Covenant Health

Certified Nursing Assistant, Float Pool

Full time, 72 hours per pay period, Night Shift

Parkwest Overview:

Headquartered in Knoxville, Covenant Health is a community-owned integrated healthcare delivery system and the area’s largest employer.

Parkwest is Covenant Health’s and West Knoxville’s premier medical facility and a top-performing heart hospital, offering our patients world-class treatment with all the convenience and warmth of home.

In addition to providing the area’s leading cardiac services, Parkwest has been nationally recognized for award-winning care throughout our facility. For 2020-21, Parkwest received recognition from U.S. News & World Report as one of the “Top 10” hospitals in Tennessee.

Knoxville located in East Tennessee is the third largest in the state, well-known for its proximity to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and is the home of the University of Tennessee. Go Vols!  Living in Knoxville means experiencing all four seasons.  Best of all, each of them is pretty mild!

Combine all that with the abundant natural beauty of the surrounding mountains, and you have a city that truly offers something for everyone. Knoxville has a vibrant arts culture, seasonal festivals, top-notch foodie and incredible outdoor recreation. It’s a perfect blend of big-city amenities and Southern charm.

Float Pool:

At Parkwest Medical Center, our nursing Float Pool consist of an amazing team of nurses, patient care assistants and health unit coordinators with a wide skill set that are trained to staff all acute care units and/or specialty units in our hospital.

Acute Care Units include:

            Oncology, Post Surgical

            Orthopedic-Neuro, Bariatric

            Cardiac Specialty

            Cardio-Thoracic Surgical

            Complex Medical Unit

            Acute Renal, Pulmonary    

            Senior Behavioral Health

Specialty Units include:

            Emergency Department

            Critical Care

Our float pool exists to help out every unit throughout our facility during times of ever-changing patient census and staffing needs. We require at least one year of recent RN experience to join our float pool.  As an incentive for the flexible nature of our positions, we offer an additional differential to all float pool employees.

As a staff member in our float pool, you will perform a variety of tasks. Because our staff move from unit to unit, it is important that our staff have a positive patient centered attitude, can be flexible, and take initiative to deliver exceptional care.  In addition to having excellent critical thinking skills, our ideal candidate will also possess outstanding communication and interpersonal skills.

Our float pool department has a supportive environment and orientation is tailored to your needs. We want to grow employees by promoting a culture of excellence and professionalism.

If you are passionate about putting patients first and you think variety is the spice of life, apply for our float pool today!

Position Summary:

Functions as a direct patient caregiver performing tasks to assist registered nurses. Performs hands-on care, assistance with ADL’s and specified technical tasks for a group of patients under the supervision of the Team Leader.

Recruiter: Jason Shubert || jshuber1@covhlth.com || 865-374-5393

• Take and record temperature, pulse, respiration rates, blood pressures, weights, heights, and intake-output measurements.
• Encourage patients to turn, cough, and take deep breaths and to use incentive spirometry as specified by Plan of Care.
• Ambulate, and assist patients in and out of bed, into wheelchairs and transport when necessary.
• Attends to nutritional needs of patient which may include distributing meal trays, feeding, filling and passing out water pitchers,
• Provides morning or evening care, which may include bed bath, oral hygiene, combing hair, back care, dressing patient, changing bed linen, cleaning over-bed table and bedside stand, straightening room, and other supportive care as needed.
• Empty drains, canisters, urine bags, bedpans and emesis basins and record intake and output.
• Assists in maintaining a safe environment, which may include reporting equipment that is out of order, appropriate handling of linen and storing of supplies.
• Provides general care such as positioning, lifting or turning patients; assisting in use of bedpan, urinal or commode; preoperative supportive care; and application/removal of abdominal binders or anti-embolism stockings and sequential compression devices.
• Empty & clean ostomy bag, per procedure.
• Collect urine, stool and sputum specimen as ordered.
• Perform tasks such as ROM, assist with ambulatory devices as specified by the patients' plan of care.
• Perform phlebotomy (requires additional training). To include correct labeling using two patient identifiers, maintenance of lab-draw supplies, rotating and restocking.
• Perform EKG (requires special training).
• Promptly answer patient call lights and respond to patient requests.
• Report significant changes in patients' condition to RN.
• Help to maintain clean and orderly patient and work environment.
• Employ all established infection control policies including standard precautions, transmission-based isolation precautions, OSHA standards, safety measures and proper body mechanics in performance of job.
• Document/maintain patient record as appropriate.
• Gathers equipment for O2 set up. Checks O2 for connection and proper placement.
• Checks for proper functioning of equipment at patient bedside
• Ambulate patients with oxygen.
• Set up suction equipment and check for proper function.
• Demonstrates knowledge and competency in providing for age-specific needs of the population served.
• Demonstrates ability to perform skills on the Nursing Assistant checklist.
• Follows policies, procedures, and safety standards. Completes required education assignments annually. Works toward achieving goals and objectives, and participates in quality improvement initiatives as requested.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Minimum Education:           

None specified; however, must be sufficient to meet the standards for achievement of the below indicated license and/or certification as required by the issuing authority.

Minimum Experience:         

Hospital experience preferred. Medical terminology a plus. Must be able to operate computer and possess excellent interpersonal skills. Must be able to read with comprehension, write legibly, and perform basic arithmetic computation. Must have understanding and knowledge of patient care which may be appropriately delegated to nursing assistants.

Licensure Requirement:         

CNA Licensure from the State of Tennessee is required upon hire.  Out of State hires must have the Tennessee CNA License “in process” as reflected on the state web site upon hire. CPR required.