U

University of Southern California

Research university in Los Angeles, CA

RN Clinical - Cardiopulmonary ICU

Full-TimeUpdated on 10/23/2026
$45.76 - $98.80/hr
Junior
Bachelor's
Los Angeles, CA, USA
In Person
Medical, Clinical & VeterinaryNursing & Frontline Patient Care

About the job

Requirements
  • A Bachelor’s degree in Nursing is required; nurses hired before December 2019 are grandfathered from the BSN requirement.
  • At least 1 year of acute inpatient hospital experience as a Registered Nurse in the United States is required.
  • Must speak, read, and write English proficiently.
  • Must know medical procedures and conditions and be able to understand, follow, and perform duties, including whole blood collection and apheresis procedures, in accordance with administrative and clinical policies, regulations, and procedures.
  • Must hold a Registered Nurse license from the California Board of Registered Nursing.
  • Must hold Basic Life Support certification as a Healthcare Provider from the American Heart Association.
  • Must complete Los Angeles City Fire Life Safety Training; if not held upon hire, it must be obtained within 30 days and maintained through renewal before expiration.
  • Must hold Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support certification as a Healthcare Provider from the American Heart Association for intensive care, step-down, and telemetry departments. Registered Nurses without prior telemetry or critical care experience must obtain it within 180 days or by the end of orientation, whichever is sooner.
  • Must be able to work independently with minimal direction and supervision.
Responsibilities
  • Use the nursing process to provide therapeutic patient care and coordinate care and education for patients and families in accordance with applicable standards, policies, and practices.
  • Follow policies and procedures and demonstrate the ability to access online manuals.
  • Apply learned scientific knowledge in the nursing process.
  • Complete nursing assessments on admission, each shift, and when a patient’s condition changes; complete patient acuity by 0200 or 1400 daily.
  • Interpret assessment information and formulate nursing diagnoses.
  • Develop individualized plans of care, document expected or projected outcomes, and review, revise, and update plans daily based on evaluation and interpretation of patient outcomes.
  • Administer medications and intravenous therapy at prescribed intervals and perform patient-care procedures correctly at prescribed intervals and according to policy.
  • Delegate tasks based on others’ scope of practice and competency, and act as a patient advocate.
  • Manage restraint use according to policy, attempt alternative non-restraint measures first, ensure complete physician orders and assessments, ensure patient monitoring, and complete the restraint audit form each shift.
  • Complete documentation accurately on required flow sheets and chart forms, including admission assessments, pain assessments and reassessments, daily and restraint flow sheets, diabetes and educational flow sheets, Kardex, care plans, risk assessments and reassessments, fall documentation, medication administration records, equipment and supplies records, transfer forms, and belongings tracking forms.
  • Ensure orders are transcribed and signed off before the end of the shift, and complete 12-hour and 24-hour chart checks.
  • Educate patients and families as needed about room or unit orientation and the plan of care; identify knowledge deficits related to diagnoses and care, and use and provide Micromedex information.
  • Collaborate with the case manager and/or physician on discharge planning, complete transfer paperwork, and ensure patient belongings are sent with the patient.
  • Use patient-care equipment safely and appropriately according to manufacturer guidelines, including IV, feeding, PCA, and epidural pumps, sequential compression devices, wound vacuums, and heating pads or pumps.
  • Communicate effectively with the healthcare team, patients, and families through shift reports, physician rounds, patient and family interactions, MDP rounds, hand-off reports, facility email, and communication with students and new or contract employees.
  • Manage time, organize and prioritize responsibilities, take meal breaks without incurring overtime, and complete shifts on time.
  • Observe regulatory requirements, including National Patient Safety Goals, patient identifiers, approved abbreviations, Universal Protocol and procedural time-outs, hand-offs, medication reconciliation, clinical alarms, hazardous-waste handling, biohazard and sharps safety, HIPAA, OSHA requirements, continuous survey readiness, critical-value read-back and follow-up, and proper telephone-order documentation.
  • Maintain a safe work environment through correct body mechanics, electrical safety, infection-control procedures, and hand washing.
  • Manage medical-surgical patients, including patients with total hip or knee arthroplasty and spinal surgery; maintain isolation precautions and respiratory and nutrition care for cystic fibrosis patients; manage medications and protective isolation for abdominal organ transplant patients; and institute safety precautions and skin care for patients with hepatic encephalopathy.
  • Manage complex critically ill intensive-care patients, including neurosurgery, thoracic foregut, gastric bypass, orthopedic, liver, kidney, pancreas, hepatobiliary, open-heart, heart-transplant, and lung-transplant patients; manage advanced modalities including hemodynamic monitoring, continuous renal replacement therapy, continuous venovenous hemodialysis, ventriculostomy, intracranial pressure monitoring, ventricular assist devices, and balloon pumps.
  • Manage high-acuity step-down and telemetry patients requiring specialized monitoring and care, including post-operative open-heart, heart and lung transplant, liver and kidney transplant, orthopedic, hepatobiliary, general surgery, thoracic foregut, gastric bypass, neurology, and neurosurgery patients; manage ventilators, arterial and central venous pressure lines, ventricular assist devices, and lumbar drains.
  • Initiate, perform, and terminate dialysis treatments according to policy and standards of care; review orders and laboratory results, inform patients of treatment plans, complete treatment-record documentation, perform pre-treatment safety checks and machine maintenance, check charts for dialysis orders, contact physicians early when treatment orders are missing, and complete medical-surgical dialysis treatments on 3S when more than two such patients are scheduled.
  • Engage psychiatric patients in therapeutic interactions and maintain a therapeutic milieu; assess and monitor safety, including contraband checks, monitor locked doors, log visitors and assess for contraband, follow patients’ legal status each shift and communicate with the Department of Mental Health and other agencies as required, administer psychotropic medications only with proper consent and documentation, participate in treatment planning, and submit the Fire Arms Reporting Form.
  • Use de-escalation to prevent behavioral restraint or seclusion when possible; apply restraint or seclusion when appropriate; continuously monitor patients or delegate monitoring; ensure physician assessment within one hour of application and at least every eight hours thereafter; obtain physician orders, notify the manager of incidents, contact significant others as permitted, and debrief with patients when appropriate.
  • Identify patients who meet Core Measure criteria, complete Core Measure documentation, and participate in data collection and process improvements related to Nurse Sensitive Quality Indicators.
  • Participate in professional hospital and nursing activities, including relief charge nurse duties, nursing committees and councils, hospital teams, unit-based projects, and research or published peer-reviewed articles.
  • Perform other related duties as assigned.
Desired Qualifications
  • Specialty certification.

About the company

U

University of Southern California

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The University of Southern California is a private research university with academic programs across the arts, sciences, business, engineering, law, health, and other professional fields.

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