Clinical Registered Nurse II (LGH D37 General Med Surg, PT, 7p-7a)

About the role

Centra Health’s 33-bed General Medical Surgical Unit (D37) cares for adult patients with a wide range of medical conditions, including chronic illnesses experiencing acute exacerbation and newly diagnosed conditions requiring treatment and ongoing management. Nurses develop and maintain a broad clinical skill set while caring for a diverse patient population and using advanced procedures and technologies such as IV insertion and management, urinary catheterization, Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD), blood product administration, chest tube management, central line care, enteral feeding tubes, telemetry monitoring, restraints, rectal tube management, and enemas.

Centra Health is a regional, nonprofit healthcare system in Central Virginia with hospitals, medical centers, and specialty and primary care practices throughout the Blue Ridge region. The organization has earned its fifth Magnet® designation, reflecting a commitment to nursing excellence, professional development, and exceptional patient care.

Responsibilities

• Assessment: Conducts individualized and ongoing patient assessments, prioritizing data collection based on the patient’s immediate condition; integrates nursing interventions into the multidisciplinary plan of care and reprioritizes care as needed.
• Planning: Develops, modifies, and integrates individualized care plans that incorporate the medical plan of care, key elements from other disciplines, and standards of care; establishes measurable patient goals in consultation with the patient, family, and healthcare team.
• Intervention: Performs treatments as ordered by the provider in an accurate and timely manner; performs therapeutic nursing interventions per the individualized plan of care; recognizes potential problems and responds to urgent and/or emergent patient risks; initiates emergency resuscitative measures as appropriate; assumes responsibility for managing the care of a specialty patient population.
• Evaluation: Evaluates patient responses to care based on the effectiveness of nursing interventions and progress toward established goals; initiates changes to the interdisciplinary care plan as indicated; problem-solves with the specialty team to improve outcomes; documents assessments, responses, and progress.
• Patient Education: Identifies learning needs of patients and families; teaches by adapting standard information to individual needs; ensures patients and families demonstrate knowledge within their abilities; communicates with patients and families to identify needs and include them in the plan of care; acknowledges and supports patient and family treatment decisions.
• Self and Peer Learning: Assesses and meets own learning and professional development needs; maintains current competency in the nursing specialty and department requirements; attends required educational programs; reviews professional publications; participates in professional networks and may participate in professional societies; seeks additional educational opportunities for clinical development and is either ready to learn the charge nurse role or currently functioning in that role.
• Collaboration: Makes sound judgments in coordinating multiple, increasingly complex patient care demands; supervises delegated care based on staff abilities and patient acuity; reports changes in patient condition to appropriate personnel.
• Service Recovery: Participates in service recovery and uses appropriate resources during complex situations; handles conflict resolution in an appropriate, timely, and consistent manner.
• Resource Utilization and Stewardship: Supports organizational efforts regarding appropriate resource utilization; able to serve as a preceptor/mentor and works directly with employees to fulfill planned orientation; may assist in the orientation, instruction, direction, and evaluation of students assigned to the unit; able to be trained for a charge nurse role or is currently functioning in that role.
• Improvement Activities: Participates in data collection for quality assurance activities as assigned; identifies and communicates recurring practice concerns and their impact on care; participates in initiatives resulting from nurse-sensitive, quality, and other specialty indicators and/or unit-based quality metrics; demonstrates utilization of Centra’s safety behaviors (e.g., Speak Up for Safety).
• Research/Evidence Based Practice/Quality Improvement Projects: May participate in research or evidence-based practice projects; able to communicate research and quality improvement data/findings to peers; able to interpret quality improvement data relevant to the clinical specialty and communicate it to peers; contributes to development or implementation of methods to improve quality care in areas identified as deficient.
• Ethics: Maintains confidentiality as outlined in Centra policies; delivers care that protects patient autonomy, dignity, and rights; serves as a patient advocate; maintains professional role boundaries in patient-nurse relationships.

Requirements

• Diploma or Associate Degree in Nursing.
• Registration as a registered nurse in the Commonwealth of Virginia and/or holds a compact license to practice in Virginia.
• American Heart Association (AHA) Basic Life Support (BLS) Provider certification.
• One year of nursing (RN) experience.

Certifications

• Additional Specialty Requirements – Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS): Cath Lab/Electrophysiology, Operating Room, Critical Care (All), Endoscopy, PACU, Interventional Radiology, Birth Center, Centra Specialty Hospital, Outpatient Ambulatory Surgery, Plastic Surgery, Registered Nurse Outpatient Ambulatory Surgery.
• Additional Specialty Requirements – Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS): Pediatrics.
• Additional Specialty Requirements – Advanced and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (ACLS & PALS): Emergency Department.