RN Couplet Care

SUMMARY:

A Couplet Care Nurse specializes in providing holistic, family-centered care to postpartum mothers and their newborns. They ensure the well-being of both mother and baby during the postpartum stay, including physical, emotional, and educational support. In addition to core responsibilities, the nurse is expected to float to related departments and assist with newborn transitions, ensuring continuity of care and patient safety.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

Postpartum Care:

• Assess and monitor maternal recovery from labor and delivery, including vital signs, pain levels, and healing progress.
• Administer medications, including pain management, and perform interventions as needed 
• Educate mothers about postpartum care, breastfeeding techniques, and newborn care.

Newborn Care:

• Perform routine newborn assessments (e.g., APGAR scoring, weight checks, vital signs, head-to-toe examination).
• Monitor feeding patterns, intake/output, and weight gain.
• Support and assist with breastfeeding, formula feeding, or combination feeding.
• Identify and manage newborn complications, escalating care as needed.

Newborn Transitions:

• Provide care for newborns transitioning from delivery to couplet care, ensuring smooth adaptation to extrauterine life.
• Perform initial stabilization and monitoring, including thermoregulation, blood glucose checks, and oxygen saturation levels.
• Assist with skin-to-skin bonding, breastfeeding initiation, and family integration.
• Additional duties as need.

Floating to Related Departments:

• Float to Labor and Delivery (L&D), NICU, or Pediatric units as required based on staffing needs.
• Provide cross-coverage and assist with patient care during emergencies or surges in workload.

Patient Education and Advocacy:

Documentation and Compliance:

• Accurately document assessments, interventions, and outcomes in the electronic medical record (EMR).
• Ensure compliance with hospital policies, state regulations, and evidence-based practices.
• Attend 75%, a minimum of six-unit meetings annually to be successful.  Accountability for reading minutes of monthly meetings, participates in conferences and education programs required (annual skills update) and quality improvement activities and issues that monitor to improve patient care provided.  

Qualifications:

• Active and unencumbered Registered Nurse (RN) license in California.
• Current ACLS and NRP certifications (required).
• Minimum of 1-2 years of experience in postpartum or newborn care (preferred).
• NCC certification (preferred)
• Ability to adapt to different workflows and environments when floating to other departments.

Skills and Competencies:

• Strong critical-thinking and decision-making skills for managing postpartum complications and newborn emergencies.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills for educating and supporting families.
• Ability to perform comprehensive maternal and newborn assessments and intervene appropriately.
• Flexibility and resilience to manage shifting priorities when floating to other units.

Physical Demands:

• Extended periods of standing, walking, and lifting (e.g., carrying newborns or assisting mothers).
• Manual dexterity for performing clinical tasks such as drawing blood, administering medications, or conducting newborn assessments.

Cognitive Demands:

• Quick decision-making in emergency situations.
• High attention to detail in monitoring patient conditions and documenting care.
• Multitasking across diverse responsibilities, including floating to other departments.

Work Environment:

• Hospital setting, typically in the postpartum unit but with occasional assignments to L&D, NICU, or Pediatrics.
• Shift-based work, including nights, weekends, and holidays.

AGE OF THE POPULATION SERVED:

Newborn X    Infant/Pediatric X   Adolescent   Adult   Geriatric   All    No Patient Care