtimes, and check daily that residents have signed back in.
Send telephone orders to physicians as required and send physician order sheets.
File lab reports on charts after a nurse has called the physician.
File medication and nursing care sheets on charts monthly.
File signed physician order sheets on charts and verify they are dated.
Maintain the Inter-office Resident Status Communication Sheet.
Complete laboratory requisitions at a nurse’s request.
Keep adequate clerical supplies at the Nurse’s Station.
Assemble charts for new residents.
Announce morning and afternoon nourishments for nursing assistants to pick up at the station.
Maintain the daily census record and complete sections as needed.
Inform Medical Records when progress notes are needed by a physician.
Keep the nursing station orderly.
Monitor Nurse’s Station supplies and ensure adequate quantities are available in nurses’ storage.
Audit charts daily as assigned for required progress notes and social, activity, dietary, nursing, and quarterly summaries, following the schedule provided by the Director of Nursing.
Protect resident confidentiality; do not answer telephone inquiries about residents’ medical or financial records, and refer resident or visitor complaints to the Charge Nurse, Director of Nursing, Assistant Director of Nursing, or Administration.
Use initiative and judgment and interact professionally and courteously with employees, residents, and relatives.
Perform other assigned tasks.
Attend required staff in-services, meetings, orientation, and continuing education activities.
Follow the Patient’s Bill of Rights and protect patient information in accordance with HIPAA regulations.
Interact with patients, family members, coworkers, and clinical and ancillary staff in a nonjudgmental, supportive, and calm manner.
Be aware of the Patient Abuse Reporting Law.
Participate as assigned in orientation of new staff and maintain a positive, helpful, and enthusiastic attitude.