Education
Associates degree Nursing Required
Bachelor’s degree Nursing Required
Additional education requirements
Graduate from an accredited school of nursing
Certification & Licensures
RN License TN or Compact Required
BLS Required
ACLS Required
Additional Certification & Licensure details
Certified Post Anesthesia Nurse (CPAN) Preferred
Certified Ambulatory Perianesthesia Nurse (CAPA) Preferred
Experience
1 year Critical Care Preferred
1 year Acute Care Required
Additional experience requirements
One year of experience in an acute care area is preferred, will consider new graduate RNs or those RNs without preferred experience. Must be able to demonstrate knowledge of human growth and development and Anatomy/ physiology. Demonstrate ability to perform and the ability to operate technical equipment as acquired through orientation.
Job Duties
Professional Responsibility & Competency
- Accepts responsibility and accountability for the care provided, nursing practice, and for maintaining compliance with regulatory and professional agencies.
- Recognizes the importance of achieving the highest standards of nursing practice and maintains the highest standards of care
Understands that Preanesthesia, Phase I, Phase II, and Extended Care are distinct phases of care & not locations. - Integrates knowledge, attitudes, skills, and behaviors to maintain consistent standards of care.
- Provides appropriate standard of care regardless of physical setting (e.g., outpatient, inpatient, emergency department, endoscopy, obstetrics)
- Collaborates with healthcare team as needed to ensure optimal care
- Maintains accurate, objective patient records
- Safeguards confidentiality of verbal, written, and electronic patient information
- Acts as a mentor/preceptor
- Demonstrates stewardship through fair and responsible management of all resources
- Maintains an awareness of changing perianesthesia practice issues
- Engages in activities that promote care of self
- Recognizes a need for work life integration
- Participates in activities that contribute to ongoing professional development
- Follows policies, procedures, and laws to protect the patient from incompetent, unethical, or illegal practice
Maintains boundaries of professionalism
- Maintains personal accountability for professional competency
- Participates in continuing professional development
- Adheres to ASPAN’s standards of perianesthesia nursing practice
- Complies with facility policies and procedures regarding competence and education
- Participates in performance improvement activities
- Participates in periodic performance reviews as defined by the facility
- Remains current on new products, equipment, and procedures affecting practice
- Incorporates applicable research and evidence into practice
Responsibility to Patients
- Provides care to each patient while preserving human dignity, autonomy, confidentiality, protecting patient rights, and supporting the well-being of the patient and maintains patient confidentiality, dignity, and privacy
- Practices with compassion and respect
- Provides quality care to all patients regardless of race, ethnicity, cultural heritage, religion, biologic gender, gender identification, sexual orientation, age, abilities, socioeconomic status, beliefs, and care decisions
- Ensures patient safety throughout the continuum of perianesthesia care
- Introduces self, addresses patient per patient preference
- Explains procedures before initiating care using appropriate terminology (e.g., age, literacy, educational background, preferred language, learning style)
- Participates in perianesthesia patient teaching
- Answers questions honestly and accurately
- Utilizes communication aids (e.g., charts, hearing aids, voice boxes, language interpreters) as needed
- Communicates pertinent information during handoff/handover as the patient transitions through the continuum of perianesthesia care
- Collaborates with the healthcare team to support the patient’s choices for care, including advance directives
- Advocates for spiritual comfort
- Advocates for patient welfare
- Delegates tasks appropriately to promote optimal patient care
- Provides multimodal pain management to include pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic methods
- Includes the patient’s family in the plan of care as desired by patient
- Adheres to facility policy regarding social media and use of electronic devices
Assessment and Management for the Perianesthesia Patient
The perianesthesia registered nurse applies the nursing process to each patient.
Assessment
- Patients requiring anesthesia/sedation will have an assessment in advance of the surgery/procedure.
- Assesses and collects data to provide a clinical basis for the development of an individualized plan of care across the perianesthesia continuum.
- Patient assessment includes phase-specific components in accordance with unit guidelines
- Specific admission and discharge protocols and guidelines are utilized for patient care.
- Components and frequency of nursing assessments are in accordance with unit guidelines to assure systematic and pertinent collection of data.
