Certified Nursing Assistant / Health Unit Secretary, Day Shift

The Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) / Health Unit Secretary (HUS) serves a dual-purpose role, providing hands-on patient care and essential administrative support to ensure the smooth operation of North Valley Hospital District’s Acute Care and Emergency Departments. This position is integral to delivering compassionate, high-quality care while maintaining accurate communication and documentation to support patient-centered outcomes.

Patient Care:

• Assist patients with activities of daily living, including feeding, dressing, grooming, bathing, toileting, incontinent care, positioning, and ambulation.
• Take and record vital signs and weights, and monitor intake and output.
• Recognize and report changes in patient status to the nurse promptly.
• Transport patients to treatment areas or appointments using wheelchairs, stretchers, or by assisting with ambulation.
• Assist with patient admissions, discharges, and transfers, including preparation of patient records within the EMR or other forms.
• Perform frequent patient checks, ensuring safety and comfort and addressing patient needs.
• Use mechanical lifts and other assistive devices as needed for patient transfers.

Administrative Support:

• Enter patient-related data into the EMR system and notify staff as required.
• Answer telephone calls and patient call lights promptly and professionally.
• Coordinate patient flow by scheduling tests, appointments, and transfers.
• Ensure proper handling and restocking of supplies, including utensils and medical equipment.

Safety and Compliance:

• Follow all facility policies and procedures.
• Demonstrate an understanding of patient abuse and neglect regulations and patient incident reporting protocols.
• Support emergency operations by assisting with communication and placing necessary calls during disasters or fires.
• Maintain cleanliness and perform assigned cleaning duties, including patient furniture, wheelchairs, commodes, and rooms.

Collaboration and Training:

• Assist licensed and paramedical staff with procedures as directed.
• Participate in the training and orientation of new staff, including new CNAs.
• Attend and actively participate in nursing meetings, in-service training (minimum of 12 hours annually), and quality assurance programs.
• Collaborate with team members on quality improvement initiatives and follow up on reported incidents, complaints, or concerns.

Patient Advocacy and Support:

• Treat all patients with dignity, respect, and compassion.
• Provide emotional support to patients and families, addressing their needs and concerns.
• Ensure care plans are adjusted based on incident investigations, safety assessments, and feedback.
• Follow up with appropriate staff, patients, or other individuals to resolve issues effectively.

Other Duties:

• Perform other duties as assigned, ensuring compliance with skills, abilities, and qualifications.
• Participate in staff meetings, committees, and assigned projects.

Organization’s expectations of Employee:

• Represents North Valley Hospital and facilities positively and professionally by exemplifying the vision, mission, values, and goals of North Valley Hospital.
• Maintains attendance by working the hours of the position.  Follows policies and procedures regarding attendance, vacation, holidays, sick leave, and leaves of absence.
• Uses the timekeeping applications efficiently and accurately.
• Adheres to dress code; appearance is neat and clean; wears name badge while on duty.
• Uses good customer service skills by relating to staff/healthcare providers, patients/residents, customers, and the general public courteously and diplomatically under all circumstances.
• Compliance with all organizational policies and procedures.
• Participate in CQI/QAPI activities, NVHD Performance Improvement Initiatives, and Disaster Preparedness education/exercises, and complete duties as assigned in case of emergencies/ICS stand-up.
• Completes mandatory training timely.
• Demonstrates the ability to make decisions, take appropriate action, and follow tasks through to completion.
• Effectively collaborates with peers and team members, using tactful, diplomatic communication techniques in potentially sensitive or emotionally charged situations.
• Demonstrates leadership responsibility and skills, including planning and completing duties with minimal directions from the supervisor when appropriate.
• Performs other duties as assigned, provided skills, abilities, and qualifications are appropriate and sufficient training is provided.

Physical Demands: The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here represent those that an employee must meet to perform the essential functions of this job successfully.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

• Physical demands:  While performing duties of the job, the employee is frequently required to stand, walk, sit, use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls; reach with hands and arms; must have speech, vision, smell, touch and hearing corrected to normal range.  The employee must frequently lift/push/pull up to 25 pounds and up to 50 pounds occasionally.  Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.
• Mental requirements:  Must be able to apply common sense to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagrammatic form; must be able to add, subtract, multiply, and divide all units of measure; must be able to read, write, and speak clearly.
• Work environment:  Works inside in close working quarters with co-workers. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.
• Exposures:  Muscular strain, body fluids, behavior of clients/patients/residents, infectious material, chemicals/cleaning solutions, potential allergens such as plants/flowers, and noxious odors.