Address
Form of workJob Description
Summary: The Perianesthesia Registered Nurse (RN) implements quality Perianesthesia nursing care, along with and under the guidance of the anesthesiologist, to the best of his/her ability according to practice policies and procedures. The RN participates on a steady basis in continuing education programs, including but not limited to, mandated programs for the nursing and medical staff as indicated by quality assurance monitoring. The RN will remain current on all required certifications. The main responsibilities of a Perianesthesia nurse are preparing patients for anesthesia, assisting the anesthesiologist as needed and recovering patients in the post anesthesia care.
Requirements:Essential Duties and Responsivities
Duties include but are not limited to:
A. PATIENT CARE Pre-operative assessment and care:
- Verify patient name, DOB, allergy status, and operative procedure.
- Confirm information contained in the pre-operative health history.
- Obtain patient or guardian signature on the assignment consent form, if needed.
- Obtain patient vital signs.
- Per PAA Mobile policy, obtain approved CLIA waived tests as indicated per patient health history, surgical procedure or as ordered by the anesthesiologist (i.e. Blood Glucose monitoring and/or Urine HCG).
- Initiate intravenous line according to PAA Mobile policy and procedure.
- Administer pre-operative medications as ordered by the anesthesiologist.
Intra-operative Care:
- When indicated, escort the patient to the procedure/operating room and assist with the proper positioning of the patient for the procedure.
- Assist the anesthesiologist with the placement of the patient monitors.
- Remain in the procedure/operating room to assist the anesthesiologist as needed during the induction phase of anesthesia.
Post-operative/recovery care:
- Monitor the patient’s vital signs and assess the patient’s airway patency.
- Administer oxygen when indicated as ordered by the anesthesiologist.
- Assess the patient according to the Aldrete Scoring System.
- Assess the patients need for post-operative medications and administer as ordered by the anesthesiologist.
- Assess patient’s level of pain and administer analgesics as ordered by the anesthesiologist.
- Reassess patient’s level of pain prior to discharge.
- Provide post-anesthesia discharge instructions to the patient and their escort.
- Discharge patient when all discharge criteria has been met under the guidance of the anesthesiologist.
- Responsible for maintaining accurate documentation on all medical records.
B. ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITES Pharmacy:
- Communicates and collaborates with the anesthesiologist and/or clients to maintain accurate records of narcotic counts, distribution, and wastes.
- Routinely checks the anesthesia drug box and crash cart for expired medications/supplies.
- Acts to ensure expired medications are returned to the PAA Mobile main office for disposal.
- Checks PAR levels of medications at permanent sites and communicates with the appropriate personnel for restocking.
Supplies:
- Restocks supplies and secures medications upon delivery to permanent sites.
- Communicates with Anesthesia technicians and/or the Clinical Support Managers immediately of any special supply needs or low inventory.
Quality:
- Monitor the patient closely for complications and ensure optimal safety and comfort of patients under anesthesia.
- Participate in quality improvement initiatives within PAA: Mobile.
- Completes appropriate unusual occurrences within Nexus and notifies Clinical Support Manager and/or the Director of Clinical Operations of immediate resolution needs.
Equipment:
- Maintains annual competency for all bedside equipment. Maintains monthly quality controls on the Glucometer.
- Maintains daily crash cart checklists, including checks on the defibrillator.
- Responsible for safe handling of all equipment according to the equipment safety policy and procedure.
- Responsible for assisting anesthesia technicians with cleaning of equipment and/or supplies when indicated.
- Assists the anesthesiologist with setting up and packing up of equipment as needed in the absence of the anesthesia technician.
C. CONTINUING EDUCATION Annual Mandatory In-services:
- Annual practice-wide competency in-services
- HIPAA
- Infection control
- Body mechanics
- Hazardous chemicals
- Safety
- Emergency preparedness drills
Continuing Education Participation Requirements:
- Remains current on BLS, ACLS, and PALS (if applicable) certifications.
- Attends a minimum of half of the scheduled nursing staff meetings annually.
- Attends a minimum of half of the scheduled combined MD/RN staff meetings annually.
D. OFFICE DUTIES
- Provides assistance in the office when scheduled.
- Completes pre-anesthesia assessments if scheduled.
- Other duties as assigned by the Clinical Support Managers and/or the Director of Clinical Operations.
Minimum Qualifications
To perform this job successfully an individual must be able to perform each essential duty to a satisfactory standard. 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: Registered Nurse (RN) with current appropriate state licensure. Graduate from an accredited School of Nursing. Minimum of 2 years’ experience in critical care, ICU, emergency room and/or PACU. Experience caring for both pediatric and adult patients preferred. Possesses the ability to perform basic physical exams and initiate intravenous catheter placement.
License/Certification: Valid driver’s license required. Valid RN State licensure required. Current certifications in Basic Life Support (BLS), Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS-if applicable).
Language Skills: Possesses an excellent command of the English language, medical and scientific terminology. Ability to exercise excellent communication with a variety of staff and clients, display excellent organization, time management and listening skills.
Computer Skills: Computer literate and proficient using electronic medical record systems, and Microsoft Office 365.
Reasoning Ability: Must have nursing knowledge and ability to demonstrate sound judgement while giving direct or indirect patient care. Strong clinical nursing skills to effectively provide high quality nursing care. Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out detailed written or oral instructions. Ability to deal with problems involving a few concrete variables in standardized situations. Ability to manage priorities and be able to adapt to meet the diverse needs of our clients. Ability to demonstrate strong decision making and deploy strong critical and critical thinking skills. Ability to perform assigned duties with attention to detail, speed, accuracy, follow-through, courtesy, cooperativeness and work with a minimum of supervision. Ability to make quick assessments of patients and handle emergency situations appropriately. Strong ability to work collaboratively with others in a team setting. Ability to provide dependable, on-time attendance.
Physical Demands and Work Environment
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by any 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 stand, walk, use hands to finger, handle, or feel, reach with hands and arms, and talk or hear. The employee is occasionally required to stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 40 pounds and be able to work in a sitting position for long periods of time and up to the entire shift. Duties are performed in an indoor setting. The noise level in the work environment is frequently light to moderate. Everyday exposure to contaminants, time pressure and face to face discussions are part of the job.
