Senior Staff Registered Nurse- Cancer Center (Medical Center)

About the role

The Senior Staff Registered Nurse- Cancer Center position at Houston Methodist is responsible for providing comprehensive nursing care to patients in a specialized cancer center setting. This role requires a strong background in nursing, particularly in oncology, along with excellent communication and leadership skills.

Responsibilities

• Identifies staff development opportunities for professional growth of colleagues, provides coaching to meet identified goals.
• Collaborates to foster healthy relationships in the work environment such as mitigation of conflict. Advocates for a balanced workload, promotes positive behaviors, and peer-to-peer accountability.
• Improves nurse satisfaction by serving as a role model and mentor, facilitating teamwork with RNs, non-licensed and interprofessional staff. Drives improvement of department scores for employee engagement, i.e., peer-to-peer accountability.
• Role models the patient and family-centered care standards, as outlined in the Houston Methodist Professional Nursing Practice document. Mentors others regarding specialty populations. Audits plan of care.
• Develops, updates, and communicates plan of care, including discharge/disposition, 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 patient/family’s behalf to identify and resolve clinical and ethical concerns. Develops appropriate resources and supports department practices and guidelines.
• Develops and implements effective patient teaching strategies based on learning needs; uses appropriate resources, incorporating planning for care after discharge/disposition. 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 to service standards.
• Models the standards of care related to the nursing process, as outlined in the Houston Methodist Professional Nursing Practice document. Provides care as the staff nurse leader to complex patients and leads the interprofessional health care team in implementing plan of care. Anticipates/prevents and recognize/resolves early declines in patient condition and emergent situations. Manages assignment of complex patients and other department demands. Identifies areas of practice improvements with research-based evidence to achieve quality measures and patient safety outcomes, supported by accurate documentation and patient teaching.
• Maintains a high standard of care and ensures compliance with all regulatory requirements and professional practice standards.
• Partners on 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.
• Models independent time management effectively and prioritization of daily tasks, minimizing incidental overtime. Actively participates in the stewardship and efficient utilization of resources and needs including capital and operational budget needs.
• Implements department strategies to achieve financial target and mentors others to do the same through timely documentation of care, optimizing efficiency, minimizing incidental overtime, and other areas according to department specifications.
• Champions new care pathways or service line implementations to improve care to the community. Identifies trends for improvement opportunities or practice changes and supports initiatives. Researches the change and presents options to appropriate clinical leadership.
• Expands individual nursing knowledge and coaches staff to grow in knowledge, abilities, skills, and attitudes. Ensures own career discussions occur with appropriate management. Serves as the clinical resource. Develops and disseminates, as appropriate, informational/educational resources and programs designed to improve quality and professional practice. Completes and updates My Development plan on an on-going basis.

Requirements

• Three years of nursing experience
• One year in specialty preferred
• Bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited school of nursing OR Associate’s degree from an accredited school of nursing with an additional two years of nursing experience (in addition to the minimum experience requirements listed below)
• Required: RN - Registered Nurse - Texas State Licensure - Texas Board of Nursing_PSV Compact Licensure – Must obtain permanent Texas license within 60 days (if establishing Texas residency)
• Required: BLS - Basic Life Support or Instructor (AHA) - American Heart Association

Qualifications

• High School diploma or equivalent education (examples include: GED, verification of homeschool equivalency, partial or full completion of post-secondary education, etc.)
• Two years as a Surgical Technologist
• Graduate of education program approved by the credentialing body for the required credential(s) indicated below in the Certifications, Licenses and Registrations section

Skills and Abilities

• Demonstrates the skills and competencies necessary to safely perform the assigned job, determined through on-going 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
• Strong assessment, organizational and problem-solving skills 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
• 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
• Uses critical thinking skills and clinical judgment to work autonomously as defined by the Nurse Practice Act
• Demonstrates proficient time management skills
• Working knowledge of Microsoft products including Outlook

Benefits

Details about benefits will be provided upon employment.

Pay

Details about pay will be provided upon employment.

Schedule

Details about schedule will be provided upon employment.

Supplemental Requirements

• WORK ATTIRE - Uniform: No - Scrubs: Yes - Business professional: No - Other (department approved): No
• On Call* No
• May require travel within the Houston Metropolitan area Yes
• May require travel outside Houston Metropolitan area No

Company Profile

Houston Methodist Specialty Physician Group is an integral part of Houston Methodist’s overall strategy to become one of the nation’s leading academic medical centers. Established as a nonprofit corporation certified by the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners, the Specialty Physician Group enables physicians to maintain autonomy with respect to clinical practice while growing their practice within an academic environment.

Houston Methodist is an Equal Opportunity Employer.