- Assessment data are documented and are available to all appropriate members of the healthcare team.
Planning and Implementation
- The perianesthesia nurse collaborates with the patient, family, designee and/or other members of the healthcare team to develop an individualized plan of care.
- The plan of care may include, but is not limited to:
- Clinical protocols & practice guidelines
- Physician orders
- Standards of care
- Clinical pathways
- The perianesthesia registered nurse prioritizes the plan of care.
- The plan of care reflects the nursing process.
- Ongoing patient management shall include phase-specific components in accordance with unit guidelines
- Documentation reflects the following as appropriate:
- Assessments
- Interventions based on guidelines and plan of care
- Response to interventions
- Consultation and/or collaboration with patient and families
- Consultation and/or collaboration with members of the healthcare team
- Revision of the plan of care
- Transfers of care
- Evaluation
- Evaluations shall include phase-specific components in accordance with unit guidelines
- The perianesthesia registered nurse consults and/or collaborates with the patient and families, members of the healthcare team, and/or other stakeholders when evaluating the effectiveness of interventions.
- Documentation reflects the following as appropriate:
- Use of unit/departmental guidelines to evaluate and revise the plan of care
- Consultation and/or collaboration
- Use of unit/departmental guidelines for patient transfer/discharge from each phase of the perianesthesia continuum
Unit/ Division Responsibilities
Collegiality
- Actively participates as a member of an interprofessional healthcare team providing care to patients.
- Maintains a respectful, civil, and cooperative workplace environment.
- Engages in interprofessional collaboration to improve patient outcomes
- Demonstrates and promotes cultural sensitivity
Clinical Inquiry/ Evidenced-based Practice
Participates in and/or conducts clinical inquiry projects to improve practice and education.
- Identifies problems to be considered for clinical inquiry and obtains approvals per facility guidelines
- Protects the rights of all participants and confidentiality throughout the clinical inquiry process
- Uses best available evidence to change and support clinical practice
- Promotes the dissemination of findings
Culture of Safety
- Recognizes the complexities of caring for patients in a dynamic healthcare environment and strives thru behaviors to create and maintain a culture of safety as a priority.
- Fulfills responsibilities to unit/ division according to unit/ division scope of service, policies and procedures, guidelines, and participates in attaining department goals
- Noise and distractions that are not related to patient care are minimized.
- Promotes and maintains a safe, comfortable, and therapeutic environment for patients, families, and healthcare personnel.
- Adheres to and actively participates in facility/division/unit’s policies, procedures, plans and guidelines for safety including protecting patients’ privacy and personal health information, loss of utilities, downtime procedures, infection prevention, infection control, blood borne pathogens, safe sharp practices, internal/external disasters, security measures, hazardous materials handling and disposal, latex sensitivities, fire safety and prevention, evacuation plan
- Follows facility/unit guidelines on safe patient handling and use of equipment and follows safety data sheets and manufacturer IFU's for products in use.
- Maintains an awareness of and acts on clinical alarms and understands the risks associated with non-functioning clinical alarms or with personnel failing to hear or act on alarms and takes personal responsibility in helping correct.
- Ensures that Routine and emergency supplies and equipment are available and replenished to meet the needs of patients and healthcare team members in all perianesthesia phases.
- Follows unit procedure and ASPAN guidelines to ensure safe transition of patient care.
- Follows unit/ division staffing guidelines and staffing patterns and on-call requirements to help ensure safe, quality nursing care.
Equipment, Supplies and Area Maintenance
- Properly maintains supplies, equipment, and stock according to unit/division guidelines and manufacturer IFU’s
- Follows unit/division guidelines for Bay turnover, cleaning processes, startup & shut down procedures
- Regularly performs expired inventory checks and rotates supplies to prevent expiration of inventory per unit guidelines
- Performs daily QA checks on equipment
- Monitors equipment for up-to-date PM's and notifies Biomed/Facilities if deficiencies found
- Monitors inventory levels and notifies appropriate personnel of shortages or identified issues.
- Restocks unit areas with needed supplies as needed and at end of shift
- Keeps abreast of new equipment and accepts personal responsibility for knowledge & competency.
Nashville General Hospital is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Disability/Veteran.
