Patient Care Assistant - Surgical IMU - Nights

About the position

At Houston Methodist, the Patient Care Assistant (PCA) position is responsible for functioning as novice to competent and demonstrates basic knowledge and skills necessary to communicate appropriately and carry out delegated nursing assistant level tasks for assigned age-specific, diverse patient population, assisting in the delivery of patient care and services under the supervision of a licensed nurse. This position conducts hourly rounding to ensure patient needs are met and records data established by policy and procedure, and reports observations and patient problems to the licensed nurse. The PCA position performs basic patient care activities of daily living (ADL's) within unit-specific defined limits and job scope, such as assistance with patient elimination, hygiene, comfort, safety, nutrition, and progress activity and practices Patient and Family Centered Care in concert with Houston Methodist ICARE values.

Responsibilities

• Promotes a positive work environment with the interprofessional care team.
• Participates in teamwork by responding positively to requests for assistance.
• Works well with others to make contributions to the work effort as a whole and facilitates problem resolution.
• Interacts with peers, staff, and physicians in a supportive and respectful manner.
• Encourages open communication to achieve mutual understanding.
• Collaborates with all members of the interprofessional team by actively communicating and reporting pertinent patient care information in a clear and timely manner.
• Conducts self in a manner that is congruent with cultural diversity, equity, and inclusion principles.
• Provides contributions towards improvement of department scores for employee engagement.
• Follows the patient and family-centered care standards and provides direct patient care under the direction of a registered nurse.
• Documents care administered, diagnostic measurements, treatments, and procedures in accordance with established policies and procedures.
• Responds to the call light system, contacting nursing personnel as appropriate, and follows through with meeting patient needs.
• Assists with maintaining, cleaning, and stocking of equipment and supplies as established on assigned unit.
• May serve as an in-house courier which may include retrieving blood, hand delivering labs, tele boxes, etc.
• Organizes the workflow, problem-solves basic and routine matters, and manages multiple ongoing priorities.
• Reports observations, conditions and problems of patients to licensed personnel to achieve desired patient outcomes.
• Provides for the privacy of patients and families, keeping the safety of the patient in mind.
• Conducts hourly rounding to ensure patient needs are met.
• Reports near misses and collaborates with the interprofessional health care team to improve patient safety.
• Assists with patient and staffing needs across the service line or hospital as competencies allow.
• Utilizes resources with cost effectiveness and value creation in mind.
• Offers innovative solutions in performance improvement projects and shared governance activities.
• Seeks opportunities to identify self-development needs on knowledge base, skill level and decision-making.

Requirements

• High School diploma or equivalent education.
• Must complete one of the following: PCA externship, PCA internal internship, Six months of direct patient care experience, or Enrolled in a school of nursing program with a completed first clinical rotation.
• BLS - Basic Life Support (AHA) AND CNA - Certified Nursing Assistant - State Licensure for Skilled Nursing Facility(SNF)/Rehab departments only.
• Demonstrates the skills and competencies necessary to safely perform the assigned job.
• Sufficient proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing the English language.
• Ability to effectively communicate with patients, physicians, family members and co-workers.