Description

JOB PURPOSE OR MISSION: Improves the quality of life of patients and families by coordinating care through assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation in collaboration with the patient, family, physician, and appropriate support services for the age population served, as defined in the department's scope of service. Responsible for providing support to nurses, patients, physicians and other team members to facilitate patient discharge.

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA

CRITERIA A: Everyday Excellence Values - Employee demonstrates Everyday Excellence values in the day-to-day performance of their job.

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS:

• Demonstrates courtesy and caring to each other, patients and their families, physicians, and the community.
• Takes initiative in living our Everyday Excellence values and vital signs.
• Takes initiative in identifying customer needs before the customer asks.
• Participates in teamwork willingly and with enthusiasm.
• Demonstrates respect for the dignity and privacy needs of customers through personal action and attention to the environment of care.
• Keeps customers informed, answers customer questions and anticipates information needs of customers.

CRITERIA B: Corporate Compliance - Employee demonstrates commitment to the Code of Conduct, Conflict of Interest Guidelines, and the GHS Corporate Compliance Guidelines.

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS:

• Practices diligence in fulfilling the regulatory and legal requirements of the position and department.
• Maintains accurate and reliable patient/organizational records.
• Maintains professional relationships with appropriate officials; communicates honesty and completely; behaves in a fair and nondiscriminatory manner in all professional contacts.

CRITERIA C: Personal Achievement - Employee demonstrates initiative in achieving work goals and meeting personal objectives.

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS:

• Uses accepted procedures and practices to complete assignments. Uses creative and proactive solutions to achieve objectives even when workload and demands are high.
• Adheres to high moral principles of honesty, loyalty, sincerity, and fairness.
• Upholds the ethical standards of the organization.

CRITERIA D: Performance Improvement - Employee actively participates in Performance Improvement activities and incorporates quality improvement standards in his/her job performance.

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS:

• Optimizes talents, skills, and abilities in achieving excellence in meeting and exceeding customer expectations.
• Initiates or redesigns to continuously improve work processes.
• Contributes ideas and suggestions to improve approaches to work processes.
• Willingly participates in organization and/or department quality initiatives.

CRITERIA E: Cost Management - Employee demonstrates effective cost management practices.

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

• Effectively manages time and resources
• Makes conscious effort to effectively utilize the resources of the organization — material, human, and financial.
• Consistently looks for and uses resource saving processes.

CRITERIA F: Patient & Employee Safety - Employee actively participates in and demonstrates effective patient and employee safety practices.

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS:

• Employee effectively communicates, demonstrates, coordinates and emphasizes patient and employee safety.
• Employee proactively reports errors, potential errors, injuries or potential injuries.
• Employee demonstrates departmental specific patient and employee safety standards at all times.
• Employee demonstrates the use of proper safety techniques, equipment and devices and follows safety policies, procedures and plans.

JOB FUNCTIONS

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS include, but are not limited to:

1. Coordinates and analyzes patient assessment for all department admissions through collection of patient's health data.

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS:

• Completes assessment within the departmental timeframes (admissions data base completed for patients admitted after 4:30 previous day).
• Prioritizes data collection based on the patient's immediate condition or needs.
• Involves the patient, significant others and health care providers as appropriate.
• Identifies and coordinates the need for further assessment by other disciplines.
• Identifies patient outcomes based on the identified goals.
• Ensures proper and complete documentation of assessments and reassessments.

2. Identifies and implements interventions as appropriate.

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS:

• Attend bed huddle to get brief report on existing patients and discharge plan
• Uses interventions that are consistent with the patient's plan of care.
• Provides individualized patient education to patients and families as needed.
• Effectively participates as an interdisciplinary team member in developing the plan of care as appropriate to the assigned area.
• Ensures proper and complete documentation of interventions.

3. Evaluates the patient's progress toward attainment of outcomes.

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS:

• Collaborates with the inpatient interdisciplinary team to develop and maintain the plan of care.
• Performs ongoing clinical assessment and reassessment on all assigned patients.
• Revises nursing diagnoses, outcomes and plan of care based on reassessment.
• Involves the patient, family and healthcare team in the evaluation and update of plan of care as appropriate.
• Evaluates the effectiveness of treatments, medications and patient teaching.

4. Facilitates a smooth transition of care for patients through the continuum of care by the discharge planning process.

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS:

• Collaborate with the primary nurse to discuss any specific discharge needs
• Initiates discharge plans on all assigned patients, communicates and collaborates with other healthcare professionals, and updates discharge plans following department policy guidelines.
• Promotes the safety and well-being of all patients by coordinating the patient's discharge from the hospital.
• Provides information and guidance to the patient and/or family for effective care transition.
• Works with other team members to make timely and appropriate referrals to other disciplines or outside agencies as identified.
• Works with social workers to coordinate community resources and referral sources to achieve optimum results.
• Works in collaboration with others to ensure that all discharge needs are met.
• Schedules all discharge appointments, treatments, and protocol appropriately.

5. Coordinates patient discharge instructions and teaching.

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS:

• Complete discharge instructions with the patient and remove their IV
• Provides and reviews discharge instructions to patients and families.
• Coordinates a time for teaching and return demonstration prior to discharge.
• Identifies the goals of care with the patient and family caregiver.
• Provides a verbal and written explanation of why each medication is prescribe, how it works, and how long it needs to be taken.
• Describes how the patient and family caregiver will know if the medication is effective and ensure they also have this information in writing.
• Discusses, both verbally and in writing, potential interactions with other medications.
• Confirms that the patient and family caregiver understands instructions by asking her or him to repeat information provided.

6. Participates in quality improvement activities.

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS:

• Huddle in the afternoon with HMG to discuss potential discharges for the following day
• Afternoon rounding on next day discharges to discuss discharge expectations
• Discharge phone calls
• Review daily reports for quality and accuracy (i.e., weight, influenza vaccinations)
• Participates on performance improvement teams as needed.
• Attends educational in-services as appropriate.

7. Perform all other duties as assigned.

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS:

• Be available to assist as a resource to team members throughout the day.

EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS

3 years of nursing experience.

SPECIAL SKILL, LICENSE AND KNOWLEDGE REQUIREMENTS

Current Louisiana RN licensure

HIPAA REQUIREMENTS:

Maintains knowledge of and adherence to all applicable HIPAA regulations appropriate to Job Position including but not limited to: Medical records without limitation both paper and electronic, patient demographics, lab and radiology results, patient information related to surgery or appointment schedules, information related to patient location, and /or religious beliefs.

SAFETY REQUIREMENTS:

Maintains knowledge of and adherence to all applicable safety practices appropriate to Job Position including but not limited to: Incident reporting, PPE, exposure control plans, hand washing, patient identification, receiving orders and monitoring clinical alarms.