Patient Care Assistant

Patient Care Assistant, Medical‑Surgical Unit – Full Time, 72 Hours Per Pay Period, Day Shift

Cumberland Medical Center in Crossville, Tennessee is part of Covenant Health, East Tennessee’s largest nonprofit health system and a Becker’s “Top 150 Places to Work in Healthcare.” Fully accredited by the Joint Commission, the hospital offers all‑private patient rooms as well as comprehensive care in cardiology, orthopedics, maternity, cancer treatment, and wound care. It features emergency and critical care, surgical suites, and specialized programs such as imaging, cardiac rehab, sleep disorder care, and hyperbaric medicine, all within a family‑oriented environment focused on exceptional patient care.

Functions as a direct patient caregiver performing tasks to assist registered nurses. Performs hands‑on care, assists with ADL’s and specified technical tasks for a group of patients under the supervision of the Team Leader.

• Take and record temperature, pulse, respiration rates, blood pressures, weights, heights, and intake‑output measurements.
• Encourage patients to turn, cough, and take deep breaths and to use incentive spirometry as specified by the Plan of Care.
• Ambulate and assist patients in and out of bed, into wheelchairs and transport when necessary.
• Attend to nutritional needs of patients, which may include distributing meal trays, feeding, filling and passing out water pitchers.
• Provide morning or evening care, including bed bath, oral hygiene, combing hair, back care, dressing, changing bed linen, cleaning over‑bed table and bedside stand, straightening room, and other supportive care as needed.
• Empty drains, canisters, urine bags, bedpans and emesis basins and record intake and output.
• Assist in maintaining a safe environment, reporting equipment that is out of order, and handling linen and storing supplies appropriately.
• Provide general care such as positioning, lifting or turning patients; assist in use of bedpan, urinal or commode; preoperative supportive care; and application/removal of abdominal binders or anti‑embolism stockings and sequential compression devices.
• Empty and clean ostomy bag per procedure.
• Collect urine, stool and sputum specimens as ordered.
• Perform tasks such as ROM, assist with ambulatory devices as specified by the patient’s plan of care.
• Perform phlebotomy (requires additional training), including correct labeling with two patient identifiers, maintenance of lab‑draw supplies, rotating and restocking.
• Perform EKG (requires special training).
• Promptly answer patient call lights and respond to patient requests.
• Report significant changes in patients’ condition to the RN.
• Help maintain a clean and orderly patient and work environment.
• Employ all established infection control policies including standard precautions, transmission‑based isolation precautions, OSHA standards, safety measures and proper body mechanics.
• Document and maintain patient records as appropriate.
• Gather equipment for O₂ setup, checking O₂ for connection and proper placement.
• Check for proper functioning of equipment at patient bedside.
• Ambulate patients with oxygen.
• Set up suction equipment and check for proper function.
• Demonstrate knowledge and competency in providing for age‑specific needs of the population served.
• Demonstrate ability to perform skills on the Nursing Assistant checklist.
• Follow policies, procedures, and safety standards; complete required education assignments annually; participate in quality improvement initiatives as requested.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

None specified; any combination of formal education and/or prior work experience sufficient to demonstrate possession of the knowledge, skill and ability needed to perform the essential tasks of the job will be accepted, typically equivalent to a high school diploma or GED. Preference may be given to individuals possessing a HS diploma or GED.

Must successfully complete Covenant’s orientation and Nursing Assistant in‑house training program before being permitted to work with patients.

Nursing Assistant certification from the state of Tennessee preferred. CPR required.