Nurse Practitioner (MRP) - Mental Health Program

Position Summary

Required

Duties

• Our Mental Health Program seeks a full-time Nurse Practitioner to lead the treatment of psychiatric patients. Working collaboratively with psychiatrists and other members of our interprofessional team the NP will ensure that patients admitted for psychiatric treatment also have the benefit of assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of physical conditions while admitted to the psychiatric ward. The NP will champion preventative medicine, working directly with patients and providing team leadership in the delivery of preventative health interventions particularly important to patients with serious mental illness such as smoking cessation, metabolic monitoring, and sexual health. Working within our Transitional Outpatient Center, conveniently co-located with our mental health inpatient unit, the NP will extend services initiated on the inpatient unit for select patients in transition from hospital. The NP will also provide limited psychiatric care to select patients registered to our outpatient program, such as symptom and treatment monitoring for patients in the maintenance phase of serious illness, or treatment optimization in the management of mild to moderate anxiety and depression. This is an exciting opportunity for an NP who enjoys working in collaborative, interprofessional teams. It is an opportunity to make a tremendous difference for patients who often face significant barriers to good medical care. Patients with serious psychiatric illness have a life expectancy that is much shorter than what is average for our population due to preventable and/or manageable medical conditions that too often go unnoticed and untreated. The successful candidate for this position will join a team determined to address this unnecessary mortality gap. The NP holds a master's degree in nursing with expertise in one or more clinical nursing specialties. The NP demonstrates a comprehensive knowledge base in patient care across the continuum, exhibiting a high degree of clinical competence in caring for a select patient population within the community hospital setting. The successful candidate will provide comprehensive care to clients including health assessments, follow-up, and treatment, providing expert consultation to clients or members of the interprofessional team, working collaboratively and accountably in communicating diagnoses, prescribing drugs, ordering a range of diagnostic tests, and appropriately consulting specialists. The candidate will competently respond to patients in crisis and will incorporate mental status assessments and suicide risk assessments into routine practice. The NP will also provide education, knowledge transfer, mentorship and coaching to other members of the inter-professional team. The NP-MRP assumes responsibility for assessments, diagnoses, ordering and interpreting diagnostic tests, prescribing pharmaceuticals, documenting on and discharging any post-acute patients in our mental health program within the legislated scope of practice, and similarly assumes responsibility for select outpatients in transitional and maintenance outpatient care. In addition to direct clinical care, the NP-MRP leads the development and implementation of applicable clinical guidelines and protocols, promotes the use of research and evidence-based practice, provides expert support and consultation, and facilitates system change. The NP-MRP demonstrates sound communication skills, champions person and family centered-care, advocates for vulnerable patients and their caregivers, and provides support and education to the interprofessional team.