Behavioral Health Nurse I/II

 Are you interested in making a difference? If so, please consider joining our dedicated team at the Department of Health & Human Services! 

-Assesses patients upon admission to unit and makes presentation of physical and behavioral condition findings to attending physicians.
-Provides professional nursing care to patients; observes and charts vital signs, including temperature, blood pressure, pulse, and respiration. 
-Provides equipment and supplies required for patient examination or treatment; observes and records patient reactions and behaviors and explains procedures. -Administers oral and hypodermic medications and observes and records their effects; obtains and records all orders from physician to facilitate patient treatment. 
-Participates in the preparation of the nursing component of patient treatment plans, including physical assessments on new patients, as a member of an interdisciplinary treatment team; oversees and participates in evaluation and therapeutic activities. 
-Performs crisis intervention, in person and on the phone, management of assaultive behavior, and general counseling; coordinates or arranges for the provision of needed services, including emergency detention when patient is in danger to self or others. 
-Provides supportive services, including individual, group, or family counseling, and various group activities such as exercise and art. 
-Confers with medical, behavioral health, and inter-agency staff regarding client needs and ways of improving staff's ability to positively impact clients; serves as case coordinator for assigned patients or clients, as needed. 
-Participates in case conferences and provides input regarding behavioral health cases and problems. 
-Provides medication refills per physician’s orders and policies and procedures; provides needed information to pharmacies and insurance companies. 
-Coordinates care with primary providers, pharmacies, laboratories, schools, medical facilities and personnel, probation, Child Welfare Services, and other government agencies. 
-Accepts report of previous shift and updates new admissions and medications; makes appropriate nursing notes on patients charts and writes medication orders; ensures that patient charts contain accurate and complete documentation; performs and documents end-of-shift narcotics count. 
-May coordinate and implement the Infection Control Program. Participates on the Infection Control Committee; conducts in-service training for staff; evaluates new products; reviews methods and practices for program compliance; maintains and reviews relevant records; prepares required reports. 
-May organize, assign, and review the work of staff on scheduled shift, as assigned. 
-At the Behavioral Health Nurse II level, may be assigned as a nurse preceptor and/or nurse educator; assesses learning needs and develops and implements learning plans; assists nursing staff in developing and maintaining their competencies, advancing their professional nursing practice, and facilitating their achievement of academic and career goals. 
-Maintains prescribed standards of behavioral health treatment and ensures services are rendered in conformance with policy and procedural guidelines. 

When Assigned to Quality Improvement 

-Audits treatment plans and medical charts to ensure all documentation meets clinical standards and policies; reviews and processes Treatment Authorization Requests to ensure that all documentation meets medical necessity for authorization of payment for treatment. 
-Performs site certifications and recertifications by auditing policies, procedures, physical location, required patient postings and brochures; follows up with any necessary corrections. 
-Coordinates the Utilization Review program; reviews admission and continued patient stays for medical necessity and appropriateness as outlined by Short Doyle/Medi-Cal procedures; organizes and participates on the Utilization Review Committee. ? Monitors reviews and sends updates for concurrent reviews for out of County patients using Registered Nurse clinical judgement and expertise; maintains communications with out of county hospitals and explains standards and procedures. 
-Audits Sempervirens Master Treatment Plans for accuracy and documentation standards. 
-Receives, processes, and tracks consumer concerns, including assigning to appropriate manager; tracks for timeliness per policy, while explaining procedures to consumers. 
-Performs monthly chart reviews for both child/adult outpatient programs and organizational providers ensuring chart meets documentation standards, both clinically and per policy, and initiates corrective action as necessary. 
-Reviews clinical documents and compiles pertinent information into a report for Morbidity and Mortality (M&M) Reviews, tracks data, and processes reports. 
-Processes Treatment Authorization Requests received from out of County hospitals; reviews clinical documentation to ensure it meets medical necessity to authorize payment; confers with the Medical Director as needed for review. 
-Attends outpatient and inpatient Continuous Quality Improvement meetings to communicate and discuss issues with other administrative staff from other behavioral health programs. 
-Reviews and assigns Continuing Education Units to training courses offered through the County for Registered Nurses. 
-Performs related duties as assigned. 

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

QUALIFICATIONS 

Knowledge of:  

-Principles and practices of general behavioral health nursing care, as defined by the State of California licensing requirements. 

-Principles of providing functional direction and training. 
-Techniques for working with individuals, and their families, struggling with behavioral health issues. 
-Medical and behavioral health terminology and first aid methods and procedures. 
-Psychotropic medications, including narcotics and their effects on patients. 
-Standard medical recordkeeping, including patient charting and the processing and maintenance of required documentation. 
-Principles, practices, and methods of community behavioral health treatment, including interviewing, assessment, and family and group counseling. 
-Requirements for utilization review and infection control. 
-Trauma Informed Care model of care and ability to communicate the model to others. 
-Principles and techniques for working with groups and fostering effective team interaction to ensure teamwork is conducted smoothly. 
-Medical documentation standards. 
-Principles and practices of utilization review. 
-Principles and practices of Continuous Quality Improvement. 
-Techniques for providing a high level of customer service by effectively interacting with the public, vendors, contractors, and County staff. 
-The structure and content of the English language, including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar. 
-Modern equipment and communication tools used for business functions and program, project, and task coordination, including computers and software programs relevant to work performed. 

Ability to: 
-Conduct behavioral health assessments and evaluations and report physical and behavioral condition findings to medical staff. 
-Assign, direct, review and evaluate the work of assigned staff and train on work procedures. 
-Assess behavioral and/or emotional health status and develop effective patient treatment plans. 
-Perform crisis intervention, manage assaultive behavior, respond promptly to patient emergency situations, and take effective action to control potentially violent incidents. 
-Perform utilization review and infection control functions for compliance with standards. 
-Recognize the signs and symptoms of behavioral health disorders in children, adults, and families. 
-Use clinical judgment to determine if an action needs to be taken. ? Prepare clear and concise reports, patient documents and written correspondence. ? Understand client rights as they relate to treatment options. 
-Understand, interpret, and apply all pertinent laws, codes, regulations, policies and procedures, and standards relevant to work performed. 
-Effectively represent the department and the County in meetings with governmental agencies; community groups; various business, professional, and regulatory organizations; and in meetings with individuals. 
-Independently organize work, set priorities, meet critical deadlines, and follow-up on assignments. 
-Use tact, initiative, prudence, and independent judgment within general policy, and procedural, guidelines. 
-Effectively use computer systems, software applications relevant to work performed, and modern business equipment to perform a variety of work tasks. 
-Communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing, using appropriate English grammar and syntax. 
-Establish, maintain, and foster positive and effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of work. 

Education and Experience: 
Any combination of training and experience that would provide the required knowledge, skills, and abilities is qualifying. A typical way to obtain the required qualifications would be: 

Equivalent to a level of education and course of study, as determined by the State of California Board of Registered Nursing, which would qualify as an accredited program for incumbents to obtain licensure as a Registered Nurse. Typical ways of qualifying would be completion of an associate degree from an accredited educational institution with major coursework in nursing, psychology, or a related field. 

and 

Behavioral Health Nurse I: No prior experience in behavioral health nursing is required. 

Behavioral Health Nurse II: Two (2) years of experience at a level equivalent to the County’s class of Behavioral Health Nurse I. 

Licenses and Certifications: 

-Must possess a valid US driver’s license upon date of application. Must obtain California driver’s license following hire date per California DMV regulations. 
-Possession of a valid Registered Nursing license issued by the State of California Board of Registered Nursing. 
-Possession of a valid CPR/AED certification