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Registered Nurse Series

Registered Nurse Series

California State Personnel Board Specification

Series established June 3, 1970

Scope

This series specification describes two professional Registered Nurse classes in State service. Pre-Registered Nurse is excluded.

 

Registered Nurse Series Specification - Class Titles and Codes
Schem Code Class Code Class
TI90 8165 Registered Nurse
TI70 8161 Supervising Registered Nurse

Definition of Series

Professional nurses, licensed by the State of California, have successfully completed a prescribed course of study and training at an accredited school or hospital and have passed State licensing examinations. They practice nursing in various State facilities, including developmental centers; correctional institutions and youth authority hospitals, clinics, or infirmaries; veterans' hospitals; and special schools for the blind, deaf, and neurologically disabled. Professional registered nurses are responsible for providing direct nursing care, treatment, and rehabilitation to patients/clients; supervising other personnel who assist them in providing such care; assisting physicians as directed; taking independent action within professional preparation and legal limits; and performing related nursing duties as assigned. They also assist in training other nursing personnel.

Factors Affecting Position Allocation

Independence of action and decision, degree of supervision received, and degree of supervision exercised serve as differentiating factors between the classes. Entry into this series may be at any level.

Definition of Levels

Registered Nurse

This is the entry and journey level. Under general supervision, incumbents administer nursing care to patients/clients of a State facility, which may include a clinical setting or a special treatment area where specialized nursing work may be required; assist in planning and evaluating nursing care of assigned patients/clients; assist in directing, supervising, and training other nursing service personnel, inmates, and client help; relieve supervisor as required; and perform other related duties. In addition, at the journey level, incumbents may provide direction to unit or clinic personnel in general or specialized nursing work; provide for continuity of client care with nursing personnel of other shifts; may be responsible for directing the work of an eight-hour shift of an organized nursing unit; and relieve supervisor as required.

Supervising Registered Nurse

Under direction, is responsible for the overall management and supervision of an organized nursing unit on a 24-hour basis; is responsible for the nursing care and practices of an organized nursing unit or equivalent responsibility for a nursing service; plans, implements, evaluates, and provides for continuity of client/patient care; works with other disciplines to integrate nursing services with the total treatment program; teaches, plans for, directs, coordinates, and evaluates nursing personnel.

Minimum Qualifications

Both Classes:

Require possession of the legal requirements to practice as a professional Registered Nurse in California.

 

(Applicants who are in the process of securing approval of their qualifications by the California Board of Registered Nurses will be admitted to the examination, but they must possess all legal requirements as determined by that Board before they will be considered eligible for appointment.)

Supervising Registered Nurse

Either I

 

Experience: One year of experience in California state service performing the duties of a nursing classification comparable in level of responsibility to a Registered Nurse, Range B.

Or II

 

Experience: Two years of professional nursing experience in a facility licensed for inpatient care. (Possession of a Master's Degree in Nursing may be substituted for one year of the required experience.)

 

(Candidates for Supervising Registered Nurse who are within six months of completing the experience requirements will be admitted to the examination, but they must complete all requirements before they will be considered eligible for appointment.)

Knowledge and Abilities

Both Classes:

Knowledge of: Professional nursing principles and techniques; medical terminology; hospital routine and equipment; and medicines and narcotics.

 

Ability to: Apply nursing techniques; observe and record symptoms and behavior; keep records and prepare reports; gain the interest, respect, and cooperation of clients; and plan, organize, and direct the work of others.

Supervising Registered Nurse

Knowledge of: All of the above, and techniques of effective supervision; unit management; the interrelationships of all treatment activities in a hospital setting; the department's Affirmative Action Program objectives; a supervisor's role in the Affirmative Action Program and the processes available to meet affirmative action objectives.

 

Ability to: All of the above, and effectively contribute to the department's affirmative action objectives.

Special Personal Characteristics

Both Classes:

Must possess aptitude for and willingness to work with clients in a State facility; emotional stability; sensitivity to the needs of clients; patience; tact; alertness; and keenness of observation.

Additional Desirable Qualification

Both Classes:

Proficiency in the use of American Sign Language.

Drug Testing Requirement

Both Classes:

Departments of Mental Health and Developmental Services only. Applicants for positions in these classes are required to pass a drug screening test. Testing of current employees who are applicants in an examination or who are transferring is permitted only if the person does not have a current appointment to a class for which drug testing is a requirement.

Class History

Registered Nurse Series History - Dates Established, Revised, and Title Changed
Class Date Established Date Revised Title Changed
Registered Nurse 07/11/1989 01/06/2006 --
Supervising Registered Nurse 04/27/1946 01/06/2006 07/11/1989
  Updated: 6/3/2012
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