Registered Nurse; ONA MH

Overview

Position: Registered Nurse

Department: Assertive Community Treatment Team

The Assertive Community Treatment Team (ACTT) is a best practice model providing specialized community care supporting people living with severe and persistent mental illness in achieving satisfying, hopeful and contributing lives. The teams provide community-based client-centered, recovery-oriented mental health services for persons with serious mental illnesses. Services are delivered by an interdisciplinary mental health team that provides the majority of the treatment, rehabilitation, and support services that clients need to achieve their goals.

Intensive services are available 24 hours per day, seven days a week and are provided based on individual needs and a mutually agreed upon plan between the client and ACTT staff. ACTT services are individually tailored with each client and address the preferences and identified goals of each client.

• Coordinate, schedule, and administer medical assessments of clients’ physical health, making appropriate referrals and coordinate psychiatric treatment with medical treatment, in collaboration with the team psychiatrist.
• Conduct home visits to determine the clients’ needs, which may result in first aid, treatments such as medication administration, glucometer readings, monitoring of vital signs, and observation for changes in clients’ conditions, with an ongoing duty to record information in the client file.
• Evaluate and chart psychotropic medication effectiveness, complications, and side effects, and arrange for required lab work, according to protocol.
• Organize with other team members to manage and provide medication to clients to integrate medication administration into clients’ individual/recovery plans.
• Manage pharmaceutical and medical supplies, under the direction of the team psychiatrist and in collaboration with other nurses on the team.
• Participate in treatment, rehabilitation, and support services.

• Current Certificate of Registration ~ College of Nurses of Ontario in good standing required.
• Current Basic Life Support (BLS) for Health Care Providers (HCP) Certificate required (recent within the last twelve months).
• Current Gentle Persuasive Approach (GPA) Certificate an asset.
• Minimum (1-2 year) experience in community Mental Health and Addictions required.
• Minimum (2-3 year) medical/clinical experience in an active care setting (within last 2-3 years) required.
• Knowledge of psychiatric conditions, psychotropic medication, related side effects, symptom management and health teaching required.
• Demonstrated ability to support clients with a variety of mental health and physical health conditions across the adult life span required.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience in implementing a Recovery Based Philosophy in mental health is required.
• Certification from the CNA in psychiatric/mental health nursing (CPMH(c)) is an asset.
• Applied approaches in health promotion, self-management, harm reduction, disease management and health monitoring practices.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience in applying recovery informed approaches like Motivational Interviewing, Harm Reduction, Crisis Intervention and Trauma Informed Care.
• Knowledge of Group facilitation, program planning and patient engagement.
• Knowledge of ACTT Standards clinical care pathway.
• Demonstrated knowledge of community mental health, addictions and vocational services.
• Knowledge of best practices in addiction and mental health crisis intervention, the Patient Family Partnered Care practices and the ACTT model of care.
• Capillary Blood Glucose Certification.
• Instruct ACT clients and their families in health education and disease prevention, educate, support around their rights and preferences around treatment and recovery.
• Coordinate, schedule, and administer medical assessments of clients’ physical health, making appropriate referrals and coordinate psychiatric treatment with medical treatment, in collaboration with the team psychiatrist.
• Conduct home visits to determine the clients’ needs, which may result in first aid, treatments such as medication administration, glucometer readings, monitoring…