Registered Nurse I - Colorado Mental Health Hospital in Fort Logan (Denver)

State of Colorado • Denver, CO

1d • Onsite

About The Position

The Registered Nurse I provides nursing leadership and direction to staff and therapeutic psychiatric care to adults with serious mental illness hospitalized at the Colorado Mental Health Hospital at Fort Logan. The position assesses, plans, coordinates, delivers, documents, and evaluates nursing care for patients with psychiatric and medical conditions, supporting recovery through evidence-based nursing interventions, teaching, counseling, and milieu management. Nurses communicate with interdisciplinary teams, medical staff, patients, and families, and may serve as Charge Nurse, providing clinical and administrative supervision during assigned shifts. The role is full-time and on-site at 3520 W Oxford Avenue, Denver, Colorado. Multiple vacancies and shifts may be filled, including days, nights, weekends, and float assignments; night and weekend shifts receive a differential of 14–20% above base pay. The position is designated as essential services and requires reporting without delay or interruption when needed to provide essential or emergency services. Employees may be exposed to bodily fluids or caustic chemicals.

Requirements

• Current, valid Registered Nurse license from the Colorado Board of Nursing or from a state participating in the Enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact (eNLC).
• Must be at least 21 years old.
• Must possess a valid, unrestricted Colorado driver’s license.
• Must complete a full background check and reference check.
• Must report without delay or interruption when required to provide essential or emergency services.
• Ability to work shifts that may include days, evenings, or nights.
• Applicants must be Colorado state residents.
• Former State employees who were disciplinarily terminated or resigned in lieu of termination must disclose that information, explain why it should not disqualify them, and provide their prior employee number.

Nice To Haves

• Relevant years of State service experience.

Responsibilities

• Assess, plan, coordinate, provide, document, and evaluate nursing care for patients with psychiatric and medical conditions.
• Develop nursing plans of care and therapeutic interventions, including individual counseling, psychoeducational and teaching groups, and milieu management.
• Communicate nursing plans of care to the interdisciplinary team and ensure essential patient information is documented and shared between shifts.
• Make rounds to assess patients’ psychiatric and medical status and notify physicians or licensed independent practitioners of changes in condition or need for evaluation and orders.
• Report patient care concerns to supervisors and physicians as appropriate.
• Direct, coordinate, and implement medical and psychiatric crisis interventions, including de-escalation, seclusion or restraint, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, in accordance with nursing standards and policies.
• Escort patients to activities and appointments on hospital grounds and in the community, including driving patients to appointments when needed.
• Maintain confidential paperwork and determine whether patients returning from a general hospital can be safely supported by nursing staff, equipment, and staffing levels during the current and nearby shifts.
• Collaborate with the Nurse Manager and treatment team and recommend program scheduling changes to benefit patients.
• Maintain a safe therapeutic environment by anticipating problems, planning interventions, assigning responsibilities, and applying nursing judgment and milieu-management techniques.
• Serve as Charge Nurse when assigned, providing clinical and administrative supervision of nursing staff and ensuring care meets or exceeds community and professional standards.
• Coordinate replacement or additional staffing when indicated by patient acuity.
• Evaluate and administer medications, considering need, effectiveness, side effects, and interactions, and follow medication-order transcription and documentation procedures.
• Delegate work to nursing staff, mental health clinicians, nursing students, orientees, and others; oversee timely completion and provide clinical leadership and teaching.
• Teach patients and families about preventive health care, illness management, coping, social and living skills, and medication indications and side effects.
• Provide nursing input to interdisciplinary treatment planning and unit programming.
• Serve as a communication link among patients, families, physicians, health professionals, ancillary staff, and supervisors, exchanging information and clarifying treatment plans and interventions.
• Maintain position-related skills and competencies through continuing education, clinical supervision, literature review, and discipline and team development.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• PERA Defined Benefit Plan or PERA Defined Contribution Plan, plus 401(k) and 457 plans
• Employer-supplemented Health Savings Account
• Paid life insurance
• Short- and long-term disability coverage
• 11 paid holidays per year, plus vacation and sick leave
• State of Colorado Employee BenefitHub Resource Center
• Employee Wellness program
• Flexible schedules and other work-life programs
• Training
• Remote work arrangements for eligible positions
• Some positions may qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program
• Night and weekend shift differentials of 14–20% above base pay

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed