PD-LICENSED VOCATIONAL NURSE I/ LICENSED PSYCHIATRIC TECHNICIAN I **CSU**

Job Title

This is an on call/as needed non-benefited position. Experience in a behavioral health or addiction treatment services preferred.

Hourly Rate..... $38.14 (Plus 10% differential)

Pay rates for Union positions are set in the Collective Bargaining Agreement with SEIU Local 521. Each position has a total of six steps, Step 1 (entry level) through Step 6 (15 years of employment with the organization). Union staff are promoted from Step 1 to Step 2 upon their one-year anniversary. The current Step 1 rate for this position is $38.14 /hr, and the current Step 6 rate for this position is $42.11 /hr.

In addition to our competitive salaries, we pay a shift differential for certain shifts in our 24-hour programs as follows:

• 6.25% additional pay for overnight (NOC) shift from 11 pm to 7 am

• 4.75% additional pay for evening shift from 5:30 pm to 10:59 pm

• 4.75% additional pay for weekend shifts from 12:01 am on Saturday thru 11:59pm on Sunday

Principal Duties And Responsibilities:

1. Provide medical treatment, crisis intervention, medication support and rehabilitation services, within scope of practice, in an inpatient/outpatient milieu setting for individuals with mental illness.

• Serve as a member of the treatment team.
• Provide treatment services, training, and support to clients, both individually and within groups, to help improve skills related to physical and mental health care needs;
• Evaluate clients for symptoms of illness, responses to treatment, general behaviors and general physical condition; observe condition of clients and report unusual conditions; initiate therapeutic interventions;
• Assist in providing a variety of therapy techniques, such as primary process and life skills groups;
• Interview and assess patients and other appropriate persons to determine if patient is in need of voluntary or involuntary psychiatric detentions (5150 holds) or hospitalization; follow up on high risk cases; identify appropriate treatment services;
• Participate in crisis intervention; in the case of client's being a danger to self or others, determine the extent of the threat; de-escalate that threat;
• Note physician orders and follow through, as needed;

• Administer subcutaneous and intra-muscular medications under the direction of a physician.

Other Duties And Responsibilities:

1. Ensure program facilities are clean and well kept, encouraging clients and/or staff in necessary tasks.
2. Implement systems to monitor First Aid supplies and disaster plans.
3. Attend and participate in staff, program, Agency and community meetings and training, as required.
4. Participate in management of team/program discretionary resources available to meet client needs.

Knowledge, Skill, And Abilities Required: (E = Essential; D = Desired)

1. Completion of an accredited Licensed Vocational Nurse or Licensed Psychiatric Technician program and at least one year of full-time paid human services experience. (E)

• Additional education, certifications, and experience:
• One year of experience in a mental health setting when in Social Rehabilitation Certified Facilities; (E)
• Experience in implementing medication support systems; (E)
• Previous experience working with the target population. (D)

• Work independently and in a small team environment; be resourceful, initiate own work, and follow through; (E)
• Engage and communicate effectively with others in both verbal and written English; carry out written and verbal instructions in English; (E) proficiency in a second language to perform these functions; (D)
• Monitor and support developmental growth and the recovery process; (E)
• Implement, monitor and support treatment processes; develop physical health portions of individual treatment plans; (E)
• Assess general health conditions, reactions to medications or other treatment, and the need for medical intervention; (E)
• Maintain clear, accurate, and complete medical charts and client records and prepare reports; (E)
• Manage multiple tasks and demands; effectively manage time and meet required timelines; (E)
• Employ tact and diplomacy, exercise good judgment, and act calmly in emergency situations; make appropriate interventions; (E)
• Work from a strengths-based, harm-reduction, social rehabilitation model; (E)
• Work effectively with persons of different value systems, ethnicity, cultural backgrounds, language capabilities and disabilities; (E)
• Work collaboratively with individuals identified as those with serious mental illness who meet the following criteria: histories of hospitalization, institutionalization, including with the criminal justice system, substance abuse, low engagement in medication treatment, and difficulty in participating in structured activities and living independently; (E)
• Work with populations identified as high risk and/or considered underrepresented in the County Mental Health system with multiple barriers; (E)
• Exhibit exemplary customer service, compassion, and care in the execution of all duties and interactions. (E)

• May also have histories of assaultive behavior; (E)
• May have resided in long term care facilities for extended periods; (E)
• May have patterns of service that relied almost exclusively on emergency and institutional care; (E)
• May have cognitive difficulties and medical co-morbidities and are considered medically fragile and may also be developmentally disabled; (E)
• May have long-term patterns of homelessness and criminal justice involvement. (E)

• Practical nursing theory and best practices in psychiatric nursing procedures in clinics, residential settings, and/or hospitals; (E)
• Clinical techniques for assessment, treatment, and rehabilitation of people with mental illness; problem resolution and conflict resolution techniques; (E)
• Community resources, including those required to meet the non-mental health needs of the target population; (E)
• Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) and Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP). (D)