Job Description

Job Summary:

In accordance with the Mission, Vision and Values, and strategic directions of Provincial Health Services Authority patient safety is a priority and a responsibility shared by everyone at PHSA, and as such, the requirement to continuously improve quality and safety is inherent in all aspects of this position. Coordinates mental health and addictions care for patients (inmates). Responsible for the review, assessment, treatment (or referral for assessment and treatment) of patients who have been identified as having mental illness and/or a concurrent disorder. Reviews mental health screens for completeness and facilitates efficient patient flow and access to required programs and services. Ensures a high standard of patient care by consulting with the Corrections Health Services Psychology Leader, Medical Director, Clinic Psychologist(s) and/or the Professional Practice Leader to ensure evidence-based best practice standards of care; acts as a clinical resource for staff, and provides support for staff training and development. Provides leadership at the Clinic level in the planning and implementation of consistent, evidence-based service-wide approaches for delivering high quality services to support/promote health and illness prevention strategies for patients with complex physical, mental health and/or addiction issues. Assists the Health Care Manager in performing administrative duties and coordinates staffing, scheduling and clinical research activities related to mental health and addiction services, ensuring optimal use of patient care resources. Promotes education and research. Consults and collaborates with interprofessional team members, the leadership team and other health care professionals/providers to achieve excellence in patient and family centered care and enhancement in patients' quality of life.

Duties/Accountabilities:

1. Coordinates daily mental health and addictions-related patient care activities and provides leadership for the mental health and addictions team in the planning and implementation of consistent, evidence-based service-wide approaches for the delivery of services. Promotes quality of care by reviewing mental health screens for completeness and referrals for mental health and addictions assessment from Mental Health Intake Screeners, other health professionals, Correctional Officers and other sources and triaging same; coordinates and schedules patients' mental health appointments with psychologists and psychiatrists; and consults and collaborates with interprofessional team members to help establish appropriate goals for care and individualized care plans considering the patient's physiological, psychological, spiritual and sociocultural needs.

2. Assesses the patient's overall mental health and addiction service needs; conducts risk assessments and monitors the progress of all patients identified as at risk for suicidal ideation or self-harm, depression and serious mental disorders; formulates initial diagnostic impressions and determines priority of care requirements; refers patients to the psychologist, general practitioner or other care providers as required.

3. Visits patients in segregation/observation for review, referral and follow-up care as required; documents as appropriate in the electronic patient care information system, and communicates the outcome of reviews to the Warden or designate as appropriate.

4. Engages others in treatment planning, evaluation and the review of patient progress and needs. Provides formal and informal consultation as needed to health care team members, other health care providers and students. Provides guidance/knowledge in the management of mental health and addictions care, including co-occurring psychiatric and substance use/misuse disorders. Promotes interprofessional collaboration to address treatment concerns, continuity of care, crisis management protocols and community resource coordination. Assists with therapeutic interventions and problem solving, provides clinical guidance and information on complex cases, discusses patient care issues and develops linkages/partnerships to meet patient need.

5. Collaborates with the interprofessional team to organize and implement special programming and/or group sessions according to the needs of the patient population by methods such as supporting patients to manage self-care, encouraging informed decision making and empowering patients to improve quality of life by teaching them about the management/treatment of mental health and addictions, co-occurring disorders and related physical health conditions. Assists staff to access current and appropriate reference teaching materials for specialized groups of patients and their families and promotes the teaching of patients/families about illness prevention, health maintenance and health promotion by developing teaching strategies, assessing learning needs, teaching staff and/or patients/families and evaluating the outcome of learning.

6. Facilitates discharge/transition planning by supporting the interprofessional team to identify ongoing care needs and the development of appropriate community linkages for follow-up care. Liaises with Community Access/Transition Nurses, social workers and community care providers as applicable during discharge/transition planning to ensure patients' successful transition to an alternate setting post-incarceration. Provides consultative services to patients, Corrections Health Services and BC Corrections staff, and other health professionals regarding community mental health and addiction resources and how to access these resources.

7. Provides clinical guidance to nurses, addictions counsellors, concurrent disorder counsellors and Mental Health screeners in the provision of individual and group interventions and who are assigned to provide mental health and substance use care. Coordinates designated clinicians for clients in order to track progress throughout the custodial period. Assists the Health Care Manager by participating in the selection of new staff and performance evaluation of staff by attending interviews, assessing clinical skills and providing recommendations regarding the evaluation of candidates to facilitate optimal hiring decisions. Provides written input into employee performance evaluations to promote quality work performance and discusses and clarifies performance expectations with staff.

8. Participates in the orientation of new staff by providing support to preceptors and preceptees, monitoring and evaluating the progress of new staff and communicating performance information to the Health Care Manager. Supports/leads staff education/training and development activities in collaboration with Health Care Manager, professional practice leaders, Learning & Development staff or other designated personnel, by conducting needs assessments of individuals, coordinating/demonstrating the introduction of new skills/procedures, role modeling, supporting autonomous practice, promoting a learning environment and arranging in-service sessions/orientations as required. Participates in students' clinical experience and/or works with Learning & Development and/or professional practice leaders to assign patients/clients to allow for student's maximum learning.

9. Assists the Health Care Manager with planning, developing and evaluating patient care in the Clinic/program by evaluating clinical practices and systems and drafting new and/or revised procedures, standards and criteria in conjunction with the interprofessional team and patients/families. Assists with administrative activities and promoting optimal use of patient care resources by identifying systems for improving resource utilization, providing input into budget/staff allocation, assisting team members in workload decision-making, evaluating patients for admission/discharges, evaluating patient care products/equipment and identifying new equipment purchases as required. Recommends changes to existing administrative processes as needed.

10. Integrates quality improvement and risk management principles and activities into practice for assigned areas through evaluating the effect of changes in care practice, generating recommendations for alternate approaches, following up on incident reports, conducting safety audits, taking corrective actions and recommending changes to selected policies, procedures or protocols. Maintains awareness of all necessary legislation, regulations, requirements, patient needs, industry trends, technology and protocols to ensure current policies, standards, and protocols are relevant, safe, effective, current and cost effective.

11. Participates on committees/teams that promote improvements to patient care and the efficient and safe delivery of services by attending meetings to promote optimal support for patients and families and providing input into improvements of care and services and the resolution of issues. Sets measurable personal performance goals in collaboration with the Health Care Manager for professional development such as, updating own knowledge by reviewing current literature and research, identifying new theories, trends and opportunities and developing a plan for professional development.

12. Immediately reports unsafe situations by notifying the Health Care Manager or other appropriate personnel and using online Patient Safety Learning System (PSLS). Assists Health Care Manager in leading reviews of safety events as a handler by methods such as, interviewing patients to investigate clinical components of incident reports, referring performance related issues to the Health Care Manager.

13. Performs regular security functions to maintain the safety and security of patients, staff, families and the general public at all times and takes immediate action to mitigate risks, as well as reporting all real and potential risk issues. Provides leadership in the assessment of individual patient risk factors and supports clinical staff to incorporate appropriate risk mitigation strategies into patients' care plans in order to optimize safety and security for staff, other inmates and the general public.

14. Performs other related duties as required.

Qualifications:

Master's Degree in an Allied Health Discipline from a recognized Program and current practicing registration with the applicable professional College. * Three (3) years' recent experience in a mental health and addictions setting, including working with mentally disordered offenders, forensic psychiatric or tertiary mental health/concurrently disordered populations, and two (2) years related administrative/supervisory experience or an equivalent combination of education, training and experience. Valid BC Driver's License and access to personal vehicle for local area travel may be required.