The Ambulance Victoria (AV) Offload Cubicle Nurse is responsible for the care and management of patients who arrive via ambulance but cannot be immediately streamed to the most appropriate point of care. The primary responsibility of the AV offload cubicle Nurse is to, initiate nursing care and perform simple procedures to prepare the patient for transfer to a destination (clinical area within SHED) that is more appropriate to their care needs.
The SHED NUM, SHED Director and the SHED Educators are responsible for ensuring that all staff within the department are aware of the AV Offload Cubicle Nurse Roles and Responsibilities.
1. Receive handover from previous shift nurse, check and re-stock the required equipment.
2. Work with the Nurse in Charge (NIC) and/or Medical Officers assigned to the Triage and Emergency Services Arrival Area to decide on the streaming location of patient, coordinating the timely transfer to the most appropriate point of care with the receiving clinical team.
3. Perform a primary and secondary patient assessment and escalate concerns or indicators of clinical deterioration to the Nurse In-Charge.
4. Facilitate the commencement of treatment and performs basic and relevant nursing interventions such as ECGs, pathology and vital signs.
5. Works alongside the Medical Officer assigned to the AV offload cubicles, to expedite medical care and improve time to treatment.
6. Allow for AV offload, improving ambulance offload times and preventing ramping of ambulance crews in the Emergency Department.
7. Liaise with clerical team to ensure patient details are correct.
8. Complete appropriate and timely documentation of all nursing care and treatment on the relevant platform (EMR, EDIS, Adult Emergency Observation chart -WHAD51.2a).
9. Liaise with AV paramedics and the Ambulance Triage nurse to ensure continuity of care.
10. Advocate for and facilitate the priority of transfer out of the patient from the designated AV offload cubicles to a clinical area more appropriate for definitive treatment.
11. Facilitate safe transfer of patients from the AV offload cubicles, providing a clear handover to the receiving nurse.
12. Provide compassionate and effective communication to patients and carers to ensure a positive patient experience.
