UI Health - Staff Nurse I - PACU (Flexible days

Staff Nurse I

The Staff Nurse I provides direct patient care and takes the initiative to improve patient outcomes by integrating shared leadership, evidence-based practice, relationship-based care, and standards of nursing excellence into clinical practice. This position integrates professional practice model, current standards of practice & clinical experience to provide "quality" patient care as measured by established nursing quality standards & other governing/accrediting health care bodies.

The Staff Nurse I engages & obtains information from patient and family to advocate for the patient, develops an appropriate patient educational plan, & responds to patient's changing needs while sharing information & collaborating with other members of the health care team to promote effective patient care. The Staff Nurse I participates in organizational, departmental, and shared leadership activities; supports department and unit goals in daily behavior.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Provides safe, high-quality perioperative nursing care which encompasses preoperative intake, support for minor procedures, post-anesthesia recovery Phase I & Phase II, and recovery room boarders for all levels of care to include ICU for a diverse patient population spanning the continuum from pediatrics to geriatrics.
• Establishes an in-depth database by assessing the behavioral and physical status of a variety of pre-surgical patient populations, utilizing interview, observation, and physical examination. Interprets overt and subtle data to determine physiologic or psychosocial risk.
• Ensures the delivery of quality nursing care for patients undergoing surgical and non-invasive procedures in accordance with age-related and individual needs, physician's orders, hospital policy, standards of care and nursing practice.
• Responsible for assessing the needs of patients, planning nursing care to meet those needs, and ensuring that the plan of care is carried out and documented according to the principles defined in the nursing process.
• Provides patient with safe, therapeutic, and quality care by utilizing the nursing process and diagnosis in a timely manner, setting appropriate priorities.
• Evaluates patient's responses to care based on the effectiveness of nursing interventions in relation to established outcomes and consults with the medical staff, Care Team Lead, and/or Nursing Supervisor.
• Demonstrates critical thinking by integrating theoretical knowledge and expertise to pose relevant clinical questions when evidence and practice differ.
• Recommends changes to the plan of care based on observed variances.
• Integrates nursing interventions into the multidisciplinary plan of care, incorporating appropriate standards of care and practice.
• Identifies learning needs with patients and families and teaches by adapting standard information to provide individualized and comprehensive learning.
• Incorporates discharge/home care planning into the multidisciplinary plan of care.
• Develops a therapeutic relationship by establishing trust and enabling the patient and/or family to verbalize the requirements for care comfortably.
• Supports and enhances the patient's responsibility and self-determination in decision making concerning health, treatment, and well-being.
• Competent in all areas of Peri Anesthesia - Preop, Phase 1, and Phase 2 recovery areas, and extended care to boarder post-surgical patients requiring the appropriate level of care including ICU.
• Checking and updating patient files, charts, and medical records
• Assure that operative/informed consents are accurate and signed per policy
• Assess and instruct patient/family prior to surgery
• Engages and obtains information from patient and/or family to develop an appropriate patient educational plan
• Observing patients for side effects of anesthesia
• Monitoring and recording patient vital signs during the panesthesia
• Monitoring and recording patient vital signs during the perianesthesia phases
• Monitoring patient's level of consciousness throughout sedation recovery
• Performing post-operative tasks, such as administering medication or changing dressings
• Collaborating with surgeons, anesthesiologists, physicians, and other members of the patient's care team
• Discern and execute provider orders per hospital policy, guidelines, or protocol
• Verifies and implements orders from providers, by performing interventions as prescribed by the provider and documenting accurately in the electronic medical record.
• Ability to administer a variety of treatments & medications, including all medications on the crash cart
• Collaborating with the medical team on post-operative patient care and facilitating timely specialized interventions.
• Treating pain, nausea, and other post-operative symptoms of anesthesia.
• Providing comfort and answering questions when patients wake from sedation
• Assure intake of patient is accurate through chart review, questioning using safe communication tactics outlined in learning modules
• Monitor and accurately document vital signs and…