Registered Nurse, Home Health

Covenant Health HomeCare and Hospice is seeking a Registered Nurse to provide professional nursing care to terminally ill patients in the home setting. This PRN/OCC position offers variable hours and shifts, and you will work as part of an interdisciplinary team to coordinate comprehensive end-of-life care and support for patients and their families.

Clinical Setting

You will provide care in patients' homes across all counties served by Covenant Hospice. Covenant Health HomeCare and Hospice is the area's largest locally owned home health and hospice provider, with one of the largest rehabilitation departments in East Tennessee. The organization is part of Covenant Health, East Tennessee's largest nonprofit health system.

Responsibilities

• Conduct initial and ongoing assessments of how terminal illness impacts patients' physical, functional, psychosocial, and environmental needs and activities of daily living
• Facilitate a palliative environment in the home that promotes a smooth transition at time of death, considering cultural and spiritual implications and communication patterns
• Implement individualized plans of care with a focus on symptom management and comfort, reducing pain and suffering at end of life
• Provide specialized nursing skills related to palliative and end-of-life care
• Consult with and educate patients and families regarding terminal diagnosis, disease process, self-care techniques, end-of-life care, and ethical concerns
• Initiate preventive and rehabilitative nursing procedures including pressure ulcer prevention, pain crisis prevention, bowel impaction prevention, and care of bed-confined patients
• Prepare clinical and nursing notes reflecting disease progression at end of life
• Coordinate all patient and family services through daily communication and bi-weekly interdisciplinary meetings
• Act as liaison between provider and patient/family, communicating orders and informing providers of changes in patient needs
• Determine scope and frequency of services based on acuity and patient/family needs; update plans of care and adjust visit frequency as needed
• Develop and oversee individualized home health aide plans of care
• Supervise LPNs and hospice/home health aides; assist in orienting new employees
• Provide specialized hospice training to staff, family members, and informal caregivers
• Perform ongoing evaluation of patient and family response to education and care provided
• Assess caregiver ability to meet patient needs upon admission and throughout care; advocate for respite care as needed
• Maintain working knowledge of Medicare guidelines and perform in compliance with such guidelines
• Follow appropriate admission, discharge, on-call, and death procedures
• Perform basic infection control techniques including proper hand-washing, glove usage, handling of body fluids and contaminated materials, and equipment cleaning
• Preplan appropriately and schedule visits with patients and caregivers
• Demonstrate knowledge and competency in providing age-specific, culture-specific, and religious-specific care
• Demonstrate ability to perform skills on annual skills checklist
• Complete required education assignments annually and participate in quality improvement initiatives
• Perform other duties as assigned

Schedule

• PRN/OCC with variable hours and shifts
• Required travel to all counties served by Covenant Hospice

Required Qualifications

• Graduation from an accredited school of nursing
• One year of professional experience in hospital or prior home health experience
• Active State of Tennessee RN license
• Current CPR certification
• Valid Tennessee Class D driver's license
• State mandated minimum insurance coverage
• Driving record must meet Covenant Health minimum standards at hire and throughout employment

Benefits

Covenant Health offers a comprehensive benefits package including tuition reimbursement, student loan assistance, certification bonuses, and leadership development programs. The organization is recognized as a Becker's "Top 150 Places to Work in Healthcare."