Registered Nurse - PreOp PACU

Registered Nurse PreOp / PACU

The Registered Nurse PreOp / PACU is responsible for admitting the patient to the clinical area and providing nursing care to the pre-operative and post-operative patient, as well as developing a nursing care plan specifically designed for the individual patient. The staffing of the Center is based on a teamwork concept. Employees may be cross trained in other clinical areas and may be expected to perform duties other than their normal ones as staffing and patient needs change.

Essential functions include ensuring a clean and therapeutic environment for all patients at all times, giving instructions to patients as instructed by physician or physician assistant, ensuring supplies and equipment needed are available and in good working order, admitting the patient to the unit and preparing him/her for the scheduled procedure, making initial assessment and determining the nursing needs of the patient, communicating additional discharge needs when applicable, explaining nursing procedures and actions taken to help reduce anxiety, identifying patient's physical and mental status, monitoring the patient's medical condition and reporting any significant changes to the admitting physician or anesthesiologist, assuring surgical consent, pre-operative test results and History and Physical are in the medical record prior to proposed procedure, pre-op and post-op calls to patients, reporting any important health history facts to the operating room nurse/medical director, giving patients and family members emotional support as necessary, documenting patient care delivered accurately in the medical record, implementing doctor's orders in a timely and accurate manner, educating patients and family, developing and maintaining an effective working relationship with patients, families, visitors, and other Center employees, documenting concisely, precisely, and accurately on all records or documents as indicated by policy, understanding and maintaining clinical competencies, demonstrating clinical problem solving and critical thinking, making decisions using evidence based analytical approach, planning for routine events and anticipating/preventing and managing/evaluating emergent situations, completing patient care responsibilities in a timely manner with accurate documentation, using downtime efficiently, aware of team members workload and constantly helping and responding positively to requests for assistance from other team members, adapting to unexpected changes, effectively acclimating to various work schedules to achieve high quality of care, protecting patient and family privacy rights and maintaining confidentiality of patient records in accordance to policy and procedure and HIPAA requirements, following all safety rules on the job, reporting all accidents promptly and correcting minor safety hazards, maintaining established Center/Departmental policies and procedures, adhering to the company standards of business conduct, performing other related duties as assigned to support the hospital.

Knowledge, skills, and abilities include knowledge of computer and relevant software applications, strong attention to detail, self-control to maintain composure, ability to adequately diagnose, plan and implement nursing interventions and evaluate patient condition, compliance with facility policies and procedures, compliance with continuing and mandatory education programs, practices nursing within the scope of the Nurse Practice Act of Texas and accepts responsibility and accountability for own actions, possesses appropriate communication skills to practice collaborative nursing, ability to respond quickly, physically and mentally when priorities and/or the patient's condition changes, high stress tolerance, ability to adapt with flexibility, ability to work independently by guiding oneself with little or no supervision and depending one oneself to get things done, ability to maintain effective and organized systems to ensure timely patient flow, ability to maintain records, ability to lift 50 lbs., carry 35 lbs., push and pull 25lbs, lift overhead 25 lbs. Able to perform repetitive standing, sitting, stooping, walking, stretching, and reaching. Ability to clean, maintain, and make minor adjustments to equipment. Excellent, polished patient interaction skills. Ability to communicate professionally with patients. Exceptional customer service and phone etiquette. Strong computer skills with proficiency in Microsoft Office, including Outlook, Excel, Word & Vision (EMR). Energetic with a desire to learn and develop new skills.

Education and experience include college degree required; minimum of an Associate's Degree with a Bachelor's Degree preferred, minimum 2 years recent experience in a peri-operative environment, registered nurse in the State of Texas; license must remain active and unencumbered while employed, current BLS, ACLS and PALS.