RN- Rapid Response Nurse- Sign on Bonus up to $10K and Relocation Assistance Available

Overview

Kaweah Health is a publicly owned, community healthcare organization that provides comprehensive health services to the greater Visalia area in central California. With more than 5,000 employees, Kaweah Health offers state‑of‑the‑art medicine and high‑quality preventive services in an acute care hospital, specialized health centers, and clinics across an eight‑campus healthcare district with 613 beds.

The Rapid Response Nurse utilizes the nursing process (assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation) to delegate, coordinate, collaborate, and provide safe therapeutic nursing care to at‑risk non‑critical care patients early in their course and rapidly mobilize appropriate multidisciplinary resources. The Rapid Response Nurse also responds to the patient in crisis. Once an RRT has been activated, the Rapid Response Nurse acts as the leader of the multidisciplinary team, to assess the patient, make judgments/decisions, notifies the attending Physician/Intensivist, and takes action regarding a wide range of routine and complex patient issues, operating under guidelines of the Rapid Response Team Standardized Procedures.

In addition to assessment and treatment, the Rapid Response Nurse is responsible for documenting the interventions employed and providing a debriefing session for the bedside nursing staff as an educational opportunity.

The nurse’s practice is guided by the Code of Ethics. Professional behavior, including interactions with co‑workers, displays our values; treats everyone respectfully. The nurse identifies high‑risk patients and initiates intervention of ancillary departments, making decisions on behalf of patients/residents in an ethical manner. The nurse maintains patient confidentiality within legal and regulatory parameters, acts as a patient advocate, assists patients in developing skills to advocate for themselves, delivers care in a non‑judgmental and nondiscriminatory manner that preserves patient autonomy, dignity, and rights, and utilizes the nursing process—assessment, planning, outcome identification, implementation, and evaluation.

The nurse uses the results of quality of care/performance improvement activities to initiate changes in nursing practice, collects clinical data to monitor quality and effectiveness of nursing care, identifies aspects of care that are important for quality monitoring, formulates recommendations to improve nursing practice and/or patient outcomes, assists in the development and implementation of policies, procedures, and practice guidelines to improve quality of care and nursing practice, participates on interdisciplinary teams that evaluate clinical practice or health services relating to patient care, participates in QI studies;

is involved in task force or committee work, implements suggestions for improving outcomes per unit study results, independently identifies problematic areas and recommends problem solving, shares findings of studies and audits with others, seeks improvement independently, actively participates in outstanding customer service and maintains respectful relationships, collaborates and communicates with the patient, family, and other health care providers, utilizes peer review and observation, monitors documentation for appropriate referrals, formulates the plan of care, involves patients in decisions related to care and the delivery of services, and makes referrals including provisions for continuity of care.

The nurse demonstrates the ability to assess and interpret diagnostic data relative to patient age and condition, including lab results, non‑invasive and invasive monitoring data, and interdisciplinary team notes. Nursing practice reflects the application of knowledge and skills pertaining to all diagnoses, procedures, medications, complications, and equipment associated with unit patient population. The nurse responds to all Code Blue, RRT, Sepsis Alert, Trauma Alert, and Stroke Alert pages, directs care of the patient using advanced critical care assessment skills and standardized procedures for stabilization, communicates critical information with the primary care physician…