Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner - Level IV

South Coast Children's Society•Upland, CA

11d

About The Position

The Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) – Level IV is an advanced psychiatric provider who assesses, diagnoses, treats, and manages medications for children, adolescents, adults, and families experiencing complex behavioral health conditions. The Level IV designation is intended for practitioners with significant psychiatric expertise, strong independent clinical judgment, and the ability to manage complex and high-acuity presentations while serving as a clinical resource to providers and interdisciplinary teams. Practice must remain within the practitioner’s education, training, certification, competencies, organizational privileges, and applicable California scope of practice. The role provides comprehensive psychiatric evaluations, psychopharmacologic treatment, ongoing medication management, risk assessment, and consultation. Alongside direct care, the PMHNP provides advanced clinical consultation, supports the development of other practitioners, contributes to clinical protocols and quality initiatives, and collaborates with psychiatric and organizational leadership to promote safe, evidence-based, integrated behavioral healthcare. Level IV designation does not itself confer formal personnel-management responsibilities; any supervisory duties are assigned specifically. The practitioner works with clients with serious mental illness, serious emotional disturbance, complex trauma, co-occurring disorders, significant functional impairment, and other complex needs. When assigned to pediatric populations, care takes account of developmental stage, family system, trauma history, school functioning, environmental factors, and medical history. The role collaborates with caregivers and other treatment partners as clinically appropriate and legally permitted. The PMHNP works in interdisciplinary and community-based settings, coordinating psychiatric care with medical, therapeutic, pharmacy, care-coordination, and other services. The practitioner maintains accurate and timely electronic health record documentation, complies with applicable laws and organizational requirements, maintains required credentials, and participates in quality assurance, peer review, audits, utilization review, medication monitoring, and improvement activities. Performance may be evaluated on clinical quality, medication safety, documentation, access and continuity, compliance, collaboration, client safety, consultation, mentorship, and quality-improvement participation.

Requirements

Master’s degree or Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from an accredited Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner or advanced practice nursing program meeting applicable California requirements.
Current, unrestricted California Registered Nurse license.
Current California Nurse Practitioner certification.
Current national board certification as a Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner appropriate to the populations served.
Current California furnishing authority and other prescribing authority required for the position.
Current DEA registration when required for assigned prescribing responsibilities.
Current BLS certification or equivalent certification required by the assigned program.
Maintain all required licenses, certifications, registrations, credentialing, and professional requirements throughout employment.
Advanced knowledge of psychiatric assessment, diagnosis, psychopharmacology, and evidence-based behavioral health treatment.
Advanced understanding of psychiatric medications, drug interactions, side-effect profiles, metabolic monitoring, laboratory requirements, and medication-safety practices.
Strong clinical risk-assessment and crisis-management skills.
Ability to evaluate complex psychiatric presentations and distinguish psychiatric symptoms from medical, developmental, substance-related, and environmental contributors.
Ability to work effectively in interdisciplinary and community-based treatment environments.
Strong consultation, communication, documentation, and clinical leadership skills.
Ability to provide culturally responsive, trauma-informed, person- and family-centered care.
Practice within education, training, national certification, demonstrated competencies, organizational privileges, and applicable California scope of practice.

Nice To Haves

Doctor of Nursing Practice degree.
Generally seven or more years of progressively responsible advanced psychiatric practice experience for Level IV designation.
Significant experience treating individuals with serious mental illness, serious emotional disturbance, complex trauma, co-occurring disorders, or other high-acuity behavioral health conditions.
For positions serving children and adolescents, substantial pediatric psychiatric experience.
Demonstrated expertise in psychopharmacology and management of complex medication regimens.
Demonstrated ability to independently evaluate and manage complex psychiatric presentations.
Previous experience providing clinical consultation, mentoring, education, or leadership to advanced practice providers or interdisciplinary professionals.
Specialized certifications, clinical expertise, demonstrated competencies, complex-practice experience, and organizational contribution relevant to Level IV designation.

Responsibilities

Conduct comprehensive psychiatric evaluations, including psychiatric, medical, developmental, psychosocial, substance-use, trauma, medication, and family histories.
Perform mental status examinations and assess symptoms, functioning, risks, protective factors, and treatment needs.
Establish psychiatric diagnoses and differential diagnoses consistent with current standards, scope of practice, and demonstrated competencies.
Develop individualized, evidence-based treatment plans based on diagnosis, presentation, client needs and preferences, medical necessity, treatment history, and prior response.
Prescribe, initiate, adjust, monitor, and discontinue psychotropic and other medications within applicable authority and scope of practice.
Evaluate medication effectiveness, adherence, side effects, contraindications, interactions, metabolic effects, and other clinical considerations.
Order, review, and interpret laboratory tests and other diagnostic studies needed for safe psychiatric medication management.
Educate clients and families about diagnoses, medications, risks and benefits, treatment alternatives, expected outcomes, and adherence.
Provide psychiatric care for individuals with serious mental illness, serious emotional disturbance, complex trauma, co-occurring disorders, and other high-acuity or complex needs.
Assess suicide, self-harm, homicide or violence, grave-disability, substance-use, psychosis, medication-complication, and other urgent psychiatric risks.
Develop or support safety plans and initiate emergency evaluation, hospitalization, crisis intervention, higher levels of care, or other protective actions when indicated.
Recognize when consultation or escalation to a psychiatrist, physician, emergency department, specialist, or other advanced provider is needed.
Coordinate psychiatric treatment with primary care providers, specialists, hospitals, pharmacies, therapists, care coordinators, and other professionals.
For pediatric assignments, assess symptoms in developmental and family context and collaborate with parents, caregivers, guardians, clinicians, schools, and treatment partners as appropriate and legally permitted.
Use heightened judgment when prescribing psychotropic medications to children and adolescents, including consideration of development, consent, monitoring, adverse effects, and standards of care.
Support integrated treatment planning for youth receiving intensive community-based behavioral health services.
Serve as an advanced psychiatric clinical resource to interdisciplinary teams and provide consultation regarding complex presentations.
Mentor, educate, consult with, and provide professional support to less-experienced advanced practice providers and other clinical professionals.
Participate in complex case conferences and multidisciplinary treatment reviews.
Assist Medical Services leadership in developing and implementing psychiatric standards, protocols, workflows, medication-management practices, and evidence-based approaches.
Participate in clinical quality, medication-safety, utilization, risk-management, performance-improvement, peer-review, audit, and medication-monitoring activities.
Collaborate with interdisciplinary professionals and support integration of psychiatric treatment with psychotherapy, care coordination, substance-use treatment, physical healthcare, social services, and other interventions.
Complete accurate, timely electronic health record documentation, including medical necessity, assessments, diagnoses, treatment decisions, medications, consent discussions, risk assessments, client response, and follow-up plans.
Maintain compliance with applicable federal and California requirements governing psychiatric practice, privacy, prescribing, controlled substances, telehealth, and documentation.
Maintain required licenses, certifications, furnishing and prescribing authority, DEA registration when applicable, and other credentials.
Practice ethically and within education, training, certification, competencies, organizational privileges, and California scope of practice.