Practical Nurse - PACT - Primary Care

About the role

The LPN provides patient centered care to the Montrose and Carmel outpatient clinics using the Patient Aligned Care Team model. Using broad working knowledge of nursing procedures, the LPN will provide a broad range of direct, age-specific patient care activities and supportive services under the guidance and supervision of the Registered Nurse.

Responsibilities

• Maintains knowledge and skills to care for a wide range of patients including those with acute and chronic illnesses in the clinic setting.
• Demonstrates knowledge and ability to provide a full range of practical nursing care to patients with a variety of physical and/or behavioral problems. Demonstrates understanding of disease condition, nursing process.
• Rooms patients into the clinic exam room, interviews patient/and or significant other and documents intake data as per policy. Possesses comprehensive knowledge of VA protocols, VHA Directives, VA HVCS SOP/Policies
• Obtains vital signs, weight and height and completes all nursing clinical reminders thoroughly and accurately per due dates and clinical appropriateness, including Suicide Screening, Alcohol Use Screening, Tobacco Use Screening, Pain Screening, Frail/Elderly Screening, etc... and shares information with provider and PACT teams to develop and implement action plans.
• Possesses comprehensive knowledge of VA protocols, VHA Directives, VA HVCS SOP/Policies related to clinic management, documentation and procedural requirements such as storage, use and precleaning of Reusable medical Equipment (RME), time outs and processing/delivery of specimens to the laboratory.
• Demonstrates knowledge, skill and ability to recognize and effectively intervene in potential or emergent situations; Rapid Response, Code Blue/Green.
• Demonstrates the ability to independently adjust or modify care being delivered to meet the changing needs of the patient with notification to the RN or provider for concurrence.
• Participates in PACT huddle, answering of secure messages, perform discharge phone calls, Urgent room follow up phone calls, answers outlook messages for the Pact team and responds to nurse triage messages for the Pact team.
• Demonstrates knowledge of standard precautions, medical asepsis, and sterile technique with the ability to correctly apply these principles and techniques with implementation in the clinic setting.
• Collaborates with the interdisciplinary PACT team in development, implementation, and evaluation of the treatment plan to promote patient participation and foster patient self-management. Includes patient and/or family in treatment planning and goal setting.
• Performs venipuncture using two patient identifiers, aseptic technique and appropriate accessioning.
• Sets up, cleans up, processes of specimens and transports to the lab per hospital SOP/Policies.

Qualifications

• Completion of at least one (1) year of additional qualifying experience at the GS-5 level or equivalent, fully meeting all performance requirements for the GS-5 LPN/LVN.
• Technically proficient in initiating, performing and completing assigned duties in providing care to variable patient populations.
• Knowledge and ability to appropriately carry out assigned patient care based on the patients' conditions; to use judgment in selecting the appropriate order and sequence of procedures and treatments; and to accurately recognize, report and document relevant patient information.
• Knowledge and understanding of human behavior, patient motivations and reactions to situations, and ability to appropriately utilize this knowledge in working effectively with patients, family members, and other staff.
• Knowledge and skill in performing support duties for complex diagnostic tests and/or specialized practices or procedures, which include preparing the patient, assisting in the diagnostic examination, preparing and handling specialized instruments or other specialized equipment, and monitoring the patient's condition before, during, and following the procedure.
• Actively seeks out educational opportunities to enhance nursing knowledge and skills, sharing new knowledge gained with other staff to improve and advance nursing practice.