Registered Nurse-Intensive Care Unit

The Critical Care Registered Nurse executes responsibilities that demonstrate leadership, experience, and creative approaches to management of complex patient care. Collaborates in the development, implementation, evaluation, and revision of policies, procedures, and/or guidelines. Demonstrates performance and leadership that is broad enough to improve the care for acutely/critically ill patients who are at high risk for actual or potential life-threatening health problems, regardless of the setting for nursing care. Provides peers with formal or informal constructive feedback for improvement. Supports colleagues and other nurses through knowledge sharing to provide safe, quality nursing care. Fosters a safe and supportive environment conducive to the professional development of health care professionals. Evaluates outcomes of evidence-based decisions and practice changes for individuals, groups, and populations. Responsible for the documented outcomes at the program or service level. Program or service level outcomes must be broad and complex and can be demonstrated at any organizational level within a facility. This nurse has vast experience and knowledge with the situations in which they are ultimately expected to perform, skillfully integrating theoretical concepts, strong critical thinking skills, and exhibits an expert technically skilled practice.
The job duties in this ICU/PCU position include but are not limited to:
- Has knowledge in recalling arrhythmia events in both ICU/Telemetry, establishing and/or changing alarm parameters, and obtaining a rhythm strip each shift to be scanned into the electronic chart.
- Troubleshoots when signals are not coming in properly. Patients will be provided education on reasons, purpose and restrictions associated with cardiac monitoring and telemetry.
- Is responsible for providing nursing care to medical and surgical patients who require continuous and concentrated monitoring.
Has knowledge and expertise in:
- Arrhythmia interpretation
- Invasive hemodynamic monitoring
- Cardioversion
- Cardiac resuscitation
- Pacemakers, external and transvenous
- Acute MI protocol
- IV thrombolytic
- Volume expanders
- Chest tube
- Mechanical ventilation
- Post anesthesia patients
- IV pain management
- Rx of GI and renal patients
- Rx of pulmonary edema
- Rx of severe respiratory patients & CO2 monitoring
- Overdose protocols
- Immediate post-op care of vascular patients, abdominal surgery, neuro-surgery, orthopedic surgery, pacemaker surgery
- Rx of patients with epidural catheters
- Education of patients and significant others in their treatment in ICU/telemetry
- Conscious sedation
- Institute for Healthcare Improvement bundles: Ventilator Associated Pneumonia /Central Venous Line
- IV vasoactive and inotropic medication
- Provides care to Telemetry patients.
- Maintains Advanced Cardiac Life Support and Basic Cardiac Life Support certification.
- Provides care to acute stroke victims and patients with altered level of consciousness.
- Is knowledgeable in caring for psychiatric patients with acute medical illness including, but not limited to, patients on Suicide, Violence, Eloper (SVE) precautions.
- Is able to assess care for patients with Congestive Heart Failure (CHF), Pulmonary Edema, Sepsis, and Respiratory Distress Syndromes.
- Assesses patients need on admission with respect to developmental stage, age, sex, religion, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and illness.
- Assists Physician/Hospitalist with a variety of bedside procedures such as intubation, thoracentesis, CVL insertion, paracentesis, bone marrow aspiration.
- Provides Patient Health Education (PHE) to patients and families with regard to current treatment, health issues, and patient/family.
- Acts as a member of Code Blue, Code White, and Rapid Response Teams (RRT).
- Provides assistance to other areas such as Emergency Department (ED), Triage, 4 East, Ward 9, Community Living Center (CLC).
- Demonstrates good judgment in determining need for safety devices.
- With a physician order, an ACLS RN will accompany patients on transfer to another VA or a private facility as needed.

VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package:
Pay: Competitive salary, regular salary increases, potential for performance awards
Paid Time Off: 50 days of paid time off per year (26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)
Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA
Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)
Licensure: 1 full and unrestricted license from any US State or territory
Work Schedule: 8:00 am - 8:00 pm with rotating weekends and holidays
Telework: Not available.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized.
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized.