NAHUC Certification Exam Content
Revised
The Job Task Analysis has been
completed and the new Certification Examination content outline has been
approved by the Certification Board Directors.
Target date for implementing the new Certification Examination is February
1, 2005. Exam candidates planning
to take the exam after February 1, 2005 should prepare according to the revised
NAHUC Certification Exam Content Outline below.
I. Transcription of Orders (35%)
A. Processing
1. Check charts for orders that need to be transcribed
2. Interpret medical symbols, abbreviations, and terminology
3. Clarify questionable orders
4. Prioritize orders and tasks
5. Process orders according to priority
6. Enter orders on a kardex
7. Enter orders on patient treatment plan
8. Initiate pathway protocols
9. Schedule diagnostic tests and procedures
10. Initiate and follow test preparation procedures
11. Enter orders onto a medication administration record
12. Enter patient charges
13. Process orders for diagnostic and therapeutic tests and procedures
14. Process nursing treatment orders
15. Prepare surgical charts
16. Process post-operative charts
17. Process medication orders
18. Process orders for parenteral fluids
19. Recognize order categories (i.e. standing, one-time, prn, and stat)
B. Notification
1. Notify staff of new orders
2. Notify and document consulting physicians of consult requests
3. Indicate on the order sheet that each order has been processed
4. Sign off orders (e.g. signature, title, date, and time)
5. Flag charts for co-signature
C. Requests
1. Request services from ancillary departments
2. Request services from support departments
3. Request supplies and equipment
4. Request patient information from external facilities
II. Coordination of Health Unit (47%)
A. Admissions
1. Label and assemble patient charts upon admission
2. Obtain patient information prior to admission
3. Assign beds to patients coming into the unit
4. Inform nursing staff of patient admissions, transfers, discharges and returning surgical patients
5. Process patient registration
B. Patient results processing
1. Receive diagnostic test results
2. Notify physicians of diagnostic test results
3. Report diagnostic test results to nursing staff
C. Discharges/Transfers
1. Assemble necessary forms and perform clerical tasks for patients being transferred to an external facility
2. Prepare patient charts and perform clerical tasks for discharge or transfer to other units within the health facility
3. Notify appropriate departments and individuals when patients are discharged (i.e., home, expired, AMA, transferred, etc.)
4. Disassemble patient charts, put in appropriate order, and send to medical records office upon expiration or discharge.
5. Schedule follow-up appointments
6. Schedule appointments for diagnostic work at other facilities
7. Follow organ procurement procedures
8. Schedule ground transportation for patients
D. Unit Responsibilities/Clerical
1. Maintain a supply of chart forms
2. Maintain stock of patient care supplies and equipment
3. Maintain stock of clerical and desk supplies
4. Maintain patient charts by thinning and adding forms as needed
5. File forms and reports
6. Maintain unit bulletin board
7. Maintain policy and procedures manuals
8. Monitor patients’ off-unit locations
9. Arrange for maintenance and repair of equipment
E. Reports and Record Keeping
1. Report unit activities to on-coming shift
2. Maintain patient census logs
3. Record patient acuity
4. Record unit/department statistics
5. Graph and chart information onto appropriate forms
6. Maintain patient census boards
7. Maintain on-call schedules
8. Maintain patient assignment board
9. Perform quality assurance on charts (i.e. verify that chart forms are filed and labeled correctly, all orders have been transcribed, allergies are noted in appropriate places, prepare incident reports, etc.)
10. Reconcile patient charges/credits
11. Retrieve test results
12. Recopy medication administration records
13. Recopy Kardex/patient treatment plan
14. Inventory unit equipment
F. Personnel management
1. Orient new staff members to the unit
2. Precept new or student unit coordinators
3. Communicate facility policies to visitors, patients and staff (i.e. visiting hours, no smoking, etc.)
4. Maintain staff assignment logs
5. Assist with unit staffing
6. Greet patients, physicians, visitors, and facility staff who arrive on the unit
7. Respond to patient, physician, visitor, and facility staff requests and complaints
G. Safety and Security
1. Maintain a hazard-free work environment
2. Maintain unit security
3. Participate in emergency and disaster plans
4. Respond to cardiac or respiratory arrests
5. Initiate call to cardiac or respiratory arrests
6. Comply with regulatory agency guidelines/rules
H. Confidentiality and Patient Rights
1. Screen telephone calls and visitor requests for patient information to protect patient confidentiality
2. Restrict access to patient information (i.e. charts, computer)
3. Assist with Advanced Directives documentation
4. Demonstrate knowledge of informed consent
5.
III. Equipment/Technical Procedures (15%)
A. Communication
1. Communicate with patients and staff via intercom
2. Send and receive documents via fax machine
3. Contact personnel via telecommunications systems (i.e. pagers, cell phones)
4. Answer and process unit telephone calls
B. Computers
1. Maintain computer census (i.e. ADT functions)
2. Retrieve diagnostic result from computers
3. Follow established computer down-time procedures
4. Enter orders via computers
5. Schedule appointments via computers
6. Prepare documents using computer software
7. Generate reports using computers
8. Operate computers safely and correctly
9. Troubleshoot problems with computers
C. Monitoring Systems
1. Register patient into monitor system
2. Print and mount strips
D. Miscellaneous Equipment
1. Duplicate documents using a copy machine
2. Transport patient specimens, supplies, and medication using pneumatic tubes
IV. Professional Development (3%)
A. Training
1. Attend in-service training sessions
2. Attend department. staff or health unit coordinator meetings
B. Individual development
1. Review job related publications (e.g., NAHUC Standards of Practice, journals)
2. Review facility specific publications, memos, policies
3. Pursue and maintain
certification