State Tested Nursing Assistant

Purpose of Your Job Position:

The primary purpose of your job position is to treat and document care for residents with impaired ability to perform at an independent level due to disease process, under the supervision of a licensed nurse.

Essential Job Functions Statement:

Every effort has been made to identify the essential functions of this position. However, it in no way states or implies that these are the only duties you will be required to perform. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related, or is an essential function of the position.

Safety Factors:

Risk Potential to Blood/Body Fluids:

Category I : Tasks in this category involve exposure to blood, body fluids, or tissues, and require the use of personal protective equipment.

Category II : Tasks in this category involve no exposure to blood, body fluids, and/or tissues, but employment may require performing unplanned category I tasks.

Category III : These tasks require no exposure to blood, body fluids, and/or tissues, and category I tasks are not a condition of employment.

Essential Job Functions & Responsibilities:

Administrative Functions

• Follow physicians' orders for resident care, and follow directions of the physical therapist.
• Provide appropriate treatment to help residents maintain or attain the highest level of function possible with the confines of his/her physical abilities.
• Use only authorized abbreviations established by this facility when recording information.
• Report all changes in the resident's condition to the Nurse Supervisor/Charge Nurse as soon as practical.
• Report all accidents and incidents you observe on the shift that they occur.

Admission, Transfer, and Discharge Functions

• Ensure that the resident's room is ready for receiving the resident (i.e., bed made, name tags up, admission kit available, etc.).
• Introduce resident to his/her roommate, if any, and other residents and personnel as appropriate.
• Make resident comfortable (i.e., put to bed, get water, etc.).
• Inventory and mark the resident's personal possessions as instructed.
• Store resident's clothing.
• Assist residents with packing their personal possessions when they are being transferred to a new room, or when being discharged.
• Transport residents to new rooms or to the receiving area.

Personal Functions

• Perform all assigned tasks in accordance with our established policies and procedures, and as instructed by your supervisors.
• Follow work assignments, and/or work schedules in completing and performing your assigned tasks.
• Cooperate with inter-department personnel, as well as other facility personnel to ensure that nursing services can be adequately maintained to meet the needs of the residents.
• Create and maintain an atmosphere of warmth, personal interest and positive emphasis, as well as a calm environment throughout the unit and shift.
• Meet with your shift's nursing personnel, on a regularly scheduled basis, to assist in identifying and correcting problem areas, and/or the improvement of services.
• Report all complaints and grievances made by the resident.
• Notify the facility when you will be late or absent from work.
• Report occupational exposures to blood, body fluids, infectious materials, and hazardous chemicals to your supervisor.

Personal Nursing Care Functions

• Participate in and receive the nursing report upon reporting for duty.
• Follow established policies concerning exposure to blood/body fluids.
• Assist residents with daily dental and mouth care (i.e., brushing teeth/dentures, oral hygiene, special mouth care, etc.)
• Assist residents with bath functions (i.e., bedbath, tub or shower bath, etc.) as directed.
• Assist residents with dressing/undressing as necessary.
• Assist residents with hair care functions (i.e., combing, brushing, shampooing, etc.)
• Assist residents with nail care (i.e., clipping, trimming, and cleaning the finger/toenail). (Note: Does not include diabetic residents.)
• Shave residents as needed.
• Keep residents dry (i.e., change gown, clothing, linen, etc., when it becomes wet or soiled).
• Make beds (occupied and unoccupied).
• Position bedfast residents in correct and comfortable position.
• Assist resident with bowel and bladder functions (i.e., take to bathroom, offer bedpan/urinal, portable commode, etc.)
• Maintain intake and output records as instructed.
• Keep incontinent residents clean and dry.
• Check and report bowel movements and character of stools as instructed.
• Collect specimens as instructed (i.e., urine, sputum, stools, etc.)
• Assist residents in preparing for medical tests (i.e., lab work, x-ray, therapy, dental, etc.)
• Assist residents in preparing for activity and social programs (i.e., church services, parties, visitors, etc.).
• Assist in transporting residents' to/from appointments, activity and social programs, etc., as necessary.
• Assist with lifting, turning, moving, positioning, and transporting residents into and out of beds, chairs, bathtubs, wheelchairs, lifts, etc.
• Assist residents to walk with or without self-help devices as instructed.
• Perform restorative and rehabilitative procedures as instructed.
• Change dressings, bandages, binders, etc., as instructed.
• Provide eye and ear care (i.e., warm/cold compresses, eye/ear instillation, cleaning eyeglasses/hearing aides, etc.) as instructed.
• Assist in preparing the resident for physical examination.
• Weigh and measure residents as instructed.
• Measure and record temperatures, pulse, and respirations (TPRs), as instructed.
• Answer resident calls promptly.
• Ensure that residents who are unable to call for help are checked frequently.
• Check each resident routinely to ensure that his/her personal care needs are being met in accordance with his/her wishes.
• Assist with the care of the dying resident.
• Provide post-mortem care as instructed.

