Job Specific Duties

• Assesses patients in terms of clinical condition (heart rate, respiratory rate, etc.) and documents findings (Pre/Post therapy) in an accurate and timely manner. Provides feedback to physician(s). 
• Ensures proper communication between physicians and families. Serves as a patient advocate/educator and provides family support and community resources. 
• Provides patient information and effectively completes hand off process to peers using SBAR at shift change and patient reassignments. 
• Provides education to patients/families on the continuing plan of care to include medications and side effects; updates patients/families daily on Plan of Care (POC) 
• Participates in Lean initiative to assess and improve processes for opportunities to deliver higher quality, cost effective care, with greater customer service as measured by metrics. 
• Participates in rounds with medical team and discusses initial (new) and follow up cases with MD and documents note. 
• Serves as backup for all emergency codes (blue, rapid response, code orange). 
• Performs and tests invasive and non-invasive ventilators, initiates therapy, and monitors patient/ ventilator. Ensures ventilator is working and documents equipment settings. 
• Performs basic respiratory therapy for medical/surgical patients such as aerosol delivery, airway clearance, and chest physiotherapy. 
• Participates in root cause analysis with any unplanned extubations.
• Performs all Quality Assurance on equipment and reports any malfunction. Removes equipment and documents if equipment failure impacted patient outcomes. Completes incident report and tags equipment. 
• Follows all Infection Control standards and ensures proper use of Personal Protective Equipment per hospital policy and procedures to ensure safe patient care. 

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Associate degree in respiratory care preferred.
• Knowledge of Spanish or Creole preferred.
• Ability to communicate effectively in English both verbally and in writing.
• Ability to interpret, adapt, and react calmly under stressful conditions typical of an ICU environment.
• Ability to problem solve and adapt standard clinical procedures to patients needs associated with pediatric and neonatal population.
• Ability to relate cooperatively and constructively with patients, families, and peers.
• Ability to learn appropriate software application(s) used for patient documentation and medication administration.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality of sensitive information.
• Excellent customer service skills.
• Ability to react quickly to new challenges, unanticipated events, and resolve issues and address requests in a timely fashion.