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.

Responsibilities and Duties

• 40% of time: 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 assigned unit and maintains flexibility to help other departments with the care of patients as needed.
• Assists in creating the ideal patient experience through 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 available licensed clinician.
• May act as a transporter for the nursing unit assigned.
• Runs errands to either pick up or deliver items for patient care.
• 40% of time: Performs delegable nursing tasks assigned by the Registered Nurse, including tasks that:
• Can be performed without requiring judgment based on nursing knowledge;
• Have predictable results;
• Can be performed safely according to exact, unchanging directions;
• Do not require complex observations or critical decisions;
• Do not require assessment;
• Have minimal consequences if performed improperly and are 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;
• 1-2 lead EKG;
• Simple clean non-sterile dressing changes.
• Accurately collects data such as height, weight, vital signs, intake and output, 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 (e.g., fingerstick glucoses or urine dipstick).
• Reports patient observations and concerns to the Registered Nurse.
• 20% of time: 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.

The major duties and responsibilities listed above are not intended to be all-inclusive; associates are expected to perform other duties as requested by their supervisor. As a High Reliability Organization (HRO), responsibilities require focus on safety, quality, and efficiency in performing job duties.

Minimum Qualifications

• High School diploma or GED.
• 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.

Work Shift: Night

Scheduled Weekly Hours: 36

Department: Medical Unit 2