Berkeley is a small city with a big reputation. At just ten square miles of land and seven square miles of water, we're home to over fifty parks, a top-ranked university, and the largest public marina in the San Francisco Bay. And we’re famous around the globe as a center for academic achievement, scientific exploration, free speech, and the arts.

As an employer, the City of Berkeley offers all the benefits of a career in the public sector while fostering diversity, creativity, and innovation. Join a team of high-caliber, experienced staff with a shared mission of serving the Berkeley community and promoting an accessible, safe, healthy, environmentally sound and culturally rich city.

The Position

We are seeking a Mental Health Nurse who, following an initial period of orientation, will function at the fully qualified professional level assuming broad responsibilities requiring independence and professional judgment in utilizing mental health nursing intervention skills to treat individuals with severe mental illness. Medical and administrative direction is received from the Supervising Mental Health Nurse.

Full-time. Monday through Friday. 8am-5pm. No call or weekends. 

Duties:

1. Provides professional nursing care to psychiatric patients on an assigned case load in the clinic, at homes and on field visits (including encampments);
2. Collaborates on a multidisciplinary mental health team with other professionals and para-professionals in the delivery of specialized mental health services and in treatment planning;
3. Evaluates the needs of those with severe mental illness, substance use disorders, and co-morbid general medical conditions utilizing observation, patient interview, physical examination, mental status examination, and record review;
4. Observes, assesses, records, and reports the patient's behavior, condition, and response to care before, during, and after treatment and utilizes this information to re-assess and revise plan of care;
5. Develops psychiatric nursing care plans and provides nursing case management;
6. Plans strategies for solving patient care problems, establishes priorities, and coordinates activities needed to implement patient care plans;
7. Provides crisis intervention, psychoeducation, and counseling;
8. Dispenses, administers, and supervises patients' psychotropic and non-psychotropic medication and provides medication education and adherence support services;
9. Gives immunizations;
10. Explains treatment procedures to patients and provides support before, during, and after treatment;
11. Provides teaching relating to disease prevention, health promotion, treatment maintenance and rehabilitation;
12. Utilizes nursing intervention skills to prevent disease, promote healthy behavior and alleviate conditions adversely affecting the health and safety of individuals, families and the community;
13. Acts as patient liaison and advocate to external and internal medical providers and other community resources;
14. Follows up on treatment recommendations with patient and other involved agencies to ensure effective care and guidance to individuals and families;
15. Performs selected diagnostic tests under standardized procedures;
16. Assists in developing plans for teaching patients and families about the multiple requirements of proper home care. (e.g., medications, follow-up care, health resources, etc.);
17. Teaches patients and families how to follow psychiatric and non-psychiatric treatments after discharge (eg: medication reactions, dietary changes, etc.)
18. Teaches families to recognize signs/symptoms of decompensation and appropriate interventions in the event that this occurs in the psychiatric patient;
19. Accompanies patients to medical appointments and emergency departments as needed to assist in navigating the health care system;
20. Orders medication, controls medication inventory, reconciles medication lists, and prepares medication prior authorization requests;
21. Schedules and tracks laboratory blood draws and follows-up on results;
22. Coordinates the outpatient aspect of psychiatric and non-psychiatric hospital discharges;
23. Provides clinical supervision and training to allied health professionals and para-professionals;
24. Provides essential nursing services to other City of Berkeley departments and divisions when required to respond to a needed surge in staffing (natural disasters, outbreaks etc.)

Knowledge of: 

1. Principles, practices, methods, and techniques of psychiatric nursing;
2. Basic psychotropic and other common drug indications, reactions, interactions, and contraindications;
3. Best practices for treating substance use disorders;
4. Treatment methods of common chronic and acute medical conditions;
5. Cultural competence in the application of mental health treatment;
6. Laws, rules, regulations, protocols, and requirements pertinent to psychiatric nursing;
7. Safety and infection control practices and procedures;
8. Counseling, interviewing, and crisis intervention techniques;
9. Environmental, sociological, and political problems related to mental health care;
10. Community medical and social agencies and resources;
11. Child and elder abuse and neglect and domestic violence reporting laws. 

Skill in: 

1. Managing a caseload and establishing priorities for case management, treatment, and referrals;
2. Performing mental health nursing assessments and selected diagnostic tests;
3. Administering prescribed treatments;
4. Exercising sound independent judgment within established guidelines;
5. Assessing health and behavior;
6. Developing effective treatment and referral plans;
7. Communicating clear and accurate information regarding patients to physicians, health providers and other health members;
8. Identifying the impact of cultural differences on community health care practices;
9. Preparing clear, complete and accurate documentation, reports, and other written correspondence;
10. Establish and maintain effective and productive relationships with those contacted during the course of work.