Covenant Health

Patient Care Assistant, Step-down Unit

Full Time, 72 Hours per pay period, Night shift

Parkwest Overview:

Parkwest is West Knoxville’s premier medical facility and a top-performing heart hospital. In addition to providing the area’s leading cardiac services, Parkwest has been nationally recognized for award-winning care throughout our facility. Annually Parkwest is recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of Tennessee's “Top 10” hospitals.

2 Montvue, Step-down Unit:

2 Montvue is Parkwest’s Medical Step-Down Unit that serves patients requiring step-down status due to higher acuity conditions and the need for increased monitoring.  Patient diagnoses include respiratory failure, sepsis, gastrointestinal bleed, arrhythmias, hypertensive urgency, electrolyte imbalance, NSTEMI, pulmonary embolus, altered mental status, seizures, substance withdrawal, and strokes and other diagnosis requiring increased care.

The Step-down Unit accepts patients on a variety of intravenous drips that require titrations and frequent monitoring of vital signs, as well as tracheostomy ventilator patients. The unit provides patients with nursing care, medical monitoring, and an array of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Bed side report and daily rounding with a multidisciplinary team allow for excellent patient care.

You will find an energetic team made up of Registered Nurses, Patient Care Assistants and Health Unit Coordinators who are team oriented, morale boosters and have been deemed by students as “The most welcoming unit”.   The Medical Step-down unit uses a modified six-week self-scheduling model with an every other weekend requirement.

If you are looking for a higher acuity unit, love working in a fun team environment, 2 Montvue, Medical Step-down is the place for you!

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; will accept any combination of formal education and/or prior work experience sufficient to demonstrate possession of the knowledge, skill and ability needed to perform the essential tasks of the job, typically such as would be equivalent to a high school diploma or GED. Preference may be given to individuals possessing a HS diploma or GED.

Minimum Experience:         

None.

Licensure Requirement:      

CPR required