About This Role
This role involves supervising individual patient care on a nursing unit or department, specifically focusing on cardiac patients. The Cardiac Nurse assesses, plans, implements, evaluates, and supervises patient care according to unit policies and procedures, providing supervision to non-RN personnel.
Responsibilities
- Assess the patient's physical and psychosocial condition on an ongoing basis throughout the continuum of care
- Develop, communicate, and document a plan of care reflecting individualized patient problems and interventions to achieve desired outcomes, involving the patient, family, and healthcare team in this process
- Implement and coordinate this plan of care in collaboration with the healthcare team
- Evaluate the effectiveness of the plan of care, patient's response to care, and readiness for discharge from in-patient and out-patient programs
- Revise the plan of care as needed and make referrals where indicated
- Plan for education after assessing the individual learning needs and readiness of the patient and family
- Provide educational opportunities and document outcomes
- Function as a preceptor to new staff
- Meet performance expectations for customer service, teamwork, resource utilization, and staff and self-development as outlined in performance review
- Perform other duties as assigned or directed to ensure smooth operation of the department/unit
- Initiate patient/family health education as related to CAD risk reduction/prevention
- Recognize the need for/initiate a multidisciplinary approach in meeting the scope of the patient's needs
- Conduct outpatient and community presentations on cardio-pulmonary health
- Knowledge of arrhythmia detection/intervention and basic 12 lead ECG interpretation
- Demonstrate ability to conduct and interpret both regular and nuclear ESTs and tilt table studies
- Demonstrate critical thinking skill and self-direction in the management of complications associated with exercise or cardiac emergencies in stress testing
- Initiate/modify plan of care/exercise prescription based upon appropriate understanding of hemodynamic response to exercise
- Participate in transition of care role to include documentation, appropriate intervention, post-PCI follow-up calls
- Cross-train to perform TEE and some radiology medication procedures as trained, including moderate sedation
- Knowledge/skill in the operation of all stress and tilt equipment
- Perform quality improvement activities related to primary area of duties and assist with maintaining statistics
- Maintain inventory in Cardiology Stress areas
- Provide appropriate documentation with authorization for services as needed to assure reimbursement and limit non-payment of services rendered
