Position Summary: To act as patient advocate, providing continuity of care designed to meet individual patient needs through collaboration with other members of the health care team and supporting the philosophy, objectives and goals of the facility. Will provide direct and indirect patient care in the medical-surgical setting of individual patients, including but not limited to pediatric, adolescent, adult and geriatric patients.

Responsibilities:

• Demonstrates applied knowledge base in areas of medical/ surgical patient care, pain assessment and actions of pharmaceuticals and anesthetic agents, laboratory values, safety and legal issues and all emergency equipment.
• Must be able to perform the professional, clinical and or technical competencies of the assigned unit as outlined in the unit orientation checklist.
• Performs assessment/data collection in an ongoing and systematic manner, focusing on physiologic, psychologic and cognitive status.
• Formulates a goal directed plan of care, which is prioritized and based on determined nursing diagnosis and patient outcomes.
• Implements care in a knowledgeable, skilled, consistent manner in reaching the desired patient outcomes through nursing processes.
• Establish priorities of patient care based on essential patient needs and available center resources of time, personnel, equipment and supplies.
• Coordinates care delivery and education through collaboration with patient, family and all health care team providers to ensure safe, effective and quality patient care.
• Performs documentation on the floor and in the patient record, in a timely, accurate and concise manner.
• Reviews and carries out physician orders in an appropriate professional manner.
• Performs efficiently in emergency patient situations following established protocols, remaining calm, informing appropriate persons and documenting events.
• Follows organizational policies & procedures in providing safe patient care.
• Attends all mandatory in-service and participates in staff meetings.
• Performs other duties as assigned required.

Qualifications: 

Required:

• Graduate of an accredited school of nursing
• Current Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) licensure in the State of Kansas or has work permit from the State Board of Nursing IV certification
• BLS certification required or must complete BLS certification in the first two weeks of employment
• Additional certification may be required for certain patient care settings or populations.
• Knowledge of general nursing theory and practice knowledge of principles, methods and techniques involved in performing general nursing services and adapting or modifying standards of nursing practices for care of specific medical cases. 

Infection Control: Initial and Ongoing training in dealing with infection control. Trainings could include but are not limited to, blood-borne pathogens, bodily fluids and bio-hazardous materials as they apply to your daily work environment.

Patient Interaction: Frequent

HIPAA: This position will have access to the following Protected Health Information in order to carry out the duties related to their position at Hays Medical Center based on the following criteria:
Primary – required (routine) to do the job;
Secondary – required for the job, but mostly an exception; and
None – no approved access
Description of Information
Primary:
Patient Demographic Information (information used to identify a person): Name, Date of Birth, Address, Race, Marital Status, Religion
Clinical Information (information that describes a patient’s health status): Diagnosis, Reports/Medical Notes, Test Results, Problem List, Procedures, History and Physical
Coding Information (clinical information that is in (alpha) numeric format): ICD-9 Codes, Rev Codes, CPT Codes
Financial Information/Insurance (information related to insurance, billing and payment): Billing Information, Payer Name, Payer ID, Account Balances, Plan Elements Covered, Payment Information, Payment Rates