Job Description

Days Off: Saturday & Sunday

Shift: Office Day

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

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 OVERVIEW:

The Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC) is currently recruiting a Senior Nurse Manager to oversee nursing services within our ORCA POD Team (Patient Outreach Division) as well as our Opioid Recovery & Care Access (ORCA) Center, which will offer four overlapping types of services:

• Care to individuals in stable condition who have experienced an opioid overdose, brought to the ORCA Center by the Seattle Fire Department.
• Rapid initiation of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), including buprenorphine (sublingual and long-acting injectable) and methadone (under the “72-hour rule”, or Code of Federal regulations Title 21 §1306.07 (b)), for people with OUD, regardless of whether an opioid overdose has recently occurred.
• Harm reduction counseling and OUD-related physical and behavioral health services, such as hepatitis C testing and treatment and HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis.
• Follow-up care, at the ORCA Center or at times field-based, with individuals who have started MOUD to ensure support in MOUD continuation.

DESC clinical teams provide a wide range of services for eligible individuals within King County, with responsibility for providing on-going case management, psychiatric services and medical services to adults living with mental illness and/or substance use disorder. The Senior Nurse (RN) Manager has responsibilities for overseeing nursing participation in multi-disciplinary teams within which medical staff work in close collaboration, to provide appropriate and comprehensive behavioral health treatment services, as well as Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD). Members of the ORCA POD and ORCA Center provide medication coordination/management, client education, health assessment, outreach and related services in collaboration with the multi-disciplinary teams.

The Senior Nurse Manager will provide clinical and administrative direction and coordination of efforts to Nursing Supervisors and Registered Nurses within the ORCA teams and other teams as assigned. The Senior Nurse Manager will be responsible for assuring compliance with all relevant Washington State Administrative Code (WAC), Revised Code of Washington (RCW), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Department of Health, and contract and procedure requirements associated with the operation of a community mental health center. This position has administrative duties associated with planning, including implementation of new initiatives, hiring, and quality assurance/improvement, and the Senior Nurse Manager will have responsibility for coordinating medical services with other team leadership. Work is done under the supervision of the Nursing Director and in regular collaboration with other clinical managers and supervisors.

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Direct medical aspects of client care within multidisciplinary teams of social workers/case managers, SUDPs, peer support specialists, psychiatric nurses and nursing supervisors, psychiatric providers (MD and ARNP), pharmacists, employment specialists and other mental health and housing staff.
• Along with the Nursing and Medical Director, oversee medical aspects of care, including monitoring and administration of medications in a manner that meets unique client needs.
• Provide clinical and administrative supervision of nursing staff. Establish and maintain practice standards and protocols. Ensure compliance with all related licensing, DEA, and other regulations.
• Coordinate performance evaluations on a scheduled basis, and direct maintenance of supporting documentation in confidential supervisory and personnel files.
• Collaborate closely with the ORCA Program Manager, ORCA Medical Lead, and ORCA nurse supervisors in the strategic structuring, recruitment, hiring, orientation, training and supervision of a float pool of nurse practitioners and nurses to work as needed to fill gaps in ORCA staffing.
• Establish and maintain high quality practice standards for all ORCA Center staff.
• Oversee budgets, staffing and contractual obligations of the ORCA POD team.
• Supervise and evaluate assigned staff, encompassing clinical performance, work efficiency and output, and team collaboration.
• Incorporate an equity framework for all aspects of work across the ORCA Center in collaboration with other leaders.
• Oversee crisis care, case management and nursing services provided by RNs
• Along with the nursing supervisors, conduct orientation and training for new nurses.
• Provide and direct education to clients regarding their treatment, medical and mental health condition.
• On-going assessment of mental status, positive impacts and side effects of treatment.
• Supervise hiring and scheduling of nursing staff, including per diem staffing hours.
• Provide or coordinate specialized training and consultation to other staff members, including in housing programs, on medical/mental health/substance use issues relating to clients and their care.
• Direct nursing participation in psychiatric consultation, supervision, program meetings and in-service trainings; direct participation in clinical reviews and case conferences.
• Participate in the development and implementation of psychiatric procedures to ensure consistent and appropriate clinical care. Recommend changes to client care activities as needed. Conduct or direct related QA & QI activities.
• Comply with the agency’s clinical accountability policies and procedures; supervise maintenance of current and complete clinical records; participate in quality assurance reviews.
• Comply with applicable program research and evaluation procedures.
• Ensure implementation of program elements in congruence with principles of recovery-based services and harm reduction.
• Maintain knowledge of DESC personnel policies, procedures and collective bargaining agreement. Ensure compliance with same.
• Supervise client assessments for the range of health care needs, including linkage and on-going connection to relevant urgent, primary and specialty health services.
• Advocate for clients’ access to community resources and services, especially primary health care services, ensuring that clients’ needs are met and rights maintained; consult and collaborate with community providers to ensure continuity of care.
• Participate in planning and organizing of group treatment services for consumers served by clinical programs.
• Participate in verbal de-escalation and physical interventions in emergent situations and be willing and able to assist other staff as needed to maintain a safe and secure environment.
• Other duties as assigned.
• Provide in-service education to ORCA staff at all levels. Work with quality assurance and others to verify compliance with administrative rules such as and not limited to patient and records privacy.

Requirements

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• Registered Nurse, licensed in the State of Washington with the Department of Health in good standing.
• Two or more years of experience in community-based behavioral health services providing MOUD and psychiatric care.
• One or more years of experience providing leadership and supervision in clinical services.
• One or more years of experience with development or oversight of a project or program.
• Experience working with adults experiencing homelessness, mental illness and/or substance use disorders.
• Interest or experience in working with clients who are difficult to engage.
• Be able to pass a Washington State Criminal background check.
• Knowledge and endorsement of harm reduction strategies.
• Ability and interest in providing MOUD to vulnerable adults.
• Ability to communicate with and coordinate with staff from diverse backgrounds.
• Ability to work effectively with clients displaying a wide range of unpleasant and/or bizarre behavior.
• Subscribe to the philosophy of cooperation and continuity across programs with consideration and respect for clients.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Knowledge and skill in working with co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders; with homeless or formerly homeless individuals; and crisis intervention and stabilization experience.
• Familiarity with Recovery Principles, Integrated Treatment of Co-occurring Disorders, Case Management, Illness Management, and relevant Evidenced based/Emerging best practices.
• Bilingual in Spanish/English.
• Strong applicants will have supervisory experience and be able to demonstrate the ability to be positive in their empathetic responses to all persons; understand the value of meaningful and deep client engagement; and value a non-judgmental response to sensitive issues. Candidates should be able to accept feedback and work in a highly collaborative and potentially stressful environment.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee will be required sit for long periods of time, communicate with other persons by talking and hearing, required to lift and carry items weighing up to 25 pounds and to operate computer hardware systems. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER:

DESC is committed to diversity in the workplace and promotes equal employment opportunities for all staff members and applicants. The Agency will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, gender, sexual orientation, age, national origin, caste, marital status, or the presence of any sensory, mental or physical disability in any employment practice, unless based on a bona fide occupational qualification. Minorities and veterans are encouraged to apply.