Nursing Assistant - District of Columbia, United States - Department Of Veterans Affairs

Description

Summary

The Nursing Assistant (NA) performs nursing procedures and duties on an assigned patient area and has special responsibilities with his/her assigned patients, using a team nursing approach in providing holistic care. He/she functions independently under the purview of the Nurse Manager/Assistant Unit Manager or designee. He/she will assist supervisory staff by providing assistance and guidance to lower level Nursing Assistants during the tour of duty.

Duties

Major duties include, but are not limited to:

• Observes, reports, and documents changes in patients' conditions.
• Charting on each patient's medical record is done regularly according to set nursing standards and unit policies.
• Assists with Activities of Daily Living (ADL), the delivery of specialized nursing care and emergency care of patients as needed.
• Uses therapeutic communication to intervene with psychiatric, geriatric, and/or medical patients.
• Shows concern for the safety, whereabouts and welfare of all patients on the assigned unit.
• Follow-through on the assigned patients' treatment plans is necessary for continuity of care.
• Ability to evaluate a situation from a variety of perspectives, considers several alternatives, and chooses the appropriate course of action.
• Dependable, flexible, adaptable, and communicates, both in writing and orally (using English Language) effectively with patient, families, staff, and with all services and disciplines.
• Stand and maintain balance for the assigned work shift.
• Lift, move, or transfer patient.
• Lift or move objects.
• Push, pull or carry equipment, supplies, wheelchairs, , treatment carts or other device.
• Ability to hear and respond to call lights, emergency alert systems, telephones, pagers, and patient/staff verbalizations.
• IV drips, medical equipment calibration numbers, 6 point font print and objects of similar size.
• Prepare patient appropriately in assigned clinical setting.
• Accurately detect changes in body temperature, changes in skin integrity and physical changes in the patient's body such as lumps, bumps, etc.
• Identify essential smells relevant to patient care to include bodily fluids, microscopic infestations, and environmental emergencies.
• Enter appropriate data and other documentation into the computer system without delay.
• Acts as a patient advocate in ensuring patients receive all necessary care in an efficient manner.
• Attends patient care conferences and interdisciplinary treatment team meetings for patient evaluation purposes and follow-up conducted by the professional staff.
• Reports pertinent information with nursing staff from the prior and on-coming tours of duty using knowledge of patient's condition and treatment plan to maintain the continuum of care.
• Demonstrates motivation and creativity in addressing problems, which impede patient care.
• When appropriate, gives direct physical and emotional care to the chronically ill and/or dying patient by attending to the patient's grooming needs, feeding, elimination, and psychosocial needs, thus improving the quality of life.
• Evaluates the patient environment to ensure it is safe, clean and comfortable at all times.
• Takes immediate appropriate action on routine problems identified.
• Identifies patients with difficulty in performing ADL and plans individualized programs in cooperation with the Registered Nurse (RN) to aid in maximizing independence.
• Works with other NA's setting the pace to assure that the work is accomplished in an efficient and effective manner.
• Sets up special medical equipment as instructed.
• Maintains equipment and furniture list for the assigned unit and assists will periodic inventory of nursing equipment and supplies to assure that such items needed for patient care are available, in good working order, and are safely secured when not in use.
• Assists the RN and physician in a variety of diagnostic examinations.
• Follows universal precautions as appropriate, demonstrates competence according to isolation, infection control, and Tuberculosis (TB) policy/procedure.
• Attends educational classes demonstrating the ability to learn new and more complex procedures to assume responsibility for patients requiring more specialized care.
• Attends training classes to maintain current knowledge and skill required for operating new equipment and shares this knowledge with all staff through return demonstrations.
• Assures laboratory specimens are correctly labeled and forwarded in a timely manner.
• All other duties as assigned, pertaining to this occupation, to meet the needs of the Agency, Department, Facility, and/or Service.