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 Registered Nurse at Hackensack Meridian Health involves the delivery of nursing practices according to the most up-to-date evidence-based research, nursing policies, and standards of care, to provide and ensure safe and excellent delivery of individualized patient care. A day in the life of a Registered Nurse includes: Assessment, Planning, Implementation and Evaluation
Assessment

• 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.

Plan

• 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.

Implementation

• 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.

Evaluation

• 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.

Additional Responsibilities

• Identifies ethical issues in the practice setting and brings them to the attention of other team members.
• Recognizes and responds to opportunities to enhance patient satisfaction.
• Must acquire and maintain competencies, certifications and continuing education in order to meet any facility accreditation or individual licensing requirements.
• Adheres to American Nurses Association Code for Nurses with Interpretive Statements.
• Lifts a minimum of 35 lbs., pushes and pulls a minimum of 10 lbs. and stands a minimum of 6 hours a day.
• Adheres to HMH's Organizational and Managerial competencies and standards of behavior.