Job Abstract

The Registered Nurse demonstrates proficiency by exhibiting the following skills, competencies, and behaviors:

Leadership:

• Upholds Kaiser Permanentes Policies and Procedures, Principles of Responsibilities, and applicable state, federal and local laws.


• Serves as a leader of the health care team; delegates tasks appropriately, and demonstrates appropriate accountability.


• Understands own and team members scope of practice and escalates issues as appropriate.


• Demonstrates professional, supportive behavior.


• Champions new ideas.


• Leads and directs others through the change process.


• Utilizes communication strategies including chain of command and issue escalation, which result in intended outcomes.


• Participates in problem identification and resolution.


• Mentors, orients, and coaches others in unit specific operations and patient care activities


• Shares responsibility and authority with subordinates and holds him/her accountable for performance.


• Demonstrates ability to problem solve with other departments in order to assist member problem resolution.


• Prioritizes, delegates, and supervises work assignments appropriately to ensure completion of patient care activities.


• Complies with regulatory requirements, policies, procedures, and standards of practice.

Nursing Process:

• Develops and/or contributes to the individualized plan of care that reflects assessment, planning, implementing, and evaluating the outcomes of that plan.


• Ensures plan shows multidisciplinary planning, consultation, and education.


• Ensures plan is reflective of admission or outpatient database, on-going findings, age appropriate care, cultural specific needs, and appropriate acuity.


• Ensures plan is discussed with patient, family/significant others, and completed in a timely manner.


• Monitors the patients progress based on the plan.


• Revises plan on ongoing basis based on patient condition and evaluation of progress.


• Ensures care meets standards of practice.


• Ensures effective development and completion of discharge plan including discharge barriers and patient/family education.  Ensures that patient clearly understands discharge instructions. In outpatient, identify barriers and needs for patient/family education that will facilitate the outpatient medical management plan.


• Ensures patient safety related but not limited to, medications and procedures utilizing the five rights; patient falls; decubitus prevention and prevention of nosocomial infections.


• Ensures optimal pain control and patient comfort; identifies and discusses patient anxieties, fears or concerns regarding patient condition, treatment or discharge.


• Ensures that patient understands medication purpose, side effects, and administration instructions in the hospital as well as at the time of discharge.

Documentation:

• Charting is accurate, legible, dated, and timed.


• Documentation reflects nursing process and interventions and evaluations taken.  


• Utilizes computer systems effectively and efficiently for optimal patient care.

Clinical Outcomes:

• Discusses patient findings and progress toward outcomes with physicians and other members of the health care team.


• Demonstrates competencies during the probationary period and ongoing completion by departmental competency validation.


• Make comprehensive nursing decisions based on interpretation of data, assessments, and evaluations of patient outcomes.


• Participates in departmental performance improvement activities, i.e., planning, measuring/monitoring, assessing, and improving.

Workplace Safety:

• Adherence to LMP Workplace Safety principles and practices.


• Applies standard precautions; maintains a safe environment for self and others

Patient Care Experience:

• Practices customer service standards as defined by the Service Area, Medical Center, and specified department.


• Promptly answers call lights, alarms, and patient requests.


• Makes appropriate referrals and facilitates the customers ability to utilize resources.


• Maintains and protects patient confidentiality


• Ensures clean, orderly, and functional work environment.


• Treats all families of patients with courtesy, respect, kindness and compassion.


• Provides an optimal patient care experience by actively listening to the needs of patients and family members and taking responsibility for meeting those identified needs.


• Gives patients information in a way they can understand and ensures comprehension.


• Provides a patient care experience that exceeds members expectations.

Team Commitment:

• Viewed by others to be an effective team member who is flexible, cooperative, and willing to assist others.


• Confronts difficult or conflict situations constructively and seeks appropriate assistance.


• Takes accountability for own actions and accepts constructive criticism.


• Acts as a resource, preceptor, and mentor to new employees, registry, students, and other team members.


• Attends all mandatory meetings, in-services and staff meetings as required, actively participates in other departmental professional development. (Requirement may vary for per diem staff).


• Participates with the assessment of current and future unit learning needs and development of an annual education plan.


• Keeps self informed of activities on the unit and makes recommendations for change.


• Adheres to Attendance Program.  Reports to assigned area promptly, being present and available for report at beginning of assigned shift.


• Supports a collaborative Labor-Management Partnership environment through unit based teams.

Fiscal Responsibility

• Organizes work to minimize the use of overtime.


• Identifies and assists in systems improvement that needs simplification or correction.


• Utilizes payroll and non-payroll resources to their maximum potential.