RN Charge Nurse

Job Summary

The RN Clinical Charge Nurse is responsible for directing and overseeing the daily activities of the unit on an assigned shift to assure successful safe delivery of care. The Charge Nurse is a caregiver and often takes a modified patient care assignment. They practice in a clinical environment that is administered by Nurse Managers and other leaders and is supported through the Well Star Shared Governance Model.

The framework for practice is steered by the Well Star Professional Nursing Practice Model and evidence based practice and research. The RN Clinical Charge Nurse is a proactive member of an interdisciplinary team of licensed and unlicensed caregivers who ensure that patients, families and significant others receive individualized high‑quality, safe patient care. The role contributes to the establishment and maintenance of practices that ensure excellence in patient care, provides for the efficient use of resources, and undertakes leadership tasks such as staff schedules, unit patient flow, subject‑matter expertise for clinical concerns, physician rounding, committee involvement, survey readiness, and other tasks as assigned by the manager.

• Monitors equipment inventory, location and utilization to ensure staff have tools and equipment needed to perform their job.
• Participates in planning and requesting resources for providing high quality care and assists in acquiring appropriate staffing during unexpected staffing shortages or surges in census.
• Proactively plans for the care of patients across the care continuum in the course of giving direct patient care.
• Participates in the development of protocols and procedures when called upon or through self‑initiation in collaboration with care managers and other members of the health care team to achieve best practice outcomes (i.e., decrease in re‑admission rates, avoidable days, adverse events, etc.).

• Make patient assignments.
• Consideration for new grads, float and type of patient.
• Daily discharge/length of stay review.
• Round with physicians/surgeons.
• Assign surgery beds in conjunction with surgery schedule.
• Consult with supervisor nursing administration (house supervisor) on bed flow and availability.
• Emergency services: assignments for sections, manage waiting room, multiple areas open at different times.

• Rounds on every patient daily to evaluate quality and appropriateness of patient care, including corrective action when needed, utilizing peer coaching and accountability.
• Performs or provides oversight for the nursing process (assessment, diagnosis, identification of outcomes, planning, implementation and evaluation) in the performance of clinical care using evidence‑based practice; analytical/critical thinking ensures that care is individualized; coordinating care through effective partnerships; caring is central to achieve optimal patient care outcomes.
• Provides oversight for relationship‑based care delivery and patient‑centered care by partnering with the patient and significant others (as appropriate) using comprehensive hand‑off communication processes; interdisciplinary evaluation and communication; just‑in‑time and planned patient teaching; keeping the patients’ goals the focus of the plan of care.
• Practices using current clinical practice standards with a focus on safety and quality.
• Within the Emergency Department setting:
  Charge nurse rounds on patients in a modified method in conjunction with nurses to focus on patient safety concerns and patient care.

• Communicates with nurse manager and/or assistant nurse manager any needs or concerns pertaining to care delivery or employee performance.
• Coordinates the delivery and documentation of safe, quality patient care which includes promotion of interdisciplinary communication and regular interdisciplinary planning/rounds; completion of timely documentation and promotion of a respectful, inclusive clinical environment (interdisciplinary rounds do not apply in the emergency services setting).
• Demonstrates teamwork and collaboration by…