RN PICU Shift Coordinator (Charge Nurse) | $25K Sign On!

Children's National Hospital is growing! This permanent Charge Nurse role is perfect for the experienced PICU nurse seeking advancement into leadership.

The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) previously awarded the Children's National Pediatric Intensive Care Unit with a silver-level Beacon Award for Excellence. The three-year award marked an important milestone on the path to exceptional patient care and achieving a healthy work environment. The silver-level designation signifies continuous learning and effective systems to achieve optimal patient care and shows alignment practices with AACN's six Healthy Work Environment Standards.

The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) is a 46 bed unit. We will be expanding to 60 beds in 2027!

This unit serves as a regional referral center and is a designated Level I Trauma Center for comprehensive care to pediatric patients and their families. The PICU Patient Care Management Team coordinates interdisciplinary patient assessment and patient care and provided by pediatric intensivists and specialty nurses in conjunction with multiple specialty services within the Medical Center. Patients are admitted to the PICU from the ED, Trauma Services, the Operating Room, and transfers from in-house units as well as transports from other institutions via the Pediatric Transport team.

Trauma patients comprise about 10%-15% of patients in the PICU. These patients often have multiple injuries or severe head trauma. The PICU is also a Pediatric Burn Center and receives referrals from the region. Other complex patients requiring general surgery, ENT, craniofacial, neurosurgical and other surgical subspecialties are also cared for in the PICU. Medical patients comprise 50%-60% of patients and include children with respiratory failure, meningitis or seizures, sepsis, multi-system organ failure and chronically ill children. Children with cancer also require PICU care for complications that develop as part of the underlying disease, chemotherapy or following bone marrow transplantation. Services are provided daily, 24 hours per day.

The Division of Critical Care Medicine (CCM) provides services and care to all patients admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). Specifically, care is provided for all patients in the PICU, patients within the hospital by request, patients within the hospital as part of all emergencies and resuscitations, and patients in the ED for "medical alerts" and "trauma stats". The scope of services includes resuscitation, life support, monitoring and treatment for life threatening events and diagnostic issues related to these items. Patients may be admitted to and discharged from the PICU based on pre-established guidelines. See section on critical care units.

The department utilizes a multi-disciplinary approach to care, utilizing the services of physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, respiratory therapists, social services and other support services necessary to provide quality care. Attending physicians providing care are board eligible or certified in Pediatric Critical Care. The PICU provides CAT (Rapid Response Services) and Code Blue team leadership to support in house clinical emergencies. An attending or fellow along with an ICU nurse and Respiratory Therapist respond to assist in clinical rescues of in-house patients. This service can also be activated by a concerned parent.

• Participate/support Shared Leadership.

• Contribute to CNMC's Magnet Journey.

• Ensure that nursing is based on evidence of best practice.

• Accountable for supporting/participating in the Division of Nursing's Performance Improvement process.

• Participate in community activities.

• Continuously perform patient/family assessments as necessary to ensure needs are met.

• Assess and modify skill mix and staffing levels using manager or clinical coordinator for complex issues.

• Function as a resource in planning patient discharge and all clinical issues.

• Utilize multidisciplinary approach to meeting patient care needs.

• Demonstrate therapeutic communication skills by adopting techniques for specific situations.

• Provide performance feedback to all staff in a constructive, timely manner.

• Effectively manage conflict resolution.

• Serve as consumer advocate for patient/family concerns.

• Facilitate learning opportunities for all staff.

• Ensure that patient/family educational needs are met.

• Speak up when team members appear to exhibit unsafe behavior or performance

• Continuously validate and verify information needed for decision making or documentation

• Stop in the face of uncertainty and takes time to resolve the situation

• Demonstrate accurate, clear and timely verbal and written communication

• Actively promote safety for patients, families, visitors and co-workers

• Attend carefully to important details - practicing Stop, Think, Act and Review in order to self-check behavior and performance

• Demonstrate awareness of cost containment strategies by efficiently planning staffing patterns, level and mix to meet patient care needs.

• Ensure staff adherence to unit/hospital policies.

• Participate in the performance appraisal process for all staff.

• Implement change with a positive impact.

• Display strong leadership in a team environment through example.

• Demonstrate initiatives and leadership through involvement in projects and committee work.

• Partner in the mission and upholds the core principles of the organization

• Committed to diversity and recognizes value of cultural ethnic differences

• Demonstrate personal and professional integrity

• Maintain confidentiality at all times

• Anticipate and responds to customer needs; follows up until needs are met

• Demonstrate collaborative and respectful behavior

• Partner with all team members to achieve goals

• Receptive to others' ideas and opinions

• Contribute to a positive work environment

• Demonstrate flexibility and willingness to change

• Identify opportunities to improve clinical and administrative processes

• Make appropriate decisions, using sound judgment

• Use resources efficiently

• Search for less costly ways of doing things