The Registered Nurse functions as a caregiver for a specific patient population in order to achieve desired outcomes. This position focuses on expanding knowledge and skills, provides effective direct care as part of the interdisciplinary team to a variety of complex patients. This position directs and oversees the care provided by other caregivers through delegation, validation, evaluation, and coordination. This position effectively coordinates patient care/unit activities among nursing peers, physicians and support services.
A day in the life of a Registered Nurse at at Hackensack Meridian Health includes:
- Collects comprehensive data pertinent to the patient's health or the situation.
- Performs age and disease specific assessment / data collection independently in a systematic manner focusing on physiologic, psychological and cognitive status.
- Recognizes clinical and diagnostic status changes in patient status.
- Identifies variables in patient/family education needs based on age, disease, and culturally specific learning differences.
- Develops a plan of care that prescribes strategies and interventions to attain expected outcomes.
- Formulates age and disease specific patient / family centered goals / outcomes based on assessment data.
- Develops and coordinates a plan of care which is patient / family focused, prioritized and encompasses the continuum of care.
- Communicates, coordinates, and implements the plan of care.
- Provides ongoing communication with patient / family, nursing colleagues and other members of the health care team regarding patient's status, rendered care and treatment plans.
- Implements age and disease specific care in an organized and timely manner.
- Provides or coordinates the patient / family education as needed and ensures understanding.
- Performs according to established protocols in clinical situations, including communicating with appropriate persons and documenting events.
- Provides nursing care and treatments that reflect the patients' needs, advocates appropriately and demonstrates evidence-based nursing practice and compliance with standards.
- Performs continuous Point-of-Care electronic documentation of each individual patient's assessments, plan-of-care, interventions and evaluation of rendered care.
- Medication administration utilizing the newest advancements in bar-scanning and documentation technologies designed to ensure the safest delivery of medications to our patients.
- Multi-disciplinary discharging of patients to ensure safe transitioning and continuum of care.
- Evaluates progress toward attainment of outcomes.
- Utilizes critical thinking skills based on nursing knowledge to achieve desired patient outcomes.
- Initiates interventions related to patient's change in condition and unexpected response to care.