Our Mission is to improve the well-being of those we serve with a commitment to excellence: every patient, every encounter, every time.
Our Vision is to create a world-class health system to advance medicine and increase access for the communities we serve by empowering caregivers to heal through compassion, knowledge, innovation, integrated care and excellence.
Responsible for providing nursing services to terminally ill patients in their home setting and supportive services to family members in compliance with all applicable federal, state and local health and safety codes including LSC®, laws and regulations, and all applicable policies and procedures of hospice
- Graduate of an accredited School of Nursing. BSN preferred.
- Current license as an RN in the State of Texas.
- Current BLS required.
- Valid and current Driver’s License required
- Valid and current proof of Auto Insurance required.
- Documentation of at least one year or equivalent of nursing experience in an acute care setting.
- A minimum of (2) year’s hospice or home health experience preferred.
- Knowledge of local, state, and federal laws for delivery of hospice services preferred.
Demonstrate ability to relate effectively with physicians, health care professionals, the community, patients/families, and members of the hospice interdisciplinary team.
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JOB KNOWLEDGE/EXPERIENCE:
- Documentation of at least one year or equivalent of nursing experience in an acute care setting.
- A minimum of (2) year’s hospice or home health experience preferred.
Responsibilities:
POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Demonstrate knowledge of medication administration, interactions and side-effects.
- Demonstrate knowledge and competence in pain and symptom control concepts and ensure interventions are carried out on a timely basis.
- Ensure the case management approach for referral to other services as needed.
- Prepare and submit clinical and progress notes that demonstrate progress toward established goals according to policy and procedure guidelines.
- Communicate information using current processes/available technology on a timely basis.
- Supervise LVN, CNA and paraprofessionals providing services to the patient according to regulatory guidelines; participate in evaluation and corrective action when necessary.
- Provide specialized hospice training to other staff, family members and informal caregivers to ensure adequate patient care.
- Ensure on-going evaluation of the patient/family response to care.
- Assess the ability of the caregiver to meet the patient’s immediate needs upon admission and throughout care provision.
- Evaluate own needs for support and identify systems to meet the needs.
- Assume responsibility for reordering patient medications/maintaining inventory of supplies.
- Demonstrate knowledge and awareness of cost containment by economical use of supplies, medications and other resources.
- Ensure patient privacy when providing care and treatment.
- Participate in clinical call as scheduled.
- Ensure compliance with Death Pronouncements as per agency protocol.
- Complete audits of discharged patient charts within 30 days of discharge.
- Participate in the QA/PI process.
- Monitor self, staff and patient safety in care setting.
- Participate in departmental and other meetings as requested.
- Participate in orientation of new staff, volunteers, and training of nursing students as requested.
- Participate in all required in-services.
- Maintain current level of skills and evidence of competency.
- Adhere to all Confidentiality policies and procedures and maintain confidentiality of administrative information.
- Develop and update the POC as necessary
- Act as physician agent when calling in prescriptions for patients by following agency protocols.
- Apply specific criteria for admission and recertification of hospice patients.
- Participate in clinical call as scheduled.
- Assess risks for grief, special cultural or speech needs.
- Keep the team informed of the patient’s condition
- Work hours Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
- Required participation in a rotating on-call schedule to provide after-hours and weekend patient care support.
- Initial and ongoing assessment of the impact of the terminal diagnosis on the patient’s physical, functional, psychosocial and environmental needs and activities of daily living.
- Risk for pathological grief
- Attend IDT meetings as required.
- Verbal and nonverbal communication patterns
- Managing discomfort and providing symptom relief
- Specialized nurse skills related to end of life care
- Consulting with and educating the patient/family regarding: disease process, self-care techniques, end of life care
- Initiating appropriate preventative and rehabilitative nursing procedures
- Determining scope and frequency of services needed based on the acuity of patient/family needs in conjunction with IDT.
- Preparing clinical and progress notes that demonstrate progress toward goal(s)
- Coordinating all patient/family services and prioritization of needs with the members of the IDT
- Use of case management approach and referring to other services as appropriate
- Informing the physician and other personnel of changes in the patient’s needs and outcomes of intervention
- Provide special hospice education and training to staff and family members and informal caregivers to insure adequate care
- Applying specific criteria for admission and recertification to hospice care to establish appropriate levels of care and the patient’s eligibility.
