RN

Essential Duties

• Aid the Director of Nursing Services in directing the day-to-day functions of the nursing activities.
• Participate in developing, maintaining, and updating written policies and procedures for the nursing service department.
• Ensure that reference material at nurses’ stations is current.
• Recommend written material to assist the nursing service department in meeting its needs.
• Ensure the Nursing Service Procedures Manual is current and reflects the day-to-day nursing procedures.
• Ensure all nursing service personnel comply with the procedures set forth in the Nursing Service Procedures Manual.
• Make written and oral reports/recommendations to the Director as necessary/required.
• Periodically review the department’s policies, procedure manuals, job descriptions, etc., and make recommendations to the Director.
• Coordinate nursing services with other resident services to ensure the continuity of residents' total regimen of care.
• Ensure nursing service personnel are in compliance with their job descriptions.
• Participate in the development, maintenance, and implementation of the facility's quality assurance program for the nursing service department.
• Participate in facility surveys made by authorized government agencies as requested.
• Review resident's written discharge plan and update as required.
• Aid in planning the nursing services portion of the resident's discharge plan.
• Meet with nursing staff and support personnel to plan services, programs, and activities.
• Admit, transfer, and discharge residents as needed.
• Complete accident/incident reports as necessary.
• Interpret department's policies and procedures to personnel, residents, visitors, and government agencies as required.
• Perform administrative duties such as completing medical forms, reports, evaluations, studies, charting, etc., as necessary.
• Report any known or suspected unauthorized attempts to access facility's information system.

Committee Functions

• Attend various committee meetings of the facility (e.g., Infection Control, Policy Advisory, Pharmaceutical, Quality Assessment, etc.) as required.
• Prepare written and/or oral reports of nursing service programs and activities to submit to such committee(s) as directed.
• Provide information to the Quality Assurance and Assessment Committee as requested.
• Develop the agenda for the Care Plan Committee meetings as necessary.
• Review and evaluate discharge plans and make them available to the Care Plan Committee as required or as may be necessary.
• Implement recommendations from established committees as instructed by the Director.

Personnel Functions

• Ensure a sufficient number of licensed practical and/or registered nurses are available for your tour of duty.
• Ensure a sufficient number of certified nursing assistants are available for your tour of duty.
• Develop work assignments and assist in completing and performing such tasks.
• Delegate administrative authority, responsibility, and accountability to each Charge Nurse.
• Ensure nursing assistants are enrolled in or have graduated from an approved nursing assistant training program.
• Ensure nurse aide trainees are under the direct supervision of a licensed nurse.
• Make daily rounds of the nursing service department to ensure all nursing service personnel are performing their work assignments in accordance with acceptable nursing standards.
• Monitor absenteeism to ensure adequate staffing levels.
• Report problem areas to the Director.
• Ensure policies and procedures, including dress codes, are followed by all departmental personnel.
• Review complaints and grievances made or filed by department personnel.
• Make appropriate reports to the Director as required or as may be necessary.
• Create and maintain a positive atmosphere throughout the unit and shift.
• Meet with your shift on a regularly scheduled basis to assist in identifying and correcting problem areas and/or improving services.
• Develop and maintain a good working rapport with inter-department personnel and other departments within the facility.
• Ensure departmental disciplinary actions are administered fairly and without regard to race, color, creed, national origin, age, sex, religion, handicap, or marital status.
• Report occupational exposures to blood, body fluids, infectious materials, and hazardous chemicals in accordance with the facility's policies and procedures.
• Ensure departmental computer workstations left unattended are properly logged off or the password-protected automatic screen-saver activates within established facility policy guidelines.

Nursing Care Functions

• Inform nursing service personnel of new admissions, their expected time of arrival, room assignment, etc.
• Ensure rooms are ready for new admissions.
• Greet newly admitted residents upon admission and escort them to their rooms as necessary.
• Consult with the resident, his/her family, and the resident’s physician in planning the resident’s care, treatment, rehabilitation, etc., as necessary.
• Notify the Director when physician visits are not made in a timely manner.
• Inform the Director when there is a change in the resident's condition.
• Visit residents on a daily basis to observe and evaluate their physical and emotional status.
• Ensure direct nursing care is provided by a licensed nurse, a certified nursing assistant, and/or a nurse aide trainee qualified to perform the procedure.
• Review nurses’ notes to ensure they are informative and descriptive of the nursing care being provided, that they reflect the resident's response to the care, and that such care is provided in accordance with the resident's wishes.
• Provide direct nursing care as necessary.
• Start IVs, obtain sputum, urine, and other specimens for lab tests as ordered.
• Take TPRs, blood pressures, etc., as necessary.
• Admit, transfer, and discharge residents as necessary.
• Report problem areas to the Director.
• Aid in developing and implementing corrective action.
• Keep the Director informed of the status of residents and other related matters through written/oral reports.
• Absorb seriously ill residents and monitor them.
• Authorize the use of restraints when necessary and in accordance with the facility's policies and procedures.
• Ensure RNs and LPNs on your shift comply with written procedures for the administration, storage, and control of medications and supplies.
• Maintain medication passes and treatment schedules to ensure medications are being administered as ordered and treatments are provided as scheduled.
• Inspect nursing service treatment areas daily to ensure they are maintained in a clean and safe manner.
• Ensure residents who are unable to call for help are checked frequently.
• Meet with residents, and/or family members, as necessary.
• Report problems to the Director.
• Absorb discharged residents and arrange transportation as necessary.
• Inform family members of the death of the resident and call funeral homes when requested.

Staff Development

• Develop, plan, conduct, and schedule in-service training classes that provide instructions on "how to do the job."
• Aid the In-service Director/Educator in developing annual facility in-service training programs (e.g., OSHA, TB, HIPAA, Abuse Prevention, Safety, Infection Control, etc.).
• Absorb clinical supervision for nurse aide trainees.
• Attend and participate in continuing education programs designed to keep up with changes in the profession and to maintain a current license.

Safety and Sanitation

• Absorb safety standards for the nursing service department as necessary.
• Absorb identification, evaluation, and classification of routine and job-related functions to ensure tasks involving potential exposure to blood/body fluids are properly identified and recorded.
• Absorb in-service training programs for personnel involved in tasks involving potential exposure to blood or body fluids.
• Absorb an adequate supply of personal protective equipment and ensure it is readily available to personnel who perform procedures involving exposure to blood or body fluids.
• Absorb procedures for the use and disposal of personal protective equipment.
• Absorb monitoring of personnel to ensure they are following established safety regulations in the use of equipment and supplies.
• Absorb ensuring nursing service personnel comply with established departmental policies and procedures.
• Absorb ensuring nursing service work areas (i.e., nurse stations, treatment areas) are maintained in a clean and safe manner.