Personal Care Worker
Personal care workers perform personal care services that are medically oriented activities related to assisting a recipient with activities of daily living necessary to maintain the recipient in his or her place of residence in the community. These services shall be provided upon written orders of a physician by a provider certified under s. DHS 105.17 and by a personal care worker who is supervised by a registered nurse according to a written plan of care. The personal care worker shall be assigned by the supervising registered nurse to specific recipient to do specific tasks for those recipients for which the personal care worker has been trained.
This position provides 1:1 safety and assistance to clients with daily living needs to maintain the client in their home.
The personal care worker shall perform the following duties as assigned:
- Perform tasks assigned by the RN Supervisor
- Report in writing to the RN Supervisor on each assignment
- Promptly report any significant changes observed or reported in the client’s condition to the RN Supervisor
- Confer as required with the RN Supervisor regarding the client’s progress
- Assist with bathing
- Assistance with getting in and out of bed
- Teeth, mouth, denture, and hair care
- Assistance with mobility and ambulation including the use of walker, cane, or crutches
- Changing the recipient’s bed and laundering the bed linens and the recipient’s personal clothing
- Skin care (excluding wound care)
- Eye glass and hearing aid care
- Assistance with dressing and undressing
- Toileting, including use and care of bedpan, urinal, commode, or toilet
- Light cleaning in essential areas of the home used during personal care service activities
- Meal preparation, food purchasing and meal serving
- Simple transfers including bed to chair or wheelchair and reverse
- Accompany recipient to obtain medical diagnosis and treatment
- Maintain professional and positive relationship with client and all parties involved in their lives
- Maintain professional appearance at all times
- Other duties as assigned
Qualifications
- Trained as a PCW or must complete training provided by Visions of Hope prior to serving clients.
- Valid driver license and automobile insurance
- High School Diploma or equivalency
- Eighteen (18) years of age or older
- Ability to perform personal care services according to the client’s personal care plan
- Excellent customer service and communication skills
RN Supervisor
The RN – Nurse Supervisor is responsible for supervising all PCW personnel to deliver personal care services and within scope of practice coordinates care delivery, which will ensure that the clients needs are met in accordance with professional standards of practice through physician orders, center policies and procedures, and federal, state and local guidelines. This RN position is a staff position that has supervisor responsibility for personal care workers.
The RN Supervisor shall perform the following duties as assigned:
- Evaluate the need for service and make referrals to other services as appropriate
- Secure written orders from the client’s physician. These orders are to be renewed once every 3 months unless the physician specifies that orders covering a period of time up to one year are appropriate, or when the client’s needs change, whichever occurs first. (This provision does not mitigate the RN Supervisor’s responsibility to follow the standards contained in ch. N 6 (Standard of Practice for Registered Nurses and Licensed Practical Nurses))
- Develop a plan of care for the client, giving full consideration to the client’s preferences for service arrangements and choice of personal care workers, interpret the plan to the personal care worker, include a copy of the plan in the client’s health record, and review the plan at least every 60 days and update it as necessary
- Promptly notify a client’s physician or other appropriate medical personnel and legal representative, if any, of any significant changes observed or reported in the client’s condition
- Develop appropriate time and service reporting mechanisms for personal care workers and instruct the workers on their use
- Give the personal care worker written instructions about the services to be performed and arrange for an appropriate person to demonstrate to the personal care worker how to perform the service
- Evaluate the competency of the personal care worker to perform the services
- Assure the PCW is trained for the specific tasks the PCW is assigned to provide to the member
- Review the PCW’s daily written record (timesheet)
- Maintain professional and positive relationship with client and all parties involved in their lives
- Maintain professional appearance at all times
- Other duties as assigned
Qualifications
- Current licensure as a registered nurse under s. 441.06 Stats.
- Training and experience in the provision of personal care services or in a related program
- At least one year of supervisory or administrative experience in personal care services or related program.
- Excellent customer service and communication skills