Medical Nursing

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): Knowledge of nursing as acquired during professional nursing school. Effective communication skills, including the ability to show compassion. Excellent judgment and decision-making skills. Ability to express patience and deal with high levels of stress. Ability to pay close attention to detail. Ability to be an effective time manager. Ability to lift, assist, and transport patients.

Role Description

Responsible for supporting medical functions by implementing physician’s orders. This role has increased accountability that requires professional nursing preparation and expert healthcare services; the scope of practice is determined by legislation and is regulated by a healthcare professional or council. This role is not responsible for specialty, senior level strategic expertise, management responsibilities, and absolute accountability. This role may oversee the work of others and/or manage processes and programs; however, this is a secondary function of the job. Competencies for this role are usually gained through formal education and/or certification, specialized training, and/or experience in a program or specialty area specific to the position responsibilities.

Typical Functions:

Provides patient care by making patient assessments, triaging concerns, and preparing patients for exams or treatments.
Assists with performing diagnostic tests and analyzing results.
Records patients’ medical histories and symptoms, including observations, health promotion recommendations, and methods of disease prevention.
Administers medicine and treatments to patients.
Operates and monitors medical equipment.
Teaches patients or other responsible parties how to manage medical conditions and post-treatment care.
Confers and collaborates with supervising healthcare professionals.
Serves as a resource of information and guidance.
Supports teaching efforts by instructing students, interns, and residents either on the job or in a classroom setting.
Ensures patient understanding of proper medication dosage, administration, and disease treatment.
Supports research efforts by conducting research or training and assisting researchers.
Maintains knowledge by staying up to date with current research, practice, and treatment through continuing education.
Documents medical data in patient charts.

Levels

Nurse 1

Staff Nurse
Requires substantial specialized judgment and skill and the application of knowledge.
Understands the legal scope of practice in accordance with federal, state, and local laws as well as rules, regulations, policies, procedures and guidelines of employer.
Performs diverse activities requiring analysis and judgment in alignment with broad principles, practices, and professional standards.

Research Nurse
Ensures compliance with each study’s protocol by providing thorough review and documentation at each subject study visit.
Disburses investigational drug and provides patient education regarding administration, as necessary.
Communicates and collaborates w/ study team including internal and external parties, sponsors, principle investigators, and study participants.
Interfaces with research participants, to support efforts to determine eligibility and consenting of study participants according to protocol.
Communicates and collaborates specific study requirements to the research team, including internal and external parties, sponsor, monitors, PI, and study participants.
Participates in recruitment and selection of study participants by interviewing and documenting medical history to determine compliance with eligibility requirements.
Documents medical data in patient chart to capture protocol requirements.

Education/Experience:

Typically requires an associate’s degree in a relevant field, or an equivalent combination of education, training, and experience. A bachelor’s degree in a relevant field and one year of experience in a hospital or private practice is preferred. Licensed Registered Nurse.

Nurse 2

Nurse Supervisor
Provides work direction, training, and orientation to study staff, and supervises others.
Requires an expert level of specialized judgment, skill, and the application of knowledge as acquired during professional nursing school and professional experience. Takes responsibility and accepts accountability for practices.
Functions within the legal scope of practice and in accordance with federal, state, and local laws as well as rules, regulations, policies, procedures and guidelines of employer.
Provides advanced patient care and handles the most complex cases and performs a specialized nursing function.
Provides high level of input on management of patient care.
Trained in multiple specialty areas and serves as an expert resource for others.
Works with career organizations and speaks at public engagements regarding nursing topics.

Research Nurse Coordinator
Coordinates research studies.
Assists in the design of studies by reviewing proposals to determine research methods best suited to study objectives.
Assists in modification of procedures for collecting and summarizing data.
Participates in the development of procedures for the design of measurement instruments and scoring systems.
Implements research protocol, monitors participant adherence to protocol, and takes action to correct problems such as deviation from protocol requirements.
Establishes and maintains contact with study sponsors, participants and families, community agencies, and health care providers.
Writes or reviews human subjects applications and consent forms in compliance with applicable regulations.
Monitors data quality control to ensure adherence to study protocol and verifies accuracy of research data.
Provides work direction, training and orientation to study staff and supervises others.
Develops and initiates strategies for retention of participants.

Education/Experience:

Typically requires an associate’s degree in relevant field and two years of relevant experience, or an equivalent combination of education, training, and experience. A bachelor’s degree in a relevant field is preferred.

Nurse 3

Nurse Manager
Operates with significant independence.
Applies expert level judgment, skills, and experiential knowledge acquired through professional experience.
Functions within the legal scope of practice and in accordance with federal, state, and local laws as well as rules, regulations, policies, procedures and guidelines of employer.
Responsible for all nursing staff in medical setting.
Responsible for recruitment and retention of nursing staff, corrective action, and evaluating performance.
Develops policies and procedures and is accountable for ensuring safety compliance.
Analyzes and evaluates courses of action and makes independent decisions.
Develops and manages budget.
Performs nursing duties as a secondary function.

Research Nurse Manager
Manages and coordinates research studies in collaboration with principal investigator.
Oversees subject recruitment and participation in study and identifies subject populations.
Develops strategies and methodology for study implementation.
Prepares and monitors project budgets and provides financial compliance oversight.
Edits, writes and presents reports of research; participates in outreach activities.
Manages and oversees regulatory and quality assessment and assurance.
Provides oversight of specimen and data collection, storage and analysis.
Ensures data integrity of the study.
Interprets results and determines whether they are consistent with experimental goals and develops strategies for improvement.
Reviews status of research study to ensure adherence to research protocols and take action to correct problems such as deviation from protocol requirements.
Establishes and oversees case management.
Consults with care providers to integrate participation in research.
Performs nursing duties as a secondary function.

Education/Experience:

Typically requires a bachelor’s degree in relevant field and four years of relevant experience, or an equivalent combination of education, training, and experience. Advanced degree preferred. Supervisory experience required. Applicable certifications/licensures required.

Nurse 4

Education/Experience:

Nurse Practitoner

Operates with significant independence.
Develops appropriate treatment plans and performs diagnostic screenings/immunizations based on evidence-based practice guidelines.
Recognizes signs of mental or emotional illness in patient and refers patients for appropriate behavioral health evaluation and treatment.
Performs job functions independently of a physician.
Prescribes medications, orders labs, x-rays, and other procedures as needed for evaluation and treatment.
Evaluates and makes decisions independently that are aligned with clinical protocols on diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing patient care for acute and chronic illnesses as well as appropriate follow up of abnormal results of diagnostic evaluation.
Sets own priorities and goals while determining how to accomplish results with few or no guidelines to follow.
Provides clinical supervision of LPN, RNs, medical assistants, and other staff and makes decisions on construction of educational experiences.

Education/Experience:

Typically requires an advanced degree in a relevant field and two years of clinical primary care experience, or an equivalent combination of education, training, and experience. Tennessee license from the State Board of Nursing for Advanced Nursing Practice. Valid prescriptive authority required. Accredited to practice as a Nurse Practitioner (APN License preferred)

Nurse Practitoner - Specialty

Performs work of nurse practitioner in a discrete area of medicine.