Special Nursing Care Functions

• Observe and report the presence of pressure areas and skin breakdowns to prevent decubitus ulcers (bedsores).
• Report injuries of an unknown source, including skin tears.
• Provide daily indwelling catheter care.
• Provide daily perineal care.
• Assist with the application of slings, elastic bandages, binders, etc.
• Give tepid sponge baths.
• Provide daily Range of Motion Exercises. Record data as instructed.
• Turn bedfast residents at least every two (2) hours.
• Perform special treatments as instructed.
• Observe disoriented and comatose residents. Record and report data as instructed.
• Turn all medications found in the resident's room/possession over to the Nurse Supervisor/Charge Nurse.
• Provide residents with Reality Orientation as instructed.
• Watch for and report any change in room temperature, ventilation, lighting, etc.

Food Service Functions

• Prepare residents for meals (i.e., take to bathroom, wash hands, comb hair, raise bed, position tables, place bibs, take to/from dining room, etc.).
• Serve food trays. Assist with feeding as indicated (i.e., cutting foods, feeding assist in dining room supervision, etc.).
• Assist residents with identifying food arrangements (i.e., informing resident with sight problem of foods that are on his/her tray, where it is located, if it is hot/cold, etc.).
• Record the resident's food/fluid intake. Report changes in the resident's eating habits.
• Keep residents' water pitchers clean and filled with fresh water (on each shift), and within easy reach of the resident.
• Serve between meal and bedtime snacks.
• Perform after meal care (i.e., remove trays, clean resident's hands, face, clothing, take to bathroom, brush teeth, clean dentures, etc.).
• Check rooms for food articles (i.e., food in proper container, unauthorized food items, etc.).

Staff Development

• Attend and participate in scheduled training and educational classes to maintain current certification as a Nursing Assistant.
• Attend and participate in scheduled orientation programs and activities.
• Attend and participate in annual OSHA and CDC in-service training programs for hazard communication, TB management, and blood borne pathogens standard.
• Attend and participate in advance directive in-service training programs as scheduled.

Safety and Sanitation

• Participate in appropriate in -service training programs prior to performing tasks that involve potential exposure to blood/body fluids.
• Wash hands before and after performing any service for the resident.
• Keep the nurses' call system within easy reach of the resident.
• Immediately notify the Nurse Supervisor/Charge Nurse of any resident leaving/missing from the facility.
• Follow established safety precautions in the performance of all duties.
• Keep residents' personal possessions off the floor and properly stored.
• Keep floors dry report spills immediately.
• Keep excess supplies and equipment off the floor. Store in designated areas.
• Wash wheelchairs, walkers, etc., as instructed.
• Clean, disinfect, and return all resident care equipment to its designated storage area after each use.
• Before leaving work area for breaks, or at the end of the workday, store all tools, equipment, and supplies.
• Report all hazardous conditions and equipment to the Nurse Supervisor/Charge Nurse immediately.
• Report all safety violations.
• Follow established smoking regulations. Report all violations.
• Report any communicable or infectious disease to the Director of Nursing Services and/or to the Infection Control Coordinator.
• Follow established isolation precautions and procedures.
• Wash hands before entering and after leaving an isolation room/area.
• Follow established procedures in the use and disposal of personal protective equipment.
• Wear and /or use safety equipment and supplies (e.g. back brace, mechanical lifts, etc.) when lifting or moving residents.
• Report missing/illegible labels and MSDSs to your supervisor.

