Licensed Vocational Nurse, -PRN- Days-Patient Intake Center

Bed coordinator tracks, performs and enforces all activities which involve the placement and movement of patients and helps to monitor efficient transfers and discharges. This includes following up on ER patients admitted to the hospital and patients which have been discharged by the doctor. The Coordinator helps to expedite floor discharges and facilitates admissions from ER or direct admissions.

The coordinator will need to learn the bed board position to provide weekend coverage. The bed board position assigns patients to beds based on care requirements and for maximizing the use of hospital bed resources appropriate for care. This position works collaboratively and closely with the House Supervisor and Nursing Directors.

Discretion and effective decision making is required within the scope of the position's responsibilities. Bed Board staff will work closely with the Emergency Room, Nursing, Case Management and Environmental Services in regard to utilization management and review of beds. Bed board will communicate anticipated staffing needs to nursing based on hospital census.

The position will perform any reasonable request, assigned duty and other special projects assigned. POSITION EDUCATION/ QUALIFICATIONS­ : High School Diploma/GED Graduate of an accredited school for vocational nursing Licensed as an LVN with the state of Texas Bilingual-English/Spanish Knowledge of medical terminology, diseases, and hospital operations.

• Employs a high degree of skill in all oral and written communications and personal interactions.
• Establishes good rapport and cooperative working relationships with personnel in the organization. Maintain positive, collaborative interactions with physicians, department directors, and staff members to determine the needs of the facility
• Follows up in the Emergency Room on admitted patients to ensure they are moved swiftly onto the floors.
• Helps in expediting discharges through communication, follow up and having a hands on approach. This position is a highly visible position which entails being on the floor / ER most of the day.
• Assigns hospital beds based on bed availability balancing with direct admits, hospital procedures and Emergency Room admissions.
• Monitors bed board of patients and notifies supervisor and nursing staff of changes in bed status at the start of the shift and throughout the day. Communicates with nursing staff during increasing or decreasing periods of patient activity.
• Frequent communication with staff to audit bed occupancy. Provides bed occupancy updates to administration via email.
• Transfers patients in-house as needed, ensuring that critical transfers are given priority and while following hospital procedure.
• Works with EVS for rooms cleans of all hospital beds and notifies housekeeping supervisor of delays. Consistently monitors Bed Ready in conjunction with EVS to efficiently place patients in beds.
• Tactfully handles difficult situations. Calls are handled professionally and consistently with courtesy. Accepts telephone calls and routes calls appropriately.
• Demonstrates knowledge of patient-to-nurse ratios on units based on the established unit specific staffing criteria.
• Informs the house supervisor or administration of any anticipated and/or actual issues/ problems.
• Anticipates potential problems situations and intervenes to offset any adverse impact.
• Maintains a calm, rational, professional demeanor when dealing with others, even in situations involving conflict or crisis. Performs well under pressure.
• Maintains absolute adherence to hospital and departmental policies and practices regarding confidentiality and patients’ rights.
• Consistently is attentive to detail, record-keeping and required paperwork inherent to the position.
• Participates in performance improvement activities, including data collection and evaluation criteria.
• Performs any other reasonable duties assigned in a competent, professional and courteous manner. Other information: JOB KNOWLEDGE/EXPERIENCE­ : Prefer two year recent experience in an acute care hospital. Previous patient placement, bed control responsibilities preferred. Demonstrate ability to manage multiple and continually changing priorities, and make rapid decisions. Must possess the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively meet the needs of the patient/internal and external customer. Requires reasoning ability and good independent judgment. Requires working with frequent interruptions. Must project a professional image. Requires working knowledge of computers and software applications used in job. The candidate must also have time management, organizational and problem-solving skills. This individual must be able to work independently and have the ability to communicate with people from all levels of the organization. LINES OF REPSONSIBILITES : (Chain-of-command) 1. Charge Nurse → 2. Department Director CUSTOMER SERVICE: Provide excellent customer service to all DHR customers. All employees are required to attend the DHR C.A.R.E.S program which outlines the Customer Service Principals including: Commitment, Accountability, Respect, Excellence and Service. AGE SPECIFIC : Employees must be able to demonstrate the knowledge and skills necessary to provide care appropriate to the age of the patients served in his/her assigned unit. The individual must demonstrate knowledge of principles of growth and development over the life span and possess the ability to assess data reflective of the patient’s status and interpret the appropriate information needed to identify each patient’s requirement relative to his or her age.