"Acute Care Nurse"

Job Description - Part 1 - Duties and Tasks

 

Job Duties and Tasks for: "Acute Care Nurse"

1) Provide formal and informal education to other staff members.

2) Coordinate billing activities with supervising physicians.

 

3) Participate in the development of practice protocols.

4) Perform administrative duties that facilitate admission, transfer, or discharge of patients.

5) Participate in patients' care meetings and conferences.

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6) Refer patients for specialty consultations or treatments.

7) Assist patients in organizing their health care system activities.

8) Assess the needs of patients' family members or caregivers.

9) Analyze the indications, contraindications, risk complications, and cost-benefit tradeoffs of therapeutic interventions.

10) Diagnose acute or chronic conditions that could result in rapid physiological deterioration or life-threatening instability.

11) Distinguish between normal and abnormal developmental and age-related physiological and behavioral changes in acute, critical, and chronic illness.

 

12) Manage patients' pain relief and sedation by providing pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic interventions, monitoring patients' responses, and changing care plans accordingly.

13) Interpret information obtained from electrocardiograms (EKGs) or radiographs (x-rays).

14) Perform emergency medical procedures, such as basic cardiac life support (BLS), advanced cardiac life support (ACLS), and other condition stabilizing interventions.

 

15) Assess urgent and emergent health conditions using both physiologically and technologically derived data.

16) Adjust settings on patients' assistive devices such as temporary pacemakers.

17) Assess the impact of illnesses or injuries on patients' health, function, growth, development, nutrition, sleep, rest, quality of life, or family, social and educational relationships.

18) Discuss illnesses and treatments with patients and family members.

19) Treat wounds or superficial lacerations.

20) Obtain specimens or samples for laboratory work.

21) Collaborate with members of multidisciplinary health care teams to plan, manage, or assess patient treatments.

22) Document data related to patients' care including assessment results, interventions, medications, patient responses, or treatment changes.

23) Set up, operate, or monitor invasive equipment and devices such as colostomy or tracheotomy equipment, mechanical ventilators, catheters, gastrointestinal tubes, and central lines.

24) Order, perform, or interpret the results of diagnostic tests and screening procedures based on assessment results, differential diagnoses, and knowledge about age, gender and health status of clients.

25) Prescribe medications and observe patients' reactions, modifying prescriptions as needed.

26) Administer blood and blood product transfusions or intravenous infusions, monitoring patients for adverse reactions.

27) Collaborate with patients to plan for future health care needs or to coordinate transitions and referrals.

28) Read current literature, talk with colleagues, and participate in professional organizations or conferences to keep abreast of developments in acute care.

Job Description for "Acute Care Nurse" continued here...

Part 1
Duties / Tasks Part 2
Activities Part 3
Skills Part 4
Abilities Part 5
Knowledge

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