Senior Staff Registered Nurse - Med Oncology (Cypress)

About the Role

At Houston Methodist, the Sr Staff Registered Nurse (RN) position is responsible for functioning as an advanced clinician at the Proficient level according to Benner's model of clinical practice. The Sr Staff RN position provides professional direct patient nursing care to a diverse patient population, which may include patients with varied and complex needs, and is considered an expert in a specialty. Besides conducting nursing assessments, assisting with exams and treatment and maintenance of medical records, this position assists in coaching and mentoring department staff in areas of clinical and professional practice. Role modeling compassionate communication with physicians and the interprofessional health care team, the Sr Staff RN position assumes leadership responsibilities with high level contributions in the department and across the institution.

Responsibilities

• Leading department clinical activities
• Assessing department needs related to practice and improvement opportunities
• Serving as a clinical resource for department staff
• Coordinating department education in partnership with management
• Identifying staff development opportunities for professional growth of colleagues, providing coaching to meet identified goals
• Acting as a model and coaching staff in effective verbal, non-verbal and written communication, which includes active listening and teaching
• Providing oversight for new employee preceptorships
• Collaborating to foster healthy relationships in the work environment such as mitigation of conflict
• Advocating for a balanced workload, promoting positive behaviors, and peer-to-peer accountability
• Improving nurse satisfaction by serving as a role model and mentor, facilitating teamwork with RNs, non-licensed and interprofessional staff
• Driving improvement of department scores for employee engagement, i.e., peer-to-peer accountability
• Role modeling the patient and family-centered care standards, as outlined in the Houston Methodist Professional Nursing Practice document
• Mentoring others regarding specialty populations
• Auditing plan of care
• Developing, updating, and communicating plan of care, including discharge/disposition, in partnership with the patient, family and interprofessional health care team, using the nursing process
• Prioritizing care based on the patient's needs, abilities, and preferences
• Advocating on patient/family's behalf to identify and resolve clinical and ethical concerns
• Developing appropriate resources and supporting department practices and guidelines
• Developing and implementing effective patient teaching strategies based on learning needs; using appropriate resources, incorporating planning for care after discharge/disposition
• Consistently evaluating the patient's comprehension and adapting teaching methods accordingly
• Driving department activities to improve department score for patient satisfaction, through peer-to-peer accountability to service standards
• Modeling the standards of care related to the nursing process, as outlined in the Houston Methodist Professional Nursing Practice document
• Providing care as the staff nurse leader to complex patients and leading the interprofessional health care team in implementing plan of care
• Anticipating/preventing and recognizing/resolving early declines in patient condition and emergent situations
• Managing assignment of complex patients and other department demands
• Identifying areas of practice improvements with research-based evidence to achieve quality measures and patient safety outcomes, supported by accurate documentation and patient teaching
• Modeling the standards related to regulatory requirements and professional practice as outlined in the Houston Methodist Professional Nursing Practice document
• Role modeling highly developed assessment, clinical documentation, leadership, and analytical skills; integrating and contributing to professional practice standards, policies, procedures, protocols and leading improvements in patient safety-related processes at department or service line level
• Contributing to development of service line and clinical standards and guidelines
• Partnering 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 modeling situational awareness, using teachable moments to improve safety
• Modeling independent time management effectively and prioritization of daily tasks, minimizing incidental overtime
• Actively participating in the stewardship and efficient utilization of resources and needs including capital and operational budget needs
• Implementing department strategies to achieve financial target and mentoring others to do the same through timely documentation of care, optimizing efficiency, minimizing incidental overtime, and other areas according to department specifications
• Identifying opportunities for practice changes and performance improvement
• Investigating and incorporating evidence-based practices which are presented to department and leadership
• Supporting change initiatives and adapting to unexpected changes
• Championing new care pathways or service line implementations to improve care to the community
• Identifying trends for improvement opportunities or practice changes and supporting initiatives
• Researching the change and presenting options to appropriate clinical leadership
• Expanding individual nursing knowledge and coaching staff to grow in knowledge, abilities, skills, and attitudes
• Ensuring own career discussions occur with appropriate management
• Serving as the clinical resource
• Developing and disseminating, as appropriate, informational/educational resources and programs designed to improve quality and professional practice
• Completing and updating My Development plan on an on-going basis

Qualifications

Education: 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)

Experience: Three years of nursing experience. One year in specialty preferred.

Licenses and Certifications: 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); BLS - Basic Life Support or Instructor (AHA) - American Heart Association

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

Work Attire and Travel

Uniform: No
Scrubs: Yes
Business professional: No
Other (department approved): No

On-Call: No (Note that employees may be required to be on-call during emergencies, ie. Disaster, Severe Weather Events, etc.)

Travel: May require travel within the Houston Metropolitan area (Yes); May require travel outside Houston Metropolitan area (No)