Description
Days Off: Saturday, Sunday
Shift: Day ย ย (9am to 5pm)
Insurance Benefits: Dental, Life, Long-term Disability, Medical (no premiums/payroll deductions for employee coverage)
Other Benefits:ย Employee Assistanceย Programย (EAP), Flexible Spending Account (FSA), ORCA ย cardย subsidy, Paidย Time Offย (34 days per year), Retirement Planย
Union Representation: This position is a part of a union and is represented by SEIU Healthcare 1199NW.
Supervised by: ORCA POD RN Supervisor
A cover letter is required as part of your application to be considered for this role.
About the Opioid Recovery & Care Access (ORCA) program
DESC's ย ORCA program provides compassionate, low-barrier, and evidence-based ย care to individuals who are recovering from opioid overdose and those ย seeking treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD). The ORCA Center, our ย brick-and-mortar location, provides post-overdose subacute stabilization ย services and provides walk-in access to medications for opioid use ย disorder (MOUD). The ORCA Patient Outreach Division (POD) delivers ย field-based MOUD care - meeting people where they literally are in the ย community.
ORCA Center
The ORCA Center is open 24 ย hours per day, 7 days per week, including holidays. It is staffed by a ย multidisciplinary team, including providers, nurses, medical assistants, ย peers, and milieu specialists. The ORCA Center offers four overlapping ย types of services:
- Care to individuals in stable condition ย who have experienced an opioid overdose, brought to the ORCA Center by ย first responders or transferred from local emergency departments.
- Rapid ย initiation of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), including ย buprenorphine (sublingual and long-acting injectable) and methadone ย (under the "72-hour rule", or CFR Title 21 1306.07 (b)), for people ย with OUD, regardless of whether an opioid overdose has recently ย occurred.
- Harm reduction counseling and OUD-related physical and behavioral health services.
- Follow-up care for individuals who have started MOUD to ensure support in MOUD continuation.
ORCA POD
ORCA ย POD is ORCA's field-based care team, bringing MOUD induction, ย stabilization, and maintenance services as well as education and other ย supports directly to patients in the community. ORCA POD operates during ย business hours (Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.). ORCA POD is a ย multidisciplinary team, including providers, nurses, and peers, ย operating across several geographic areas throughout the greater Seattle ย region including:
- Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) sites
- Emergency shelters
- Encampments or unsanctioned sites
- High-need geographic zones identified in collaboration with DESC and community partners
- Areas without easy access to low-barrier MOUD services
JOB OVERVIEW:
The ย Registered Nurse (RN) provides and coordinates care for individuals ย suffering from opioid use disorder in DESC's low-barrier buprenorphine ย program. The RN acts as a member of an interdisciplinary team to provide ย buprenorphine services to our community's most vulnerable population, ย many of which are experiencing homelessness, mental illness and a range ย of comorbidities. This position provides the opportunity to participate ย in community engagement in shelters, encampments and permanent ย supportive housing. The RN will provide client-centered care through the ย lens of harm reduction and trauma-informed care. Work is done under the ย supervision of the Nursing Supervisor and Nurse Manager at DESC's ย Downtown Behavioral Health Clinic.
MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Provide ย low-barrier, outreach-based OUD treatment focused on a population of ย clients who have difficulty accessing traditional buprenorphine ย services. Integrate care with a multidisciplinary team of psychiatric ย providers, nurses, substance use professionals, peer support ย specialists, mental health case managers and primary care providers.
- Assess ย and monitor patients in induction, stabilization, and maintenance ย phases of treatment with clients wanting buprenorphine or intramuscular ย naltrexone, using an approach that is patient-centered and includes harm ย reduction strategies and motivational interviewing in a non-traditional ย setting.
- Provide counseling and education about treatment options to clients and work together with them to set and monitor goals.
- Follow ย state and federal guidelines, as well as program-specific policies and ย procedures for patients with OUD in collaboration with prescribing ย providers and dispensing pharmacies.
- Provide screening, counseling and care coordination for both HIV and Hepatitis C.
- 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.
- Assess ย clients for a range of health care needs and facilitate linkage and ย on-going connection to relevant urgent, primary and specialty health ย services to ensure continuity of care. Advocate for patients' access to a ย variety of community resources and services.
- Collaborate ย closely with other DESC services, particularly DESC housing teams and ย substance use disorder professionals (SUDPs) on the SUD team.
- Consult ย and collaborate with community providers to ensure continuity of care ย 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-service trainings.
- Comply ย with the agency's clinical accountability policies and procedures; ย maintain current and complete clinical records; participate in quality ย assurance reviews.
- Participate in verbal de-escalation and ย crisis interventions in emergent situations and be willing and able to ย assist other staff as needed to maintain a safe and secure environment.
- Other duties as assigned
Requirements
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
- Registered Nurse licensed in the State of Washington OR ย Registered Nurse licensed under Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) and will ย apply for Washington State endorsement within 60 days of hire.
- Knowledge of psychiatric medications, side effects and methods of administration.
- Desire ย to serve people with complex needs who are or have been experiencing ย homelessness and are living with serious and persistent mental illness, ย substance use disorder, and other complex medical conditions.
- Able to work effectively with clients displaying a wide range of challenging behaviors .
- Adaptable to changing priorities, processes, or workflows as the program grows and evolves.
- Able to give and receive constructive feedback.
- Familiar with trauma-informed care, harm reduction, and equity and social justice principles.
- Possess cultural humility and able to work effectively with individuals of diverse backgrounds and identities.
- Willing to travel across the greater Seattle area.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor of Nursing degree.
- Nursing certifications
- Knowledge ย and skill in working with co-occurring mental health and substance use ย disorders; with people with a history of homelessness; and crisis ย intervention and stabilization experience.
- Familiarity with ย Recovery Principles, Crisis Intervention and Stabilization, Integrated ย Treatment of Co-occurring Disorders, Intensive Case Management, Illness ย Management, and relevant Evidenced based/Emerging best practices.
- Bilingual in Spanish/English.
- Ability ย to drive an agency or personal vehicle to conduct agency related ย business, which requires a current Washington State driver's license and ย insurable driving record.
Strong applicants are able to ย demonstrate the ability to be positive in their empathetic responses to ย all persons; understand the value of meaningful and deep client ย engagement; and value a non-judgmental response to sensitive issues. ย Candidates should be able to accept feedback and work in a highly ย collaborative and sometimes stressful environment.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS:
The ย physical demands described here are representative of those that must ย be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of ย this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals ย with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing ย the duties of this job, the employee will be required sit for long ย periods of time, communicate with other persons by talking and hearing, ย required to lift and carry items weighing up to 25 pounds and to operate ย computer hardware systems. Specific vision abilities required by the ย job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral ย vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER:
DESC ย is committed to diversity in the workplace and promotes equal ย employment opportunities for all staff members and applicants. The ย Agency will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for ย employment on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, gender, sexual ย orientation, age, national origin, caste, marital status, or the ย presence of any sensory, mental or physical disability in any employment ย practice, unless based on a bona fide occupational qualification. ย Minorities and veterans are encouraged to apply.