Medical Assistant - Full-Time - AVALA Hospital - Admit - RH452

Medical Assistant

Assists nurses in providing basic care to non-acutely ill patients and assisting in maintenance of a safe and clean environment under the direction and supervision of the registered nurse in charge of the team and/or unit. The MA assists in the delivery of patient care to people of diverse backgrounds and must be able to effectively communicate and assist the patients and their families.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Escort patients to exam rooms and measure vital signs.
• Prepares rooms for surgical patients.
• Answers the phone while maintaining a polite, consistent phone manner using proper telephone etiquette. Return all patient calls and messages, and provide feedback and answers.
• Operates computer software and office equipment.
• Perform other duties as needed to assist coworkers, which may include answering phones, call lights, etc.
• Provides general aspect of basic care to all patients within the medical assistant's scope of practice that includes actions that meet psychosocial needs and physical needs to the standard of care to optimize patient safety.
• Meets communication needs of patients and treats patients and their family with respect and dignity.
• Assists in admission, transfer, and discharge of patient.
• Communicates appropriately and clearly to team leader, co-workers and physicians.
• Communicates, documents, or otherwise report observations of patient behavior, complaints, or physical symptoms to RNs.
• Provides explanation to patient and family prior to administering care to patient; answers questions within scope of practice. Gives explanations and verbal reassurances consistently to family and visitors.
• Consults other departments as appropriate to provide for an interdisciplinary approach to the patient's needs, maintains a good working relationship within the department as well as with other departments by interacting professionally with co-workers and other healthcare providers.
• Assist with procedures and performs services requiring technical and manual skills under the direction of an RN.
• Responds to patient in emergency or physically distressful situations.
• Manages and operates equipment safely and correctly.
• Demonstrates knowledge of disease entities.
• Change bed linens or make beds. Clean and sanitize patient rooms, bathrooms, examination rooms or other patient areas.
• Responsible for the electronic charting of height, weight, and vital signs of the patients. Meets current documentation standards and policies and completes within shift.
• Ability to perform a blood glucose using the FS glucose machine; able to remove IV Jelco; and able remove a foley catheter, all according to policy and procedures.
• Assists with turning or repositioning patients and provides physical support to assist patients to perform daily living activities such as getting out of bed, bathing, dressing, using the toilet, and standing or walking.
• Collect specimens such as urine, feces, or sputum.
• Answers the patient call signals, signal lights, bell, intercom, and telephone in a timely and polite manner to determine patients' needs.
• Communicates ideas for improvement to the unit manager/charge nurse.
• Assists with use of electronic patient tracking board.
• Assists Charge nurse with patient/bed management.

Core Competencies

Action Orientation - Targets and achieves results, overcomes obstacles, accepts responsibility, establishes standards and responsibilities, creates a results-oriented environment, and follows through on actions.

Communications - Communicates well both verbally and in writing. Effectively conveys and shares information and ideas with others. Listens carefully and understands various viewpoints. Presents ideas clearly and concisely and understands relevant detail in presented information.

Creativity/Innovation - Generates novel ideas and develops or improves existing and new systems that challenge the status quo, takes risks, and encourages innovation.

Critical Judgment - Possesses the ability to define issues and focus on achieving workable solutions. Consistently does the right thing by performing with reliability.

Customer Orientation - Listens to customers, builds customer confidence, increases customer satisfaction, ensures commitments are met, sets appropriate customer expectations, and responds to customer needs.

Interpersonal Skills - Effectively and productively engages with others and establishes trust, credibility, and confidence with others.

Leadership - Motivates, empowers, inspires, collaborates with, and encourages others. Builds consensus when appropriate. Focuses team members on common goals.

Teamwork - Knows when and how to attract, develop, reward, and utilize teams to optimize results. Acts to build trust, inspire enthusiasm, encourage others, and help resolve conflicts and develop consensus in creating high-performance teams.

Professional Requirements

• Meets dress code standards and adheres to dress code policy.
• Completes annual education requirements.
• Maintains regulatory requirements.
• Maintains patient confidentiality at all times.
• Reports to work on time and as scheduled, completes work within designated time.
• Wears identification while on duty, uses computerized punch time system correctly.
• Completes in-services and returns in a timely fashion.
• Attends annual review, department in-services, staff meetings and/or reviews all monthly staff meeting minutes per HealthStream.
• Represents the organization in a positive and professional manner.
• Actively participates in performance improvement and continuous quality improvement (CQI) activities.
• Complies with all organizational policies regarding ethical business practices.
• Communicates the mission, ethics and goals of the hospital, as well as the focus statement of the department.
• Promotes professional growth of subordinates by sharing knowledge and/or directing them to sources if information appropriate to given situation. Utilizes journals, books, etc. to learn and/or improve new techniques and equipment.
• Assists other staff members in performing any duty that enhances the delivery of patient care.

Advanced Orthopedic and Spine Certification Requirements

(CR.1c) As part of the Advanced Orthopedic and Spine Certification, at a minimum, the Program direct-care staff, must have eight (4) hours of education specific to the Program scope, initially, and at least annually thereafter.

(CR.1e) As part of the Advanced Orthopedic and Spine Certification, staff possess adaptability to processes as related to up to date best practices, collaboration between departments, compliance with protocols/processes, communication, cooperation and exceptional customer service.

Within 90 days of hire or, if currently employed, within 90 days of signing the job description, must adhere to:

• Orientation of Advanced Orthopedic and Spine Certification
• In compliance with the Program education requirements
• Completed department specific competencies

Regulatory Requirements

• High school graduate or equivalent
• Current BLS certification
• Current Medical Assistant Certification
• Minimum of six (6) months to one (1) year of related work experience.

Skills

• Ability to communicate effectively in English, both verbally and in writing.
• Basic computer knowledge.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk and hear. This position is very active and requires repetitive motions, standing, walking, bending, kneeling and stooping all day. The employee must frequently lift or move items weighing up to 50 pounds.