Care Team RN

Care Team Registered Nurse

POSITION SUMMARY:

As a Care Team RN, this individual provides direct patient care in a care team through participating with the clinician in visits (especially acute co-visits, new patient exams and hospital follow-up visits), performing RN procedures, addressing needs of walk-in and call-in patients, providing patient education, integrating spiritual care, and coordinating care for complex patients on the care team.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

ADDRESSES NEEDS OF WALK-IN AND CALL-IN PATIENTS

* Interviews patients to determine patient care needs

* Documents initial assessment and intervenes according to triage protocol and nursing standards of care

* Responds quickly and appropriately to urgent/emergent medical problems

* Prioritizes patient needs according to level of acuity

* Assists in the care and transfer of acutely ill patients to EMS services

* Demonstrates sound clinical judgment and decision-making, not working outside the level of training

* Documents all clinical interactions completely and efficiently in the patient's EHR chart

* Begins basic teaching relevant to current complaint as appropriate, i.e. reviews standard guidelines for the care of common illnesses such as fever, URI, diarrhea, vomiting, lice, etc

* Assists Clerical Assistants in managing providers' schedules throughout the day to improve work flow and decrease patient wait time

* Provides training and clinical oversight to Medical Assistants who are assisting in triage

PARTICIPATES IN PATIENT HEALTH EDUCATION

* Provides patient education on topics such as diet and nutrition, self-administration of injectable medications, prevention and treatment of asthma, use of glucometer, etc

* Performs medication reconciliations with patients on complex medication regimens and reviews purpose, correct dosage and any special instructions or precautions for each medication

* Encourages and instructs patients to take the appropriate initiative in their own health, specifically encouraging them to understand and ask questions about their care, make their own appointments, follow-up with consultants and make initial contacts with insurances and vendors

* Provides patient education to sick patients regarding when to contact clinician or seek emergency care

COORDINATES FOLLOW-UP CARE

* Contacts patients about critical lab results as requested by Clinicians; explains results and any needed follow-up

* Calls patients as requested by Clinicians to evaluate response to treatment and encourage compliance with treatment plan

* Communicates with other EHC teams such as Care Management, Social Services, BHC, etc regarding care of complex patients

* Communicates with outside agencies including consultants, mental health services, social service agencies, insurance companies, etc., to coordinate care of patients with multiple needs

PERFORMS DIRECT PATIENT CARE IN RN-LED VISITS AND OTHER CARE TEAM VISITS

* Obtains thorough and accurate patient history

* Inserts and updates allergy, medication, and problem lists

* Performs physical assessment and initiates in house specimen collection/testing as appropriate; orders appropriate testing in the EHR

* Efficiently relays gathered history to the clinician in the patient room, in the patient's preferred language; scribes clinician's assessment in the EHR; documents patient instructions and reviews instructions with patient

* Identifies areas of concern and relays these to the clinician

* Performs suture and staple removal and basic wound care as needed

* Performs urinary straight catheterization as needed

* Performs and documents in-house lab procedures such as urine dip, urine HCG, finger stick Hgb, finger stick glucose, hemoccult test, etc., according to protocol and in compliance with OSHA standards

* Performs EKG and administer bronchodilators via nebulizer and as ordered by provider

* Administers oxygen as ordered by provider

ADMINISTERS INJECTABLE MEDICATIONS AND VACCINES

* Administers intravenous fluids, intramuscular and subcutaneous injectable medications, oral medications, and vaccines as ordered

* Receives deliveries of controlled medications; stores, records, and handles controlled medications appropriately

MAINTAINS EMERGENCY CLINICAL SUPPLIES

* Responds to code blue and rapid response emergencies

* Assumes an RN-level role during a code blue and delegates other roles to staff as appropriate

* Able to correctly use all emergency clinical supplies

* Safely administers all emergency medications

* Performs monthly emergency equipment checks and inventory at home clinic site

* Promptly notifies supervisor and Director of Clinical Support Services of medications and equipment that are missing, expired, or need to be ordered

PERFORMS SPIRITUAL CARE

* Provides effective spiritual intervention with patients, sharing hope and salvation through Jesus Christ, sharing helpful Biblical instruction and scriptures, praying for patients, and connecting/referring to Christian churches as appropriate and according to the leading of the Holy Spirit

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