Admissions RN - Hospice

Admissions Registered Nurse

The Admissions RN is responsible for the coordination of patient information in conjunction with the Director of Nursing, Director of Marketing & Business Development, Intake Coordinators, and Community Liaisons. The Admissions RN is also responsible for completing timely and compassionate hospice admissions in both the hospital and home settings.

The Admission RN meets directly with referred patients to provide a comprehensive assessment of their clinical findings to the Hospice Medical Director for certification and admission to the hospice program or rejection from the hospice program. Once the patient has received a verbal certification from the Hospice Medical Director, the Admissions RN coordinates all aspects of the patients' admission including transportation to their home, when necessary, durable medical equipment and medications related to their hospice prognosis.

The Admissions RN then inputs data into the patient's hospice medical record and communicates their findings to the assigned hospice team for continuity of care. The role requires strong clinical judgement, excellent communication skills, and the ability to provide emotional support during critical moments in the patient and family journey.

The schedule may consist of home hospice admissions, hospital admissions, or a mix of both. Although the Admissions RN may typically be scheduled in one setting, flexibility to assist with either type of admission is expected to meet patient and organizational needs.

When available and necessary, the Admissions RN works as part of the clinical team to provide overflow nursing visits, emergency nursing visits, and death calls when other nursing staff is unavailable. The Admissions RN is responsible for completing all admissions paperwork and coordinating the hospice team as Pro Care Hospice of Nevada policy dictates.

Accountability:
Reports to the Director of Marketing & Business Development and the Director of Nursing or designee

FLSA Status:
Exempt/Salary

Job Duties and Responsibilities:

General:

• Adheres to patient rights, abuse reporting, and confidentiality policies
• Gathers, reports, and analyzes patient care data to create a comprehensive patient assessment and reports findings to the Hospice Medical Director for verbal certification of patient admission or refusal of admission
• Immediately reports significant condition issues/safety issues to the Admissions Coordinator, Admissions Assistant, Hospice Medical Director and assigned interdisciplinary team
• Fosters and maintains an effective working relationship between peers, professional staff, and other personnel within the community
• Able to effectively explain the hospice benefit to potential patients, their families, and representatives
• Works with patients and families or caregivers upon admission to create a realistic Plan of Care and set of treatment goals
• Supervises and delegates duties to Certified Nursing Assistants and Licensed Practical Nurses when needed
• Anticipates overall care needs of newly admitted patients as much as possible and coordinates with all hospice disciplines
• Complies with all documentation policies/procedures for patient admission including reviewing hospice admission criteria, gathering all patient data, reviewing pertinent H&P, and disseminating this information to the Hospice Medical Director and/or the assigned hospice interdisciplinary team
• Completes all admission paperwork in the patient's hospice medical record, same day unless prior approval is given for extenuating circumstances
• Demonstrates good judgment with proper decision-making abilities
• Participates in Interdisciplinary Team Meetings and other Performance Improvement Activities as needed
• With previously established physician orders that RN may do so, RN may make Pronouncement of Death
• Calls coroner and completes process related to removal of body from location of death when on call or performing case management
• Attends scheduled staff meetings and or in-service training as required
• Adheres to the departmental dress code requirements related to personal grooming and attire
• Provides intervention and support as needed related to terminal illness and loss
• Provides emotional and spiritual support and makes appropriate referrals to other team members
• Assesses and addresses depression and fear associated with terminal illness
• Facilitates communication among patient, family, and hospice team
• Provides referral to community services and resources as needed
• Identifies caregiver strain which may necessitate respite care relief and/or support
• Provides personal care as assigned by the Interdisciplinary Team, Physician, Director of Nurses/Supervising RN, which may consist of but not limited to:

• Patient Admissions
• Nursing Assessment/reassessment
• Medication management, administration, and teaching
• Provides comfort measures
• Insertion/maintenance/removal of Foley catheters
• Insertion/maintenance/removal of various IV catheters for pain control/comfort
• Application/adjustment of oxygen,…