Registered Nurse

Psychiatric Nurse

Provides clinical leadership and oversees direct nursing care of patients with psychiatric disorders and co-occurring chemical dependency. Collaborates with physicians and multidisciplinary team members; provides physical and psychological support to patients, friends, and families; supervises assigned team members.

Essential Functions

• Completes all required assessments promptly.
• Consistently reflects ongoing assessments in patients' treatment plans and progress notes.
• Notes, logs, and other applicable written information are completed promptly and accurately, and information is shared with leadership promptly.
• Ensures clients can remain safe in the programs and participate to the best of their ability through safety measures, room assignments, and other measures.
• Effectively assesses unusual, complex, or otherwise difficult cases and implements strategies to address client needs.
• Proactively identifies potential problems and educates other unit staff to realize improved patient care.
• Provides patients, families, and visitors with accurate, complete information.
• Ensures optimal use of resources, internal or external, in the patient's best interest.
• Actions demonstrate a thorough knowledge of patients' diagnoses and treatment interests.
• Treatment plans are complete and done within the required time frames.
• The treatment plan and progress notes clearly reflect the progress of the patient and family toward goals and response to interventions.
• Establishes effective discharge plans, individualized and relevant to the needs of patients and significant others.
• Documentation is thorough and concise and reflects the client's wishes.
• Demonstrates follow-through with measures outlined in the treatment plan and nursing care plan.
• Communicates unit rules and policies clearly to patients and family members and seeks feedback to ensure a clear understanding.
• Offers constructive feedback and direction to students and interns when working on the unit.
• Conveys accurate information to new unit nursing staff in a supportive and courteous manner.
• Document patient teaching that has taken place, including the patients' response to teaching.
• Independently seeks outside educational opportunities and offers to in-service other staff members on knowledge gained from educational opportunities.
• Reinforces positive behaviors of staff.
• Promptly notifies nursing leadership or Program Administrator of performance or conduct problems.
• Intervenes effectively in staff performance or conducts problem-solving when acting in a supervisory capacity.
• Improves performance of other employees via sound instruction and guidance.
• Follows department and hospital communication protocols; follows proper chain-of-command to relay information.
• Communications demonstrate support of department and hospital staff guidelines.
• Formally suggests nursing and program improvements.
• Properly instructs and guides behavioral health technicians and LPNs in patient care responsibilities and assignments.
• Covers work assignments, shifts, and locations as requested.
• Stays thoroughly informed of changes, trends, and developments in medication and nursing management of adult psychiatric patients.
• Proactively identifies at-risk patients so prevention measures may be formulated and implemented in patients' best interest, including preventing unexpected discharges.

Job Requirements

• Graduate of an accredited Nursing program
• PA RN license
• Demonstrates sound leadership skills and utilizes these skills in organizing the activities and schedules for medical and/or non-medical tasks for a given shift.

Physical and Mental Job Requirements

• Ability to exercise self-control in potentially volatile situations such as being verbally or physically confronted in a threatening or aggressive manner.
• Must be able to work and concentrate amidst distractions such as noise, conversation, and foot traffic.
• Ability to handle interruptions often and move from one task to another.
• Must be flexible and not easily frustrated in dealing with differences of opinion.
• Ability to stoop, kneel, crouch, crawl, reach, stand, walk, push, pull, lift, grasp, and be able to perceive the attributes of objects such as size, shape, temperature, and/or texture by touching with skin, particularly that of the fingertips.
• Ability to express and exchange ideas via spoken word during activities in which they must accurately convey details or important spoken instructions to others, sometimes quickly and loudly. Hearing is to perceive the nature of sound with no less than 40 db loss a Hz, 1000 Hz, or 2000 Hz with or without correction.
• Ability to perceive detailed information through communication and make fine sound discriminations.
• Individuals must be able to exert up to 100 pounds of force occasionally and to be able to lift, carry, push, pull, or otherwise move objects.
• Work requires a minimum standard of visual acuity with or without correction that will enable people in the role to complete administrative and clerical tasks and visually observe patients on the unit and in therapeutic activities.
• While a worker may possibly be subjected to temperature changes, the worker is generally not substantially exposed to adverse environmental conditions as the work is predominantly inside.
• Required to travel throughout the city where drug trafficking activity is prevalent.