Nursing Department Assistant – Geriatric Psychiatry

About the role

The Nursing Department Assistant supports patients in a geriatric psychiatry setting at Lutheran Hospital. Working under RN direction, the assistant helps with daily living activities, maintains a safe environment, and assists with direct patient care tasks such as EKGs and vital sign documentation.

Key responsibilities

• Assist with a wide variety of patient care tasks and collaborate with the health‑care team.
• Organize patient care assignments to ensure timely delivery and completion.
• Document care provided in the patient record and label specimens properly.
• Monitor patient pain using a pain scale and report to RN/LPN as needed.
• Maintain cleanliness and orderliness of the unit, equipment and patient areas.
• Perform hourly patient rounds to ensure safety measures such as side rails, bed alarms and restraints are appropriate.

Required profile

• High School Diploma or GED required.
• State Tested Nursing Assistant (STNA) certification preferred.
• Successful completion of Basic Life Support (BLS) certification within the new‑hire period.
• Previous nursing assistant experience preferred.
• Physical ability to stand, walk, lift patients and handle equipment; full range of motion required.

Required skills

• Perform EKGs.
• Blood glucose monitoring.
• Specimen collection and proper labeling.
• Dressing changes and colostomy care.
• Documentation of vital signs.