Sarah Berkelbaugh

Provide direct bedside care for adult patients with a wide variety of acute and chronic medical conditions. They manage the recovery of post-surgical patients, administer medications, conduct admissions and discharges, and coordinate individualized plans of care.

Specific job duties:

• Post-Surgical Duties: Closely monitor patients recovering from operations. This includes assessing surgical sites, managing acute post-operative pain, and monitoring vital signs for complications such as infection, hemorrhage, or adverse reactions to anesthesia.
• Wound Care & Dressings: Evaluate surgical incisions, pressure ulcers, and other acute wounds. Perform complex sterile dressing changes, apply specialized wound treatments (e.g., wound vacs), and monitor drainage tubes or drains.
• Admissions & Discharges: Execute the hospital admission process by taking patient histories, reconciling medications, completing initial comprehensive assessments, and orienting patients to the unit. Coordinate with multidisciplinary teams for smooth, timely patient discharge planning and provide education to patients and families.
• Managing Plan of Care: Collaborate with physicians, therapists, and case managers to evaluate and update individualized care plans. Maintain highly accurate charting and electronic health records (EHR) to ensure the care team is informed of the patient's progress.
• Medication Administration: Prepare, administer, and document medications (oral, IV, topical, subcutaneous, and IM) while strictly adhering to the seven rights of medication administration. Monitor patients for efficacy and observe any negative side effects or adverse drug reactions.
• Patient & Family Education: Educate patients about their conditions, prescribed medications, and post-discharge self-care instructions to promote recovery and prevent hospital readmission.

Responsible for performing phlebotomy, operating and troubleshooting rapid point-of-care analyzers, interpretation of results and reporting critical lab values, and maintaining regulatory compliance. Act as the primary communication bridge between the main clinical laboratory and ER medical staff to ensure rapid turnaround times for all laboratory testing and results.