RN - Observation Unit PRN

About the role

Observation Unit PRN PM/N Shift 7p-7a at Lexington Health, a comprehensive network of care that includes six community medical and urgent care centers, nearly 80 physician practices, more than 9,000 health care professionals and Lexington Medical Center, a 607‑bed teaching hospital in West Columbia, South Carolina. Lexington Health has been recognized as one of the Best Places to Work in Healthcare by Modern Healthcare, achieved Magnet with Distinction status, is consistently ranked best in the Columbia Metro area by U.S. News & World Report, delivers over 4,000 babies yearly, performs more than 34,000 surgeries annually, and is the region’s third largest employer. It also includes an accredited Cancer Center of Excellence, the state’s first HeartCARE Center, the largest skilled nursing facility in the Carolinas, an Alzheimer’s care center, and offers postgraduate medical education programs in family medicine, transitional year residencies, and an informatics fellowship.

Responsibilities

• Establishes positive rapport with patient and family; provides emotional, psychological, and spiritual support.
• Promotes patient independence by setting care goals, educating patients and families about condition, medications, self‑care, and encouraging questions.
• Serves as patient/family advocate.
• Maintains continuity among nursing teams through documentation and communication of actions, irregularities, and continuing needs.
• Uses a systematic critical‑thinking approach to guide data gathering, assessment, nursing judgement, intervention, and evaluation of human responses to actual and potential health problems.
• Identifies, synthesizes, and interprets data sources using reasonable clinical judgement to respond to dynamic situations timely and effectively.
• Maintains patient confidence and protects operations by keeping information confidential; uses ethical decision‑making processes and advocates for acceptable patient outcomes.
• Assures quality of care by adhering to therapeutic standards, measuring outcomes against goals, making or recommending adjustments, and following hospital/nursing division philosophies and standards set by state board of nursing, state nurse practice act, and other governing agencies.
• Resolves patient problems using multidisciplinary team strategies.
• Participates in process/performance improvement activities using evidence‑based practice to maintain/improve quality of care and safe patient care systems.
• Maintains a safe and clean working environment by complying with procedures, calling for assistance from support personnel, and adhering to infection‑control policies, medication administration/storage procedures, and controlled substance regulations.
• Documents all patient care activities accurately and timely.
• Ensures operation of equipment by completing preventive maintenance, following manufacturer instructions, troubleshooting malfunctions, arranging repairs, maintaining inventories, and evaluating new equipment/techniques.
• Appropriately utilizes nursing supplies and equipment.
• Demonstrates effective teamwork skills, communicates information, responds to requests, builds rapport, and participates in team problem‑solving methods.
• Promptly responds to all communication devices to meet patient needs.
• Assists in performing and documenting