Hospital - Advanced Care RN III (Full-time, Days)

About the Role

The Advanced Care RN III is an advanced licensed clinician functioning at the proficient level, providing professional direct patient care to a diverse population as an expert in the specialty. This role involves conducting nursing assessments, assisting with exams and treatment, maintaining medical records, and coaching and mentoring department staff in clinical and professional practice areas. The RN III assumes leadership responsibilities with high-level contributions at the bedside, unit, service line, and across the institution, including leading unit and shared governance activities, serving as charge nurse as needed, assessing the unit's needs related to practice and improvement opportunities, serving as a clinical resource for unit and hospital staff, and coordinating unit and hospital-wide education in partnership with management.

Responsibilities

• Identifies staff development opportunities for colleagues' professional growth and provides coaching to meet identified goals.
• Acts as a model and coaches staff in effective verbal, nonverbal, and written communication, which includes active listening and teaching.
• Provides oversight for student/new employee preceptorships.
• Collaborates to foster healthy relationships in the work environment, such as conflict mitigation.
• Advocates for a balanced workload, promotes positive behaviors, and promotes peer-to-peer accountability.
• Improves nurse satisfaction by serving as a role model and mentor, facilitating teamwork with RNs and non-licensed and interprofessional staff, as evidenced by the annual RN-RN teamwork score and interprofessional relationship score.
• Provides recommendations to improve department scores for turnover/retention.
• Leads the patient and family-centered care standards and mentors others regarding specialty populations.
• Develops, updates, and communicates a plan of care, including discharge, in partnership with the patient, family, and interprofessional health care team using the nursing process.
• Prioritizes care based on the patient's needs, abilities, and preferences.
• Advocates on the patient/family's behalf to identify and resolve clinical and ethical concerns.
• Develops appropriate resources and supports unit practices and guidelines.
• Develops and implements effective patient teaching strategies based on learning needs; uses appropriate resources, incorporating planning for care after discharge.
• Consistently evaluates the patient's comprehension and adapts teaching methods accordingly.
• Drives department activities to improve department score for patient satisfaction through peer-to-peer accountability.
• Models the standards of care related to the nursing process.
• Provides care as the staff nurse leader to complex patients and leads the interprofessional health care team in implementing the plan of care.
• Anticipates/prevents and recognizes/resolves early declines in patient condition and emergent situations.
• Manages the assignment of complex patients and other unit demands.
• Proactively recognizes, determines a plan of action, and responds to situations, such as Rapid Response/CERTs and emergency codes.
• Models the standards related to regulatory requirements and professional practice.
• Role models highly developed assessment, clinical documentation, leadership, and analytical skills; integrates and contributes to professional practice standards, policies, procedures, and protocols and leads improvements in patient safety-related processes at the unit or service line level.
• Contributes to the development of service line and hospital standards and guidelines.
• Leads and identifies opportunities for practice changes and performance improvement.
• Investigates and incorporates evidence-based practices presented to shared governance and leadership.
• Leads initiatives to improve quality and safety scores through peer-to-peer accountability, reporting near misses and identifying solutions by collaborating with the interprofessional team.
• Role models situational awareness, using teachable moments to improve safety.
• Audits the plan of care and other areas as needed.
• Models independent time management effectively and prioritization of daily tasks, minimizing incidental overtime.
• Collaborates with interprofessional health care team to facilitate patient throughput efficiently to meet organizational goals.
• Implements department strategies to achieve financial target and mentors others to do the same through timely documentation of care, decreasing length of stay, optimizing efficiency, minimizing incidental overtime, and other areas according to department specifications.
• Expands individual nursing knowledge and coaches staff to grow in knowledge, abilities, skills, and attitudes.
• Serves as the clinical resource.
• Develops and disseminates, as appropriate, informational/educational resources and programs designed to improve quality and professional practice.
• Supports change initiatives and adapts to unexpected changes.
• Fosters identification and implementation of innovative solutions to improve patient care or unit operations such as reduction of hospital readmissions or other department-specific measures by leading and/or participating in unit projects and shared governance activities.
• Performs other job-related duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Current Texas Board of Nursing (or Compact State) RN license; or a Temporary Texas RN License (Permanent TX license within 90 days upon hire).
• American Heart Association Basic Life Support (BLS) certification, within 7 days of hire.
• Bachelor's degree in Nursing required.
• Two (2) years nursing experience in a healthcare environment.
• Demonstrates the skills and competencies necessary to safely perform the assigned job, determined through ongoing skills, competency assessments, and performance evaluations.
• Sufficient proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing the English language necessary to perform the essential functions of this job, especially with regard to activities impacting patient or employee safety or security.
• Ability to effectively communicate with patients, physicians, family members and co-workers in a manner consistent with a customer service focus and application of positive language principles.
• Demonstrates expertise in operating the electronic medical record.
• Acts as effective change agent.
• Uses therapeutic communication to establish a relationship with patients, families and interprofessional team to collaborate on the plan of care.
• Strong assessment, organizational and problem-solving skill as evidenced by capacity to prioritize multiple tasks and role components.
• Ability to function independently and exercise judgment in interactions with physicians, interprofessional care team and patients and their families.
• Demonstrates proficient time management skills.
• Uses critical thinking skills and clinical judgment to work autonomously as defined by the Nurse Practice Act.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft.
• Ability to serve as a preceptor and a mentor by fostering a teaching environment. Position eligible for preceptor premium pay with completion of preceptor education and leader approval.

Benefits

UT Health San Antonio offers an excellent benefits package for employees who work at least 20 hours a week with an appointment of at least 4.5 months.

• Medical: UT SELECT Medical insurance offered free for employees, administered by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas. Family members can be added through payroll deduction. Employees and dependents receive discounted copays and coinsurance when using UT Health Physicians, a network of 800 premier physicians including more than 100 specialists.
• Life & AD&D: Employees receive $50,000 of group term life insurance and $50,000 of basic accidental death and dismemberment insurance for free, with options to purchase additional employee and dependent coverage for both at group rates.
• Dental: Three dental insurance plan options available through Delta Dental Insurance Company, two PPOs and one dental HMO plan. Both PPO plans allow employees to choose any licensed dentist.
• Vision: Fully insured Vision Care benefits offered by Superior Vision Services with two plan options offering standard or enhanced benefits.
• Disability: Employees can enroll in Disability Insurance providing income if a non-work related illness or injury prevents you from working.
• FSAs: Flexible spending accounts to set aside pre-tax money for qualifying dependent day care expenses or out-of-pocket health care expenses.
• Retirement: Eligible for either the Teacher Retirement System (TRS), a defined benefit plan with UT Health matching employee contributions, or the Optional Retirement Plan (ORP) for eligible faculty staff employees. Voluntary retirement programs also available with five quality providers.
• Time Off: Generous leave program including:
  • Front-loaded Paid Time Off: 128 to 208 hours (16 to 26 days) based on years of service, given at the start of each fiscal year (prorated in year one based on date of hire).
  • Extended Illness Bank: 8 hours (1 day) accrued per month for illness or injury after one day of Paid Time Off is taken.
  • Paid Family Leave: Up to 240 hours (6 weeks) to care for a spouse, child, or parent after 6 months of consecutive employment.
  • Holidays: 12 set paid holidays each year.
• Discounts: Range of discounts on services, tickets, and gym membership.