REGISTERED NURSE RN - HOSPICE

• Maintain professional and technical knowledge by attending education workshops, review professional publications, establish personal networks, and participate in professional societies.
• Assure quality of care by adhering to therapeutic standards, measuring health outcomes against patient care goals and standards, making or recommending necessary adjustments, and following Home Health and Hospice and nursing division's philosophies and standards of care set by state board of nursing, state nurse practice act, and other governing agency regulations.
• Protect patients and employees by adhering to infection-control policies and protocols, medication administration and controlled substance regulations.
• Maintain patient confidence and protects operations by keeping information confidential.
• Identify patient care requirements by establishing personal rapport with potential and actual patients, and other persons in a position to understand care requirements.
• Establish a compassionate environment by providing emotional, psychological, and spiritual support to patients and caregivers
• Promote patient's independence by establishing patient care goals, teaching patient/caregivers to understand condition, medications, and self-care skills, and answering questions.
• Document patient care services by charting in patient and department records
• Maintain continuity among nursing teams by documenting and communicating action, irregularities, and continuing needs using Nurse Knowledge Exchange techniques
• Maintain safe and clean working environment by complying with procedures, rules and regulations; calling for assistance from health care support personnel.
• Maintain nursing supplies inventory by checking stock to determine inventory level; anticipating needed supplies; placing and expediting orders for supplies; verifying receipt of supplies; using equipment and supplies as needed to accomplish job results
• Provide direct and indirect supervision of personal care provided by Home Health Aides in the patients’ homes, in accordance with federal regulation and accrediting bodies
• Resolve patient problems and needs by utilizing multidisciplinary team strategies
• Maintain a cooperative relationship among health care teams by communicating information; responding to requests; building rapport; participating in team continuous quality improvement and problem-solving methods
• Contribute to team effort by accomplishing related results as needed
• Hospice Role to understand the Hospice philosophy and perform care accordingly to enhance the quality of life of the terminally ill patient
• Maintain and demonstrate an understanding of the Hospice benefit and comply with regulatory conditions of participation
• Assess eligibility for Hospice care and obtain the informed consent prior to the initiation of services
• Function as a primary nurse and core member of the Interdisciplinary Group to develop a plan of care that addresses the physical, psychosocial, emotional and spiritual needs of the terminally ill patient and family
• Follow established guidelines for pain and symptom management to enhance quality of life
• Educate patient and caregivers regarding the care needs at the end-of-life including palliative care measures
• Mental health role- in conjunction with the physician, implement mental health concepts and psychiatric using principles in the plan of care
• Provide supportive psychotherapy
• Demonstrate knowledge of commitment laws, mental health clinical programming, and community resources
• Make appropriate referrals based on the nursing assessment and in collaboration with the physician
• Function as a resource for Agency staff with patients demonstrating mental health problems as a secondary diagnosis
• Other duties as assigned.

Competency and Experience [Knowledge, Skills and Abilities]

Required Qualifications/Experience

• Graduate of an accredited Nursing Program required.

• Six (6) months medical/surgical experience
• Strong leadership ability, good organizational skills, independent and critical thinking skills, sound judgment, and knowledge of legal aspects and liability of nursing practice.
• Strong ability to communicate complex and/or controversial topics and concepts to a wide and diverse audience.

Preferred Qualifications/Experience (please add any additional requirements)

• Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing preferred.
• RN’s with one (1) year experience in medical/surgical nursing or other healthcare related field; IV and phlebotomy training; certification in an applicable area; Bachelor of Science degree in nursing. For Hospice- prior Hospice and/or oncology experience; Hospice and Palliative Care Certification
• Experience in Healthcare setting.

License, Certification & Clearances (please add any additional requirements)

• Current licensure to practice as a Registered Nurse in the State of Pennsylvania required.
• Current Basic Life Support (BLS) approved curriculum of the American Heart Association (CPR and AED) program required.
• Act 33 with renewal
• Act 34 with renewal
• Act 73 FBI Clearance
• Valid Driver’s License (if out of state hire, the record report from applicable state driver’s license department is required)

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work

• Incumbent will be scheduled based on operational need (rotate shifts, standby, on-call, etc.).
• Travel may be expected locally between System locations.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Independence Health and its affiliated companies are Equal Opportunity Employers. It is their policy to prohibit discrimination of any type and to afford equal employment opportunities to employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, marital status, disability, veteran status, or genetic information, or any other classification protected by law. Independence Health and its affiliated companies will comply with all applicable laws and regulations.

Disclaimer

This job description is not designed to contain a comprehensive listing of all activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Moreover, duties, responsibilities and activities may change or new ones may be assigned at any time with or without notice.