Where compassion meets innovation and technology and our employees are family.

General Purpose of Job:

The staff nurse is a professional Registered Nurse (RN) who provides direct nursing care to an assigned patient population, service line or clinic department.  The staff nurse, utilizing the nursing process, plans and delivers effective patient care within the Texas Nursing Practice Act scope of practice and within the framework of Driscoll Health System’s vision and mission of excellence and integrated care delivery.  The staff nurse practices within the established standards of practice, ethical guidelines, policies and guidelines reflective of the American Nurses Association (ANA) and their specialty service line.  The staff nurse completes specific duties and maintains current competence in the skills and nursing practice according to the service line or area of primary work assignment.

Essential functions and behavioral expectations:

Standards of Nursing Practice

Assessment

• Collects pertinent data through initial and ongoing focused assessments to analyze the patient’s condition and follows through with appropriate reporting and actions.  Conducts comprehensive assessments of patients' physical, psychosocial, and emotional needs
• Utilizes appropriate tools to gather relevant data to inform patient care decisions

Diagnosis/analysis

• Analyzes assessment data to determine actual or potential diagnoses, problems, and issues
• Verifies the diagnoses, problems, and issues with the healthcare consumer and interprofessional colleagues

Outcomes identification

• Identifies expected outcomes for a plan individualized to the patient or situation
• Collaborates with the patient/family to define outcomes integrating culture, values, and ethical considerations
• Works collaboratively with other healthcare team members which may include other RNs, Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN), Advanced Practice Nurse Practitioners (NP), Physician Assistants (PA), Physicians and Medical/Nursing Assistants and administrative support staff to address patient needs promptly

Planning

• Develops, prioritizes, implements, and modifies an individualized evidence-based plan of care in partnership with the person, family and healthcare team
• Contributes to creating an environment that is patient focused, family centered and is designed to provide continuation of care and patient transition management
• Advocates for compassion, responsible, and appropriate use of interventions

Implementation

• Administers medications and therapeutic treatments using appropriate devices per clinical guidelines and orders
• Recognizes and intervenes to address abnormal responses to medication therapy and initiates corrective therapy
• Escalates patient care concerns or changing status until resolution is achieved

Coordination of care

• Initiates appropriate referrals to the healthcare team based on assessed patient needs
• Communicates with the patient/family, interprofessional team, and community-based resources for safe transitions in continuity of care
• Ensures continuity of care by communicating effectively with patients, families, and healthcare providers
• Acts as a liaison between specialties and sub-specialties, coordinating referrals and follow-up appointments as needed to support the patient continuity of care between inpatient and outpatient care
• Performs phone triage, manages prescription renewals, and coordinates follow-up appointments and care plans tailored to patients’ needs if working in an ambulatory setting

Health teaching and health promotion

• Identifies barriers to learning, develops and implements education plan based on assessed patient/family needs
• that reflects the patient/family values, beliefs, developmental level, learning needs, readiness and ability to learn, language preference, spirituality, culture and socioeconomic status
• Uses health promotion and teaching methods, including technologies to communicate health promotion and disease prevention

Evaluation

• Evaluates and reports pertinent patient response to interventions based on evidence-based best practice
• Evaluates progress toward attainment of expected outcomes and revises plan as necessary

Standards of professional performance

ethics

• Integrates code of Ethics for Nurses to guide practice and decision-making in all areas of practice

Advocacy

• Functions as an advocate, seeking direction as needed to provide safe, effective, efficient, and timely care
• Demonstrates a willingness to address persistent, pervasive systemic issues
• Embraces diversity, equity, inclusivity, health promotion for individuals of diverse geographic, cultural, ethnic, racial, gender, and spiritual backgrounds across the life span

Respectful and equitable practice

• Establishes and maintains a therapeutic relationship with patient/family to ensure patient comfort and dignity without bias

Communication

• Uses clear, closed loop communication that enhances team information sharing and decision making.  Uses language translation resources to ensure effective communication
• Documents according to policy or guidelines in a timely and accurate manner in the medical record to communicate with the healthcare team

Collaboration

• Supports goals through participation and compliance in unit activities, shared governance and decision-making

Leadership

• Identifies conflict and helps to initiate resolution, seeking assistance when appropriate
• Demonstrates authority, ownership, accountability and responsibility for appropriate delegation of nursing care to unlicensed assistive personnel
• Assists by assuming a lead role as needs or schedule variances arise
• Assumes charge nurse role by completing additional training and competency to support the unit as requested

Education

• Seeks experiences that reflect current practice to maintain and advance knowledge, skills, abilities, and judgment in clinical practice or role performance
• Mentors and/or trains new nurses to their roles for the purpose of ensuring successful enculturation, orientation, competence and emotional support
• Supports the acculturation of nurses new to their roles by role modeling, encouraging, advocating, and sharing pertinent information relative to optimal care delivery

License, Education and/or Experience:

BSN preferred.

Current RN license in the State of Texas.

Certificates, Registrations.

• American Heart Association Basic Life Support (CPR) continuously maintained.  May onboard with AHA or Red Cross CPR and then transition to AHA upon first renewal.
• Advanced Specialty Courses (ASC) according to Attachment A
  • ASC courses should be taken at earliest opportunity, but must be completed within timeframes specified on Attachment A and continuously maintained ongoing.
• National Certification in specialty must be attempted within 4 years of hire date for eligible role and continuously maintained thereafter.