The staff nurse is a professional Registered Nurse (RN) who provides direct nursing care to an assigned patient population, service line or clinic department.  The staff nurse, utilizing the nursing process, plans and delivers effective patient care within the Texas Nursing Practice Act scope of practice and within the framework of Driscoll Health System’s vision and mission of excellence and integrated care delivery.  The staff nurse practices within the established standards of practice, ethical guidelines, policies and guidelines reflective of the American Nurses Association (ANA) and their specialty service line.  The staff nurse completes specific duties and maintains current competence in the skills and nursing practice according to the service line or area of primary work assignment.

Essential Functions and Behavioral Expectations:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.  The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skills, and/or abilities required.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive; employees will perform other reasonably related business duties as assigned by the immediate supervisor and/or hospital administration as required.

Standards of Nursing Practice

Assessment

• Collects pertinent data through initial and ongoing focused assessments to analyze the patient’s condition and follows through with appropriate reporting and actions.  Conducts comprehensive assessments of patients' physical, psychosocial, and emotional needs

• Utilizes appropriate tools to gather relevant data to inform patient care decisions

Diagnosis/Analysis

• Analyzes assessment data to determine actual or potential diagnoses, problems, and issues

• Verifies the diagnoses, problems, and issues with the healthcare consumer and interprofessional colleagues

Outcomes Identification

• Identifies expected outcomes for a plan individualized to the patient or situation

• Collaborates with the patient/family to define outcomes integrating culture, values, and ethical considerations

• Works collaboratively with other healthcare team members which may include other RNs, Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN), Advanced Practice Nurse Practitioners (NP), Physician Assistants (PA), Physicians and Medical/Nursing Assistants and administrative support staff to address patient needs promptly

Planning

• Develops, prioritizes, implements, and modifies an individualized evidence-based plan of care in partnership with the person, family and healthcare team

• Contributes to creating an environment that is patient focused, family centered and is designed to provide continuation of care and patient transition management

• Advocates for compassion, responsible, and appropriate use of interventions

Implementation

• Administers medications and therapeutic treatments using appropriate devices per clinical guidelines and orders

• Recognizes and intervenes to address abnormal responses to medication therapy and initiates corrective therapy

• Escalates patient care concerns or changing status until resolution is achieved

Coordination of Care

• Initiates appropriate referrals to the healthcare team based on assessed patient needs

• Communicates with the patient/family, interprofessional team, and community-based resources for safe transitions in continuity of care

• Ensures continuity of care by communicating effectively with patients, families, and healthcare providers

• Acts as a liaison between specialties and sub-specialties, coordinating referrals and follow-up appointments as needed to support the patient continuity of care between inpatient and outpatient care

• Performs phone triage, manages prescription renewals, and coordinates follow-up appointments and care plans tailored to patients’ needs if working in an ambulatory setting

Health Teaching and Health Promotion

• Identifies barriers to learning, develops and implements education plan based on assessed patient/family needs

• that reflects  the patient/family values, beliefs, developmental level, learning needs, readiness and ability to learn, language preference, spirituality, culture and socioeconomic status

• Uses health promotion and teaching methods, including technologies to communicate health promotion and disease prevention

Evaluation

• Evaluates and reports pertinent patient response to interventions based on evidence-based best practice

• Evaluates progress toward attainment of expected outcomes and revises plan as necessary

Standards of Professional Performance

Ethics

• Integrates code of Ethics for Nurses to guide practice and decision-making in all areas of practice

Advocacy

• Functions as an advocate, seeking direction as needed to provide safe, effective, efficient, and timely care

• Demonstrates a willingness to address persistent, pervasive systemic issues

• Embraces diversity, equity, inclusivity, health promotion for individuals of diverse geographic, cultural, ethnic, racial, gender, and spiritual backgrounds across the life span

Respectful and Equitable Practice

• Establishes and maintains a therapeutic relationship with patient/family to ensure patient comfort and dignity without bias

Communication

• Uses clear, closed loop communication that enhances team information sharing and decision making.  Uses language translation resources to ensure effective communication

• Documents according to policy or guidelines in a timely and accurate manner in the medical record to communicate with the healthcare team

Collaboration

• Supports goals through participation and compliance in unit activities, shared governance and decision-making

Leadership

• Identifies conflict and helps to initiate resolution, seeking assistance when appropriate

• Demonstrates authority, ownership, accountability and responsibility for appropriate delegation of nursing care to unlicensed assistive personnel

• Assists by assuming a lead role as needs or schedule variances arise

• Assumes charge nurse role by completing additional training and competency to support the unit as requested

Education

• Seeks experiences that reflect current practice to maintain and advance knowledge, skills, abilities, and judgment in clinical practice or role performance

• Mentors and/or trains new nurses to their roles for the purpose of ensuring successful enculturation, orientation, competence and emotional support

• Supports the acculturation of nurses new to their roles by role modeling, encouraging, advocating, and sharing pertinent information relative to optimal care delivery

Scholarly Inquiry

• Participates in clinical research by following specific protocols

• Uses current evidence-based knowledge, combined with clinical expertise to guide practice

Quality of Practice

• Complies with and supports regulatory and organizational policies and professional standards

• Participates in Quality Improvement

• Identifies trends in patient care outcomes for QI monitoring, practice change, and/or staff education

Professional Practice Evaluation

• Participates in improving patient care by engaging in reviewing and supporting practice change based on evidence-based practice

• Completes required ongoing development and education/competency/certifications as required

Resource Stewardship

• Ensures the correct functioning of equipment, identifies deficits and reports appropriately

• Integrates connected health technologies into practice to promote positive interactions between patients and care providers

• Submits required tasks and documentation to support chargeable and billable care activities

Environmental Health

• Creates a safe and healthy workplace and professional practice environment void of abusive, destructive or oppressive behaviors

Additional Job Responsibilities

Staffing to Demand & Floating

• Demonstrates flexibility in staffing, scheduling and traveling as needed to meet unit and the hospital system staffing needs for the greater good

• Willing to float between various care areas, departments, subspecialty clinics or ambulatory clinics as directed by supervisor and according to scope and competency

• Nurses may be floated, flexed off or to stand-by according to policy based on schedule, volume and patient care needs and/or work activity demands to optimize resource allocation and maintain quality of care

• Supports staffing needs as deemed necessary by each individual Department or Service line.  May be required to work alternating shifts or flexible hours including days, nights, weekends, or take on-call and/or call-back shifts to support regular and surge volume needs.  These staffing changes will fluctuate with patient volume, acuity and staffing matrices

Travel Requirements

• May be required to travel to satellite locations to support clinical practice care services as needed to ensure patient access and continuity of care

  • Clinic nursing staff are required to travel to satellite outpatient clinics as needed to ensure patient access and continuity of care. Supports the coordination of patient care and services at these sites

License, Education and/or Experience:

• BSN preferred.

• Current RN license in the State of Texas.

Certificates, Registrations:

• American Heart Association Basic Life Support (CPR) continuously maintained.  May onboard with AHA or Red Cross CPR and then transition to AHA upon first renewal.

• Advanced Specialty Courses (ASC) according to Attachment A. ASC courses should be taken at earliest opportunity but must be completed within timeframes specified on Attachment A and continuously maintained ongoing.

• National Certification in specialty must be attempted within 4 years of hire date for eligible role and continuously maintained thereafter.