Patient Care Technician

Saint Joseph Mercy Health System, one of the nation's top health care services providers, spanning five counties in Southeastern Michigan. SJMHS represents more than 2,700 physicians and 14,000 nurses and staff, and includes 6 Hospitals, 5 Outpatient Health Centers, 8 Urgent Care Facilities and over 25 Specialty Centers.

Part-Time (32 hours per week) Patient Care Tech on nights.

The Saint Joseph Mercy Health System 2 East Surgical Progressive Care Unit is a 32-bed unit that provides services to Cardiac, Thoracic, Vascular and other surgical patients. Additionally, we provide services to other patient diagnoses include general surgery, trauma, along with other surgical and medical diagnoses.

General Summary

Under the direction of a registered nurse, the patient care technician is responsible for direct patient care considering age specific, developmental, cultural and spiritual needs. Demonstrates unit/area-designated competencies. Assists in establishing and maintaining a patient care environment that is clean, safe and conducive to patient/family well-being including concepts of relationship based care.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

1. Demonstrates excellent communication with team members:

Takes initiative in reporting patient needs, abnormal findings and condition changes to RN Actively participates in structured and informal handoffs Performs purposeful hourly rounding Promptly responds to patient requests

2. Performs nursing care as delegated by the RN in an effort to identify/attain treatment goals such as:

Records/calculates intake and output, obtains weights Applies support/orthopedic devices such as support hose and compression devices Obtains routine vital signs, pain score and temperature Assists the patient with: coughing, deep breathing, use of incentive spirometer, oral suctioning Applies warm/cold therapies (heating pads, ice packs, cryocuff, hot ice machine and warm soaks) Provides care of the restrained patient including general care, application of the restraint and ongoing monitoring of the restrained patient Care and removal of Foley catheters

3. Assists patient in completing ADLs including:

Bathing, showering, toileting, positioning, turning, transferring & ambulation using assistive devices as needed and appropriate Assists with feeding and menu selection Distributes/collects nourishments and orders late trays Answers call lights

4. Demonstrates sterile or aseptic technique as appropriate when performing delegated activities such as:

Collects and sends specimens including blood and blood cultures Obtains blood specimens from intermittent infusion devices, flushes intermittent infusion devices Inserts and removes peripheral IV catheters (not to include regulating drip rate of infusion) Competency based point of care testing such as blood glucose

5. Records patient information and required data in appropriate areas in order to meet documentation and charging requirements.

6. Assists in establishing and maintaining a patient care environment that is clean, safe, and conducive to patient/family well being

Documents all patient belongings upon admission Prepare patient room for arrival/ assists in transfers and or discharge of patients Orients patient/family/visitors to patient room, unit, waiting area and facilities Assists patient/family in the use of hospital equipment (telephone, lights television) Makes occupied and unoccupied beds Collects and disposes of soiled linen Cleans and maintains equipment according to procedures

7. Provides wound and exit site care as delegated:

Applies simple dressing to clean wounds of stage I or stage II depth (partial thickness) following assessment of the RN (does not include dressings that require topical ointments, gels, creams, packing or ace wraps) Secures complex dressings that have been changed by other caregivers. Performs PEG care and dressing changes

8. Completes delegated unit specific activities such as:

Gathers post procedural data after initial nursing assessment such as vital signs, circumcision checks Places patients on monitors/telemetry and maintains lead placement Clean intermittent urinary catheterization Checks/restocks unit emergency equipment/supplies and nurse servers Trach care and trach suctioning Performs other unit specific duties as delegated Bottle feeds infants. Assist new breastfeeding mother's with latching and positioning of infant, set-up of breast pump and initiation of pumping Completes and documents newborn hearing screen

Requirements

Education: High school diploma or GED

Experience: Minimum of one year of previous direct care experience (acute or long term) or successful completion of CENA or EMT course. Student nurses must complete their sophomore year of a BSN program.

At Saint Joseph Mercy Health System, we believe that taking care of our professionals leverages the quality of service we can provide to our patients. We offer a comprehensive benefits package that is just one aspect of what makes our career opportunities so remarkable.

Visit www.stjoeshealth.org/careers to learn more about the benefits, culture and career development opportunities available to you at Saint Joseph Mercy Health System.

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