Licensed Practical Nurse

Licensed Practical Nurse

Work Environment Large campus requiring walking.

Facility currently houses adults but only accepts children as new patients.

Potential exposure to unpredictable resident behavior.

The following duties are illustrative and may include some or all of the tasks listed, as well as other related duties assigned:

• Administer nursing care within the scope of practice as defined by applicable state regulations, under the supervision of a registered nurse, licensed physician, dentist, podiatrist, optometrist, or chiropractor. This includes:
  • Administering oxygen and applying sterile dressings.
  • Inserting catheters and reinserting gastrostomy tubes.
  • Suctioning and irrigating wounds.
  • Administering enemas and douches.
  • Collecting specimens.
  • Performing dialysis treatments, operating hemodialysis equipment, and monitoring patients during procedures.
  • Assisting physicians with physical exams, treatments, and laboratory tests.
  • Responding to emergencies by providing first aid, performing CPR, and restraining patients as needed.
  • Administering controlled drugs such as narcotics and minor tranquilizers, as well as non-controlled medications in oral, rectal, topical, or injectable forms (intramuscular and subcutaneous injections only), and providing medication instructions to patients.
• Maintain medication accountability records, including charting patient records, preparing and counting medication, and managing medication stock and medical equipment and supplies.
• Observe, document, and report patient conditions such as medication reactions, treatment responses, behavior, and progress; prepare and maintain related reports and records including unusual incident reports, patient records, medication reports, seclusion/restraint logs, patient kardex, and team plans.
• Provide general nursing care, direct care, and programming assistance, including:
  • Taking patient vital signs.
  • Assisting with personal grooming, hygiene, bathing, and daily living activities.
  • Administering topical ointments and solutions, as well as eye, ear, and nose drops.
  • Repositioning patients and responding to patient alarms.
  • Scheduling medical appointments and escorting patients.
  • Assisting with recreational activities and providing one-to-one or group activities according to treatment plans.
• Provide guidance, orientation, and training to lower-level direct care staff such as hospital aides, orderlies, and psychiatric attendants in delivering general unskilled nursing care (e.g., dressing, bathing, feeding).
• Participate in meetings including staff conferences, committees, interdisciplinary team meetings, in-service training programs, and nursing meetings as assigned.
• Order medications and medical supplies; maintain cleanliness of nurses’ station and medication areas, including cleaning, sterilizing, and restocking medication carts and refrigerators.
• Perform clerical tasks such as answering phones and filing.

• Knowledge of licensed practical nursing procedures, pharmacology, patient care, first aid, CPR, and general hospital practices and procedures.
• Familiarity with agency, institutional, hospital, or clinic policies and HIPAA regulations and standards.
• Strong human relations skills and inventory control experience.
• Ability to train and develop employees.
• Skill in using medical equipment such as respirators, dialysis machines, sterilizers, oxygen equipment, and blood pressure cuffs.
• Proficiency with hypodermic needles and personal computer operation.
• Ability to understand practical nursing concepts, handle mostly concrete variables, recognize unusual or threatening conditions, and take appropriate emergency actions.