Visit Nurse LPN Palliative Care-Non Exempt
M,W and F from 8-5
Patient Care:
- Assesses patient needs and evaluates symptoms and progress through the comprehensive assessment of the patient.
- Executes the therapeutic regime of treatments, medications, and plan of care as prescribed.
- Provides holistic, patient/family-centered care, as prescribed, in the patient's residence to improve the quality of life.
- Consults and collaborates with the palliative care interdisciplinary team and other agencies involved in the patient's care.
- Initiates or facilitates referral of patient and/or family to appropriate Agency or community resources.
- Completes an average of two (2) nursing visits per day.
- Assesses all aspects of the patient's pain and comfort, developing and implementing an individualized pain management plan.
- Triages symptom management via telephone, coordinating care with the patient’s physician or nurse practitioner.
Admissions:
- Communicates identified patient needs to appropriate disciplines via verbal and written reports of the current status of the patient.
- Assesses patient’s immediate needs and symptoms, collaborating with caregivers, physicians and pharmacists to manage those symptoms and educating caregivers on new medications and/or treatments.
- Collaborates with the palliative care physician or nurse practitioner regarding the plan of care and new orders needed at the time of admission.
Documentation/Reporting:
- Reports appropriate information to the physician/nurse practitioner and the interdisciplinary team by ensuring verbal and written reports are clear, concise and timely.
- Patient care documentation is completed in EMR in a timely manner.
- Enters medications into the EMR in a timely manner.
- Documents problems, nursing assessments, care provided, care interventions and patient and family outcomes in the clinical record at the point of care.
- Assures the ECF chart’s Agency section contains necessary information for Agency/ECF compliance, if applicable.
- Documents all nurse practitioner and physician orders, IDG notes, and patient notes on the day work is performed.
- Helps to provide continuity of care between team members and other service providers by ensuring verbal and written reports are clear, concise, and timely.
Teaching:
- Teaches patient self-care.
- Teaches those parts of patient care appropriate for each family to provide.
- Teaches indication, side effects, and contraindication of all medications.
- Assists the patient’s family (and ECF staff if applicable) with understanding the medical illnesses, plan of care, and needs of the patient.
- Serves as preceptor to other staff nurses, aides, and students.
- Committed to Agency resolution against fraud and abuse.
- Knowledgeable in palliative care and hospice philosophy.
- Arrives to work and meetings on time and ready to work.
- Respects confidentiality of patients/families and other Agency employees.
- Attends nurses meetings, educational meetings/conferences for professional growth as required.
- Participates in nursing validations as required.
- Participates in agency infection control plan.
- Sees change as an opportunity and maintains a level of flexibility, which allows for adaptation to new
ways of performing.
- Follows directions and policies that allow for an organizational commitment to working under time
pressures without sacrificing quality.
- Performs other duties that may be assigned.
- Participates in nursing call rotation with other hospice nursing staff.
JOB REQUIREMENTS:
- Possesses the ability to perform the following tasks for varying periods of time: standing, walking, sitting, climbing stairs, stooping, kneeling, twisting, bending, reaching overhead and in front of body, simultaneous use of both hands, wrists, and fingers.
- Possesses the ability to perform the following tasks for varying periods of time: speak in conversational tones utilizing the English/American Language, hear conversations as well as bodily function sounds with various medical or non-medical devices, observe patients via touch sensitivity that is strong enough to palpate various areas on the human body and allow an accurate reporting of a pulse, see with vision acuity: near, 20 inches or less, and far, 20 inches or more, with or without corrective devices such as
glasses or contacts, have a depth perception of three dimensions, and a sharpness of vision/focus with adequate peripheral vision to allow an acute awareness of surroundings.
- Possesses the ability to work in a variety of environmental conditions that include, but are not limited to
the following: adverse weather conditions, dust, fumes, tobacco smoke, noise, closed-in spaces or
rooms, and locations with poor or improper lighting and glare.
- May be required to work in shifts that may be steady or rotating.
- Possesses the ability to operate and drive an automobile while maintaining a valid driver's license and current automobile insurance. Requires use of personal vehicle.
QUALIFICATIONS:
- Maintains current nursing licensure in Indiana and CPR certification.
- Prior experience in palliative care/hospice nursing is required.
