Job Description
Job Description
Position Overview
The Registered Nurse I is responsible for assessing, planning, implementing, and evaluating direct nursing care for high-acuity patients requiring continuous monitoring and specialized interventions. Utilizing the nursing process and evidence-based clinical pathways, the RN collaborates with an interdisciplinary healthcare team to manage complex medical conditions, support functional recovery, and deliver safe, patient-centered care.
Key Responsibilities
- Clinical Care & Assessment: Deliver comprehensive nursing care utilizing the nursing process, continuously assessing physical, psychosocial, age-specific, and cultural needs of high-acuity patients.
- Complex Patient Management: Monitor vital signs, cardiac rhythms, and clinical status; identify early signs of deterioration and intervene promptly using advanced disease management processes and clinical pathways.
- Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Partner closely with physicians, advanced practice providers, allied health specialists, and multidisciplinary care teams to execute and refine individualized care plans.
- Discharge & Care Transitions: Facilitate efficient patient discharge planning through timely referrals, multidisciplinary coordination, and tailored patient/family education.
- Documentation & Quality: Maintain timely, accurate, and detailed electronic health record (EHR) documentation using standardized medical terminology.
- Quality Improvement & Safety: Active participant in Performance Improvement (PI) initiatives, unit educational standards, incident/variance reporting, and evidence-based practice updates.
- Clinical Judgment: Exercise independent clinical judgment to prioritize multi-patient care delivery and resolve complex technical/clinical challenges in a fast-paced environment.
Required Qualifications & Experience
- Clinical Experience: Minimum of 12 months (1 year) of direct bedside nursing experience in a PCU, Stepdown, or ICU high-acuity/critical care environment. (Note: Standalone ER experience does not satisfy this requirement).
- Education: Graduate of an accredited nursing program with an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) or Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) required (BSN preferred).
- Licensure: Active, unencumbered State Registered Nurse (RN) License or valid Multistate Compact RN License.
- Certifications: Current Basic Life Support (BLS) certification required upon hire (ACLS preferred).
Key Competencies
- Proven working knowledge of bio-psychosocial health models, general disease state management, and intermediate care clinical pathways.
- Exceptional oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills for patient education and interdisciplinary handoffs.
- Strong organizational, multi-patient prioritization, and time-management capabilities.
- High attention to detail with demonstrated accuracy in analyzing clinical data, telemetry/rhythm strips, and numerical lab values.