Registered Nurse, 2nd FL Med/Surg, Per Diem, All Shifts - Athol Hospital

• Conducts interactions with everyone in a friendly, courteous and respectful manner.
• Goes out of his/her way to offer assistance to others. If he/she cannot offer assistance, then finds someone who can.
• Advocates to ensure privacy and confidentiality while helping others to maintain awareness.
• Maintains a clean and safe hospital.
• Responds appropriately and immediately in emergency situations.
• Maintains a safe and healthy environment for patients, visitors, and/or staff to provide the highest level of physical comfort, and minimize risk and injury.
• Ensures compliance with regulations to maintain accreditation and licensure.
• Complies with the Hospital Attendance and Tardiness Policy.
• Completed all Hospital and Department Specific Mandatory requirements in the prior calendar year.
• Reports Incidents in a timely and effective manner.
• All employees with direct patient contact are responsible for actively engaging in the practice of, monitoring and enforcing compliance to hand hygiene.
• Assesses (and reassesses), plans, implements, and evaluates nursing interventions/plans of care/patient goals.
• Provides patient care based on standards of care, standards of practice, protocols, and established policies and procedures.
• Respects each patient as an individual; provides care that fosters the patient’s sense of dignity and positive self-regard.
• Provides patient/family teaching based on identified learning needs, readiness to learn, and barriers to learning.
• Collaboratively plans and prepares patient/family for discharge incorporating support systems/resources as necessary.
• Appropriately delegates and supervises nursing interventions performed by others.
• Appropriately prioritizes patient care (e.g. seeks assistance as needed from appropriate resources, reassigns personnel as necessary, recognizes need for emergency intervention, etc.).
• Provides thorough, timely, and accurate documentation of all pertinent data, therapeutic interventions and patient responses according to established standards.
• Provides timely and thorough report on assigned patients to other health care team members to ensure integration of services and continuity of patient care.
• Promotes learning for colleagues and self (e.g. functions as preceptor, instructor, trainer, attends professional development programs, etc.).
• Proactively identifies risk to patient safety and identifies opportunities to reduce medical/health care errors (i.e. appropriate reporting of errors/incidents).
• Identifies ethical issues in care and develops plan to address.
• Safely administers medications and intravenous therapy in accordance with physician’s orders, protocols, policies and procedures.
• Assesses patient pain level upon admission and as necessary, depending upon diagnosis utilizing the numerical pain scale.
• Reassesses effectiveness of pain control and notifies physicians as needed, as well as, documents assessment and patients’ response to medication.
• Responsible for obtaining supporting information and completing required documentation related to medication reconciliation for use by the Attending MD.
• Performs pre-admission testing on Med/Surg. patients.
• Performs nursing assessment and coordinates ancillary testing for patients undergoing day surgery including performing blood draws and EKG's.
• Reviews pre-operative orders and consults with the surgeon and/or anesthesiologist as necessary to assure appropriate tests are ordered per guidelines.
• Reviews test results, checks for abnormal results and communicates abnormalities to the surgeon, anesthesiologist and/or primary physician prior to surgery.
• Reviews preoperative chart for completeness verifying that all paperwork is present and complete preoperatively, such as consent form, H&P, and lab results.
• Provides emotional support to patients undergoing a change in body image and/or activity level due to surgery.
• Initiates and documents post-operative phone calls to Med/Surg. patients.

• Graduate of an accredited school of nursing

• 1 year med-surge experience preferred. 
• Previous telemetry experience preferred. 
• Skilled Nursing experience preferred. 
• Basic Dysrhythmia Course completion within 6 months of hire if no telemetry experience

Required Licenses

• Current MA RN License
• Current AHA BLS certification
  
• Current AHA ACLS certification preferred on hire or obtained within 90 day of hire.