Patient Support Assistant

About the Role

Assist Registered Nurse in providing direct patient care to multiple patients at a time on a designated nursing unit.

Key Responsibilities

• Performs and/or assists the patient with activities of daily living (e.g., bathing, grooming, eating, walking).
• Maintains environmental cleanliness and safety of patient rooms, unit, and equipment.
• Provides assistance to patients, visitors, and nursing personnel in the assigned unit and maintains flexibility to help other departments with patient care as needed.
• Assists in creating the ideal patient experience through the development of respectful and compassionate relationships with each patient and family.
• May serve as a patient safety champion, empowering equal responsibility for all safety guidelines among all licensed and unlicensed caregivers.
• May assist in telemetry cardiac monitoring, recognizing life-threatening arrhythmias and communicating immediately to an available licensed clinician.
• May act as a transporter for the nursing unit assigned.
• Runs errands to pick up or deliver items for patient care.
• Performs delegable nursing tasks delegated by the Registered Nurse, which include tasks that can be performed without judgment based on nursing knowledge, tasks with predictable results, tasks that can be performed safely according to exact directions, tasks that do not require complex observations or critical decisions, tasks that do not require assessment, and tasks where the consequences of improper performance are minimal and not life-threatening.
• Performs other basic nursing care duties as directed by the RN, including but not limited to waived testing (fingerstick glucose, urine dipstick, occult fecal), non-sterile specimen collection, nasogastric tube care, 12 lead EKG, and simple clean non-sterile dressing changes.
• Accurately collects data such as height, weight, vital signs, intake and output, etc., and records data on the appropriate documentation form.
• Competent in the use of portable technology, using handheld wireless devices for measurement and documentation of intake and output, vital signs, and point-of-care testing such as fingerstick glucoses or urine dipstick.
• Reports patient observations and concerns to the Registered Nurse.
• Assists hospital visitors and staff with information needs.
• May utilize wireless devices and technology for coordination of healthcare (e.g., scheduling, flowchart documentation, nutrition service ordering).
• May serve as a super user for nursing assistant information technology and/or preceptor for new nursing assistants.
• Maintains supplies and equipment necessary for patient care operations.
• Secures and handles appropriate supplies, medications, and lab specimens transported from/into and within the unit.
• As a High Reliability Organization (HRO), responsibilities require focus on safety, quality, and efficiency in performing job duties.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• High School or GED

Qualifications

• 16- and 17-year-old individuals without a high school diploma or GED will be considered only if they have a valid work permit.
• 18-year-old individuals enrolled in high school do not need a high school diploma/GED/work permit to be considered.
• Passion to work in a caring environment.
• Belief that learning is a life-long process.
• Striving for excellence and wanting to be among the best in the healthcare industry.