- Communicating information using current process and technology available to the organization
- Completes audits of discharged patient charts within 30 days of discharge as requested.
- Writes orders according to state law
- Other duties as assigned.
LINES OF REPSONSIBILITIES:
(Chain-of-command)
1. Director
Other information:
CUSTOMER SERVICE:
Provide excellent customer service to all DHR customers. All employees are required to attend the DHR C.A.R.E.S program which outlines the Customer Service Principals including: Commitment, Accountability, Respect, Excellence and Service.
AGE SPECIFIC:
Employees must be able to demonstrate the knowledge and skills necessary to provide care appropriate to the age of the patients served in his/her assigned unit. The individual must demonstrate knowledge of principles of growth and development over the life span and possess the ability to assess data reflective of the patient’s status and interpret the appropriate information needed to identify each patient’s requirement relative to his or her age.
AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT: (ADA):
A. Essential Duties: Indicated by bold print within performance standards, preceding individual numbered criteria.
The following table provides physical requirements that will be associated with, but not limited to, this position:
Light/moderate lifting up to 20 lbs., from the floor to shoulder height.
Must be able to assist other employees with lifting more than 20 lbs.
Light/moderate carrying up to 20 lbs.
Dual simultaneous grasping
Operating office equipment
Operating mechanical equipment
Ability to read and write
Ability to hear verbal communication without aid
Operating Personal Vehicle
Ability to comprehend written/verbal communication
Other: Ability to deal with stress
B. Working Conditions: The individual spends over 95% of his/her time in an air-conditioned environment with varying exposures to noise. There is protection from weather conditions but not necessarily from temperature changes. The position does have low exposure to malodorous, infectious body fluids from patients and some minimal exposure to noxious smells from cleansing agents.
C. Occupational Exposure: This position has minimal to no exposure to blood, body fluids, or tissues and is an OSHA Category III (although situations can be imagined or hypothesized under which anyone, anywhere, might encounter potential exposure to body fluids). Person who performs these duties are not called upon as part of their employment to perform or assist in emergency medical care or first aid or to be potentially exposed in some other way.
D. Aptitudes: HIGH 1 2 3 4 5 6 LOW
Intelligence: General learning ability: The ability to “catch on” or understand instructions and underlying principles. Ability to reason and make judgments. 3
Verbal: Ability to understand meanings of words and ideas associated with them, and to use them effectively. To comprehend language, to understand relationships between words, and to understand meanings of whole sentences and paragraphs. To present information or ideas clearly. 3
Numerical: Ability to perform arithmetic operations quickly and accurately. 2
Spatial: Ability to comprehend forms in space and understands relationships of plane and solid objects. Frequently described as the ability to “visualize” objects or two or three dimensions, or to think visually of geometric forms. 2
Form Perception: Ability to perceive pertinent details and objects or in pictorial or graphic material to make visual comparisons and discriminations and see slight differences in shapes and shadings of figures and widths and lengths of lines. 3
Clerical Perception: Ability to receive pertinent details and verbal or tabular material. To observe differences in copy, to proofread words and numbers, and to avoid perceptual errors in arithmetic computation. 2
Motor Coordination: Ability to coordinate eyes and hands to fingers rapidly and accurately in making precise movements with speed. Ability to make a movement response accurately and quickly. 3
Finger Dexterity: Ability to move hands easily and skillfully. To work with fingers in placing and turning motions. 3
Manual Dexterity: Ability to move hands easily and skillfully. To work with hands in placing and turning motions. 3
Eye-Hand-Foot Coordination: Ability to move the hand and foot coordinately with each other in accordance with visual stimuli. 3
Color Discrimination: Ability to perceive and respond to similarities or differences in colors, shapes, or other values of the same or different color. To identify a particular color, or to recognize harmonious or contrasting color combinations, or to match color adequately. 3
I have read and reviewed my job description with my supervisor or designee, and I understand the job I am expected to perform.
If applicable ____________ certification will be completed within _________ time frame of hire/transfer date.
Employee Signature: ________________________________ Date: ____________________
Transfer/Hire Date Effective: ________________________.
