UT-Harris
County Psychiatric Center
Nursing
Procedures
Nursing
Harris County Psychiatric Center: Office Administration
The Shift Leader is responsible for assigning nursing staff members to provide nursing care for patients
shift leader, acuity, cross-training, competency
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
SME: Associate Director of Nursing
Nursing is a highly specialized field. To ensure quality patient care, nursing
assignments should be made based on the knowledge, skills, and experience of
each available staff member.
Procedure:
The Shift Leader is responsible for assigning nursing
staff members to provide nursing care for patients. Nursing responsibilities are assigned to nursing staff in
accordance with the following:
·
The patient care policies/procedures
·
The complexity of the patient's condition and required
nursing care
·
The dynamics of the patient's status
·
The degree of supervision required by each staff member and
the availability of that supervision to each person
·
The complexity of the assessment required by the patient
·
The environment and type of technology employed in providing
the nursing care
·
Relevant infection control and safety issues
·
Relevant competency assessment
·
Patient acuity
Cross-training for older adult
patients, child and adolescent patients, early and middle adult patients, and
patients with psychiatric emergencies takes into account the particular
psychological and physiological needs and problems of these age groups. This
prepares hospital staff to effectively care for patients in these developmental
periods.
All nursing staff must be
competent to provide care for any of the patients; thus the staff is
cross-trained annually to maintain competency.
A Nursing
Assignment Sheet will be completed daily on each shift by the shift
leader. The Nurse Manager reviews the
24-hour report and acuity report to ascertain available nursing staff members
and to determine the condition/status of each patient. The Assignment Sheets will be kept for a
period of 3 years and will be submitted to the Support Specialist for filing at
the end of each month.
1.
Assesses patient care nursing needs
related to the following:
·
Safety
·
Patient status and acuity
·
Patient progress or lack of progress
·
Number of staff
·
Number of special procedures
·
Meetings/staffings scheduled
·
Presence of infection
·
Treatment plans
·
Daily routine
·
Staff skill level
2.
Using appropriate assignment sheets and
referencing the unit Nursing Department Competency Manual, the shift leader
assigns staff responsibility for ongoing assessment of patients and to complete
specific nursing tasks as outlined on the Nursing
Assignment Sheet.
3.
All staff is expected to complete tasks
as assigned. It is not permissible for
peers to switch assignment(s). Failure
to complete tasks may result in disciplinary action, up to and including
termination. Changes to assignments
must be designated on the assignment sheet by the shift leader.
4.
The Shift Leader assigns lunch and
break times for each staff member.
5.
The Shift Leader assigns a staff member
to respond to a Code Blue, Special Team, or Fire Team which may occur during
the shift.
Related
Standards:
JCAHO CC 6-6.1,
HR 2