Equipment and Supply Functions

• Use only the equipment you have been trained to use.
• Operate all equipment in a safe manner.
• Report defective equipment in a safe manner.
• Report defective equipment to the Nurse Supervisor/Charge Nurse.
• Inform the Nurse Supervisor/Charge Nurse of your equipment and supply needs.

Care Plan Functions

• Review care plans daily to determine if changes in the resident's daily care routine have been made on the care plan.
• Inform the Nurse Supervisor/Charge Nurse of any changes in the resident's condition so that appropriate information can be entered on the resident's care plan.
• Ensure that your notes reflect that the care plan is being followed.

Resident Rights

• Maintain the confidentiality of all resident care information.
• Ensure that you treat all residents fairly, and with kindness, dignity, and respect.
• Ensure that all nursing care is provided in privacy.
• Knock before entering the resident's room.
• Report all grievances and complaints made by the resident to the Nurse Supervisor/Chare Nurse.
• Report all allegations of resident abuse and/or misappropriation of resident property.
• Honor the resident's refusal of treatment request. Report such requests to your supervisor.

Working Conditions

• Works throughout the nursing service area (i.e., nurses' station, resident rooms, etc.).
• Moves intermittently during working hours.
• Is subject to frequent interruptions.
• Is involved with residents, personnel, visitors, government agencies/personnel, etc., under all condition and circumstances.
• Is subject to hostile and emotionally upset residents, family members, personnel, and visitors.
• Communicates with nursing personnel and other department personnel.
• Works beyond normal working hours, on weekends and holidays, and in other positions temporarily, when necessary.
• Is subject to callback during emergency conditions (e.g., severe weather, evacuation, post-disaster, etc.).
• Attends and participates in continuing educational programs.
• Is subject to injury from falls, burns from equipment, odors, etc., throughout the workday, as well as to reactions from dust, disinfectants, tobacco smoke, and other air contaminants.
• Is subject to exposure to infectious waste, diseases, conditions, etc., including TB and the AIDS and Hepatitis B viruses.
• May be subject to the handling of and exposure to hazardous chemicals.

Education

• Must possess, a certificate for state tested nursing assistant.

Experience

• Must be a licensed S.T.N.A., in accordance with laws of this state.

Specific Requirements

• Must be able to read, write, speak, and understand the English language.
• Must possess the ability to make independent decisions when circumstances warrant such action.
• Must possess the ability to deal tactfully with personnel, residents, family members, visitors, government agencies/personnel, and the general public.
• Must possess the ability and willingness to work harmoniously with other personnel.
• Must have patience, tact, a cheerful disposition and enthusiasm, as well as the willingness to handle difficult residents.
• Must be willing to seek out new methods and principles and be willing to incorporate them into existing nursing practices.
• Must be able to relate information concerning a resident's condition.
• Must not pose a direct threat to the health and safety of other individuals in the workplace.

Physical and Sensory Requirements

(With or Without the Aid of Mechanical Devices)

• Must be able to move intermittently throughout the workday.
• Must be able to speak and write the English language in an understandable manner.
• Must be able to cope wit the mental and emotional stress of the position.
• Must be able to see and hear or use prosthetics that will enable these senses to function adequately to ensure that the requirements of this position can be fully met.
• Must function independently and have flexibility, personal integrity, and the ability to work effectively with residents, personnel, and support agencies.
• Must meet the general health requirements set forth by the policies of this facility, which include a medical and physical examination.
• Must be able to relate to and work with the ill, disabled, elderly, emotionally upset, and at times, hostile people within the facility.
• Must be able to push, pull, move, and/or lift a minimum of twenty-five pounds.
• May be necessary to assist in the evacuation of residents during emergency situations.