Mental Health

Ventura County•Oxnard, CA

3d•Onsite

About The Position

Under the direction of a supervisor or Senior Registered Nurse-Mental Health, this role initiates, coordinates, and performs professional activities delivering direct and indirect mental health services to patients and the community. Work is performed in Behavioral Health outpatient clinics or on the Crisis Team. Clinic hours are offered during the day and/or evening, with on-call and crisis-services rotations. The recruitment may be used to fill Regular, Temporary, Fixed-term, Intermittent, and Extra-help vacancies; three Regular vacancies are currently available at Ventura County Behavioral Health. The position has three classification levels. Registered Nurse I requires no experience. Registered Nurse II requires six months of recent full-time acute-care registered nursing experience in an acute hospital, outpatient-care, or equivalent setting, or completion of Ventura County Medical Center competency requirements as evaluated and approved by the Chief Nursing Executive. Registered Nurse-Mental Health requires one year of full-time professional registered nursing experience providing direct patient care in a mental health setting. An employee appointed at the lower level may be promoted to the higher level without further examination after meeting minimum requirements, demonstrating satisfactory performance, and subject to departmental business needs. Registered Nurses I and II are represented by the California Nurses' Association and are eligible for overtime compensation. Salary placement is determined under the current CNA memorandum of agreement. Approximate hourly salaries are $46.83–$49.22 for Registered Nurse I, $54.70–$65.42 for Registered Nurse II, and $56.61–$70.17 for Registered Nurse-Mental Health. Eligible employees may receive educational and bilingual incentives, certification pay, shift and premium pay, continuous county service incentive pay, and a flexible credit allowance for medical, dental, and/or vision insurance. The County also offers participation in its defined benefit pension plan.

Requirements

Graduation from an accredited School of Nursing.
Possess and maintain a current, valid Registered Nurse license issued by the State of California, or RN licensure in another state with California licensure pending.
Possess and maintain current, valid Basic Life Support (BLS/CPR) certification by the first day of employment.
Successfully complete the Health Care Agency medication-calculation test within three months of employment; this is mandatory for Health Care Agency assignments.
Registered Nurse I: no experience required.
Registered Nurse II: six months of recent full-time acute-care RN experience in an acute hospital, outpatient-care, or equivalent setting, or completion of Ventura County Medical Center competency requirements evaluated and approved by the Chief Nursing Executive.
Registered Nurse-Mental Health: one year of full-time professional RN experience providing direct patient care in a mental health setting.
Registered Nurse I/II: thorough knowledge of professional nursing theory, techniques and practices; medical terminology; hospital routines and equipment; and medicines and narcotics.
Registered Nurse I/II: ability to plan and organize nursing care; train and supervise nonprofessional staff; maintain patient and staff confidence and patient/client confidentiality; work effectively across healthcare or hospital departments and shifts; build effective interpersonal relationships with staff, patients, and families; and communicate effectively orally and in writing.
Registered Nurse-Mental Health: working knowledge of mental and medical nursing theories and practices, human growth and development, current mental health treatment approaches, community resources and their interrelationships, mental health laws related to patient care, and social and political factors influencing mental health-care delivery.
Registered Nurse-Mental Health: ability to participate in comprehensive planning with a multidisciplinary team; make independent decisions on behalf of patients; provide functional supervision and leadership; maintain confidentiality; establish effective working relationships with professional staff, patients, families, and related entities; and communicate effectively orally and in writing.

Responsibilities

Assess, plan, organize, and provide nursing care to assigned patients using the full scope of the Nurse Practice Act.
Follow physicians' orders for treatments and medications; document treatment and medication dispensing; observe patients; and record and report pertinent information, including changes in condition and general progress.
Provide follow-through on clinical judgment within the scope of accepted nursing practice.
Assist physicians with examinations and treatment and provide physician assistance and patient care as required.
Organize unit work and ensure delegated and indicated nursing duties are completed by the end of the assigned shift.
Assist with training, supervision, and evaluation of new and ancillary personnel; provide functional and clinical supervision to student nurses and other disciplines as applicable.
Maintain current knowledge of nursing-care developments and therapeutic measures and attend department in-services and staff development programs.
Participate in quality assurance, utilization reviews, or other non-direct-patient-care nursing assignments as needed.
Use the nursing process to assess patients, plan and implement care, evaluate responses, and revise care plans as needed.
Provide individual counseling, lead or co-lead group counseling sessions, and conduct family conferences.
Administer medications and monitor their use and side effects.
Maintain required records and patient charts and collect data for research and evaluation.
Identify community agencies and resources that can assist patients and serve as a liaison on patients' behalf.
Provide crisis intervention, including evaluation, counseling, and consultation with law enforcement agencies; the role may include escorting patients for involuntary admission under Section 5150 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
Explain and enforce patients' legal rights.
Participate in developing or amending program policies and procedures and coordinate tasks related to service delivery in the assigned program.
Perform other related duties as required.

Benefits

Educational incentive of 2.5%, 3.5%, or 5% for an eligible Associate's, Bachelor's, or Master's degree that is not required for the classification.
Bilingual incentive may be available depending on operational need and certification of skill.
Certification pay of $0.813 per hour based on scheduled work-week hours for each qualified certification, up to five certifications; one certification may be paid at $2.00 per hour for a National Certification.
Evening shift differential of 7.5%.
Night shift differential of 15%.
Weekend shift differential of $2.00 per hour.
Continuous County Service Incentive Pay: 1% for 7 years, 1.25% for 12 years, and 1.5% for 17 years.
Preceptor pay of $2.50 per hour.
House Supervisor pay of $4.00 per hour.
Charge Nurse Premium Pay of $1.50 per hour.
Float Nurse Premium Pay of $3.50 per hour.
In-House Registry Pay: non-overtime at 1.75 times the straight-time base hourly rate and overtime at 2 times the base pay straight-time hourly rate.
Standby Premium Pay of one-quarter of the regular hourly wage or the federal minimum wage, whichever is greater.
Flexible credit allowance: biweekly contribution toward medical, dental, and/or vision insurance from authorized plans.
Participation in the County's defined benefit pension plan.
Registered Nurses I and II are eligible for overtime compensation.