Senior Specialist Nurse, Intensive Care Unit

GENERAL DESCRIPTION :

Accountable for providing professional nursing care to patients within a hospital unit, adhering to hospital policies and nursing services principles, policies, and procedures to ensure high-quality care practiced. 

JOB DESCRIPTION :

ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT 

• Adherence to nursing care vision, mission, goals, and objectives, aligns with the scope of nursing services, and performs shift duties as assigned by the Unit Manager to ensure high quality care rendered.  

• Notifies the unit manager of any changes in the situation that could impact the standards of care. 

• Obtains and handovers a report of patient progress, ensuring all doctor's orders are followed before changing or over taking shifts and notifying any incidents or problems encountered. 

• Visit patients in the unit with team members to assess conditions, re-plan nursing care, and determine nursing priorities based on patient needs and staff availability. 

• Provides personalized, comprehensive care to patients, ensuring meticulous documentation and prompt communication of abnormal findings, and provides exceptional critical care for critical conditions using advanced life support technologies like mechanical ventilation, high frequency mechanical ventilation, Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), arterial and venous umbilical catheter line (UAL/UVL), Intra-aortic balloon p IABP, CRRT, pacemakers, and acute myocardial infarctions.  

• Demonstrate high standard of nursing practices in caring for ante/post-natal newborn, management of ill / sick babies and etc.  

•  Demonstrate high standard of care in management of critically ill neonates with: ü High Frequency Mechanical ventilation ü Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) ü Arterial and venous Umbilical catheter line (UAL/UVL) 

• Conducts nursing rounds on patients, providing emotional support and accompanying doctors while doing rounds, as well as assisting in procedures as needed. 

• Executing the doctor's orders, coordinating with team members related to patients’ treatment, and fostering effective communication with all disciplines, patients, and relatives to ensure patient satisfaction. 

• Provide clear, compassionate, and culturally sensitive communication with patients, ensuring their understanding of their condition, treatment options, and care plan comprehensively. 

• Actively participates in the health education of patients and their families in the ward as well as unit meetings, dialogue sessions, and hospital activities 

• Provides continuous cardiac monitoring, recording patient assessments, rhythm strips, and collaborating with physicians to administer inotropic support, interpret ECG and ABG results, identify abnormalities, inform consultants, ensure optimal patient care, and complete the 24-hour Critical Care Chart and related forms. 

• Assist with patient transfer inter-services and discharge procedures, scheduling specialist clinic appointments (if needed), handling death cases with respect, and ensuring safe transfer to the mortuary. 

• Collaborate with the unit manager in administration, setting care standards, and fulfilling duties in the absence of the unit manager, while also carrying out assigned tasks and providing feedback. 

• Charge accurately, incorporating charges for equipment and consumable items into the patient's charges and verifying their completeness. 

• Inspect and document the supply of sterile packs to ensure the integrity of the packaging and maintain an adequate supply of unit stock from CSSS. 

HUMAN RESOURCE AND DEVELOPMENT 

• Accountable for personal and professional growth keeps up to date with professional change by maintaining mandatory learning hours. 

• Executes continuous professional development through annual competency evaluations and privileges every 3 years and is proficient in performing cannulations and medication calculations. 

• Collaborates with the unit manager to evaluate staff performance, provide constructive feedback, and optimize staff, supply, and service utilization for efficient resource allocation and coordination with consultants for effective bed management. 

• Participate and contribute to the development and maintenance of the nursing process, ensuring effective patient care and documentation. 

• Participates in research initiatives and advocates for quality improvement through evidence-based practice. 

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES 

• Participates in the review and revision of nursing policies, procedures, and work instructions, providing valuable insights, promoting best practices for optimal patient care, and continuously improving the process.  

• Inspect the Psychotropic drugs with the previous shift's nurse in charge and adhere to hospital policies and procedures in medication care, custody, and administration. 

• Checks daily and audits resuscitation trolley periodically as scheduled. 

• Promotes infection prevention and control by ensuring staff follow protocols, implementing surveillance activities, and demonstrating commitment through personal involvement. 

• Maintain confidentiality of patient’s personal and medical history 

FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT 

• Operates and maintains specialized equipment in a unit, guiding new staff on the use of it and maintaining accurate records. 

• Conducts comprehensive pre-use checks on vital equipment, such as ventilators, to ensure their safe and optimal functioning and readiness for use and collaborate with the unit manager in maintaining equipment, medical supplies, and drugs, ensuring proper functioning and service according to the PPM schedule. 

• Notify biomedical personnel of faulty equipment and assist in maintaining instruments and equipment through proper cleaning, handling, disinfection, and usage. 

• Participate in a quarterly stock count with the finance staff. 

SAFETY AND QUALITY IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES 

• Participate in and support activities aimed at the continuous improvement of nursing services, including quality assurance, infection control, and fire and safety programs. 

• Conduct thorough investigations, root cause analyses, appropriate response actions, and timely completion of incident reports within the stipulated timeframe. 

• Collaborate with unit manager to collect and evaluate clinical and administrative data, participate in hospital-wide surveys like MSQH, JCI, IMS and etc. for continuous quality improvement efforts. 

• Participate and contribute to the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative certification, with a focus on promoting exclusive breastfeeding. 

• Adhere to the Occupational Safety and Health Act and Regulations 1994, which mandate reasonable work care, employer cooperation, protective equipment use, patient safety goals, World Alliance recommendations, patient and family rights policies, standard people practice, 5S activities. 

JOB REQUIREMENTS :

Education: 

• Registered with Nursing Board of Malaysia with a valid license to practice as a Registered Nurse. 

Skills & Competencies: 

• Possess certifications in BLS, ACLS, PALS and NRP 

Special skills are . 

• Proficient in writing and conversing in English and Bahasa Malaysia. 

• Microsoft office literacy 

Personal attributes  

• Have interpersonal and communication skills. 

• Critical thinking and problem-solving skills 

• Caring, honest, and responsible workers 

• Willingness to work on schedule hours, shift and weekends, public holidays and anytime called during an emergency. 

• Passionate and commitment to patient centered care and continuous quality improvement. 

• High integrity, patience, and high attention to details.