LPN Night Shift

Summary

The Licensed Practical Nurse provides care to residents. Responsible for maintaining a safe abuse free environment for all residents living in the facility.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Teamwork and all other duties and responsibilities assigned.

• Responsible for the administration of medications and treatments as prescribed by the physician.
• Responsible for the oversight and direction of care provided by nursing assistants. Immediately reports substandard care or other performance issues to the Charge Nurse.
• Receives and provides verbal report regarding new admissions, discharges, transfers, current resident status and new orders at shift change.
• Administers controlled substances according to The Stone Pear Pavilion policy. Complete narcotic count with oncoming licensed staff and verifies inventory by signatures of both licensed staff. Discrepancies are immediately reported to the Charge Nurse.
• Maintains accurate documentation regarding resident conditions, medications, treatments and other mandated records.
• Maintains knowledge of approved documentation guidelines.
• Reports any change in resident condition to Charge Nurse immediately.

Other Responsibilities

• Initiates immediate intervention in abusive situations to protect the resident and report allegations according to facility policy and regulatory guidelines.
• Attends monthly mandatory nursing in-services.
• Functions as a resident advocate to assure that Resident Rights are not violated. Communicates with staff, ancillary departments and family members/responsible part to discuss issues related to the resident’s condition of care.
• Maintains safe and comfortable environment by maintaining education of usage of all facility safety devices and pressure relief techniques.
• Attends other meetings and training sessions as required or appropriate for position.
• Completes documentations of reporting and investigates abnormal occurrences via internal report in a timely manner per facility policy and reports findings to Charge Nurse immediately.

Supervisory Responsibilities

Certified Nursing Assistants

Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education and/or Experience

Certificate in Nursing from a college or technical school and successfully passing the practical nursing licensure exams. Requires at least six months of experience in geriatric health care; or an equivalent combination of education and experience. Complete annual state mandated training requirements (Regular In-services as well as any external training).

Language Skills

Ability to read, analyze, and interpret nursing periodicals, scientific journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations. Ability to interpret reports, business correspondence, and procedures. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from individuals or groups of managers, residents, family members, physicians, therapists, employees, outside business contacts, and the general public.

Mathematical Skills

Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals. Ability to apply these concepts in situations such as, but not limited to: measuring medications, taking temperatures and blood pressure, measuring wounds, using medical equipment, assessing changes in a resident's blood sugar level, ordering supplies, and measuring dietary intake and urine output. Ability to compute volume, rate, ratio, and percentage in the same situations.

Reasoning Ability

Ability to deal with several abstract and concrete variables to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions when assessing resident needs and conditions, prioritizing own work and that of subordinates, communicating with family members, and investigating situations that arise from residents, family members, supervisors, and employees. Ability to interpret an extensive variety of written or verbal technical instructions from supervisors. Ability to interpret non-verbal gestures, body movements, and facial expressions as cues to determine residents' needs.

Computer Skills

Uses the computer to chart daily resident attendance at programs, update care plans, insert new assessment information, record use of PRN medications, and note physical or behavior changes. Uses e-mail to communicate with others internally and externally. Individual should also have knowledge of spreadsheet and word processing software for creating reports and correspondence.

Certificates, Licenses, Registrations

Licensed Practical Nurse licensure, CPR certification, and First Aid certification. Each requires periodic renewal through re-certification or continuing education.

Other Skills and Abilities

Nursing skills specific to geriatric residents are needed. May need additional skills with special-need geriatric residents such as those with dementia, Alzheimer's or those requiring advanced health care. Ability to use lift equipment.

Medical Screenings

A Tuberculosis testing are required annually.

Mental Abilities

* The ability to get along with others and engage them in activities

* The ability to concentrate for extended periods of time

* The ability to remain calm in emergency situations

* The ability to shift focus from one task to another

* The ability to prioritize tasks effectively

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear when communicating with residents, family members, staff, and outside business contacts. The employee is frequently required to stand while conversing with various individuals, preparing medications at the medicine cart, and administering medications to the residents; walk throughout the unit; sit at a desk; use hands to finger, handle, or feel when preparing medications, using syringes and the telephone or computer, and attending to the physical needs of the resident; and reach with hands and arms when obtaining supplies, dispensing medications, and attending to resident needs. The employee is occasionally required to climb stairs or balance when assisting the aides with residents; stoop or crouch to communicate with residents and to place items in or get items from low drawers or shelves; pump a foot pedal to raise or lower a resident's bed; and use his/her sense of smell to detect odors within the unit and emanating from the residents. The employee must regularly move up to 50 pounds when pushing the medicine cart. The employee must occasionally lift or move up to 100 pounds when moving residents by wheelchair or assisting the Aides with the residents. The employee must occasionally lift up to 10 pounds, which is generally supplies such as reams of paper, files, medications, and forms. Specific vision abilities required by this job include: close vision, distance vision and peripheral vision in order to monitor resident behavior at close range and at a distance and to maneuver the medicine cart; close vision for computer and paper detail work; distance vision to see resident call lights down the hall; color vision to identify medications, assess changes in coloring of residents' skin or wounds, and to review color-coded spreadsheets or documents; and depth perception and ability to adjust focus from far residents to near residents and from computer to desk or unit hallways.

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally exposed to moving mechanical parts with resident equipment and medicine carts, and to fumes from medicated creams and cleaning products. The employee is frequently exposed to airborne viruses and bacteria, as well as blood-borne, fecal-borne, and other bodily pathogens carried by residents. The noise level in the work environment can range from quiet while in a private office or resident's room to loud while in resident common areas or at the nurse's station where there are televisions and equipment operating, phones ringing, light to heavy traffic, and people talking.