Registered Nurse (RN) - OTN

Description

Days Off: Saturday, Sunday

Shift: Day   (9am to 5pm)

Insurance Benefits: Dental, Life, Long-term Disability, Medical (no premiums/payroll deductions for employee coverage)

Other Benefits: Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Flexible Spending Account (FSA), ORCA  card subsidy, Paid Time Off (34 days per year), Retirement Plan 

Union Representation: This position is a part of a union and is represented by SEIU Healthcare 1199NW.

About DESC:

Recognized nationally as an innovator and leader in developing solutions to homelessness, DESC is a social services organization, supportive housing  operator, and licensed behavioral health treatment provider focused on  meeting the needs of people experiencing long-term homelessness and living with complex behavioral health and other medical conditions. Approximately 3,000 people are actively receiving services from DESC at  any given point in time. Our vision is a community where all people are  shown compassion, treated with dignity, and everyone has a safe, stable,  and affordable place to call home.

DESC operates five shelter/emergency housing programs,19 permanent supportive housing  facilities with over 1,750 units, several hundred additional scattered site apartments, and a range of behavioral health services including outpatient mental health and substance use disorder treatment, residential crisis stabilization, street outreach, mobile crisis  response, and treatment for opioid use disorder. 

JOB DEFINITION:

The Registered Nurse (RN) provides and coordinates care for individuals suffering from opioid use disorder in DESC’s low-barrier buprenorphine program. The RN acts as a member of an interdisciplinary team to provide buprenorphine services to our community’s most vulnerable population, many of which are experiencing homelessness, mental illness and a range of comorbidities. This position provides the opportunity to participate in community engagement in shelters, encampments and permanent supportive housing. The RN will provide client-centered care through the lens of harm reduction and trauma-informed care. Work is done under the supervision of the Nursing Supervisor and Nurse Manager at DESC’s 216 James St. Clinic.  

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Coordinate a low barrier office-based opioid replacement treatment program focused on a population of clients who have difficulty accessing traditional buprenorphine services. Integrate care with a multidisciplinary team of psychiatric providers, nurses, substance use professionals, peer support specialists, mental health case managers and primary care providers. 
• Participate in contingency-management and ongoing care coordination for individuals with stimulant-use disorder. 
• Assess and monitor patients in induction, stabilization, and maintenance phases of treatment with clients wanting buprenorphine or intramuscular naltrexone, using an approach that is patient-centered and includes harm reduction strategies and motivational interviewing in a non-traditional setting. 
• Provide counseling and education about treatment options to clients and work together with them to set and monitor goals. 
• Follow state and federal guidelines, as well as program-specific policies and procedures for opioid dependent patients in a collaboration with prescribing providers and dispensing pharmacies. 
• Provide screening, counseling and care coordination for both HIV and Hepatitis C.
• Ability to use critical thinking, clinical judgment, patience and flexibility in frequent contacts with clients.  
• Have strong communication and customer service skills.  
• Demonstrate leadership ability as well as using interdisciplinary team concepts. 
• Provide ongoing assessment of mental status and the positive impact and side effects of treatment. 
• Be available for drop-in clients as well as those with scheduled visits, keep posted hours, and perform community outreach. 
• Assess clients for a range of health care needs and facilitate linkage and on-going connection to relevant urgent, primary and specialty health services to ensure continuity of care. Advocate for patients’ access to a variety of community resources and services. 
• Collaborate closely with other DESC services, particularly substance use disorder staff. 
• Consult and collaborate with community providers to ensure continuity of care and that patients’ needs are being met, and rights maintained. 
• Provide nursing services and basic wound care.
• Serve as an educational resource and provide consultation for DESC staff. 
• Participate in psychiatric consultation, supervision, program meetings and in-se