Registered Nurse

Job Summary

OARS (Older Adult Recovery Supports) which will offer enriched mental health engagement, treatment and recovery services for low/moderate income older adults age 55+ with mental illness, including serious mental illness (SMI) or Co-occurring Conditions. Within this population, we will further prioritize residents of Hispanic/ Latinx background (many of whom are monolingual in Spanish). The geographic catchment area is comprised of three Brooklyn, NY neighborhoods that have been most severely impacted by COVID-19, including Community District (CD) 3 (Bedford-Stuyvesant), CD5 (East New York/Starrett City/Cypress Hills), and CD16 (Ocean Hill/ Brownsville). These three CDs are home to a combined 420,000 residents, with a majority from communities of color: 61% are Black, 27% are Latinx; 29% are foreign-born, and 13% have limited English Proficiency. Approximately 25% of residents are age 55+, and 14% are age 65+, according to US Census data.[i] The NYC Department for the Aging reports that poverty among the 65+ age group ranged from 22% in Cypress Hill to 42% in Starrett City, with an average of 29% across CDs and above the rates for Brooklyn (18%) and NYC (16%) (2019).

These neighborhoods are among the most at-risk, high-need areas in NYC in terms of social determinants of health (SDOH) and disproportionately poor health outcomes – East New York and Bedford-Stuyvesant are Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) as designated by Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).38 Detrimental conditions were reflected in the devastation caused by COVID-19, as these neighborhoods had case and death rates significantly above the NYC averages: Between them, these neighborhoods recorded 10,588 cases per 100,000 residents (NYC: 9,149) and a death rate of 530/100,000 (NYC: 328); East New York, in particular, was hit hard, with a death rate of 945/100,000, the highest rate of COVID-19 deaths in the city. As elsewhere, older New Yorkers were most at risk, with poverty and/or being of Latinx or African-American background compounding the likelihood of becoming infected, hospitalized, or succumbing to COVID-19.

The RN, Team Leader is responsible for clinical and administrative oversight of the BH Engagement Team, ensuring clinical quality and achievement of contract deliverables, and serves as nursing consultant to the team.

Essential Job Functions:

• Oversees day to day activities of multi-disciplinary team, leads team meetings, and provides supervision to staff
• Oversees referral/intake process, ensuring timely response and outreach
• Acts as nursing consultant to the team to assess need for medical services/intervention and provides health education and information on chronic disease management and prevention
• Oversees hiring of staff and oversight of personnel. Ensures they are appropriately trained to provide services within ICL’s philosophy of trauma informed, recovery oriented, integrated, and person centered care. Encourages the use of evidence-based practices in everyday care.
• Produces contractually required monthly reports in a timely and accurate manner
• Ensures staff document activities and services in an organized, timely, and accurate manner as per policy and procedure
• Collaborates with treatment providers and participates in routine case conferences to discuss progress
• Provides health education to individuals served, family members, friends and other collateral individuals
• Provides all services in a culturally relevant and competent manner
• Provides crisis intervention and follow-up
• May be assigned other tasks and duties reasonably related to the job responsibilities

Minimum Qualifications

• License and current registration to practice as a registered professional nurse in New York State; prefer at least one year post RN licensure clinical nursing experience working with individuals with mental illness

Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Ability to lead a multi-disciplinary staff of professionals and paraprofessionals in providing services and ability to from and maintain effective teams
• Knowledge of professional nursing concepts, principles and practices
• Knowledge of concepts and principles from the biological sciences that are supportive of nursing practice
• Knowledge of concepts and principles of health promotion and disease prevention
• Knowledge of abnormal signs and symptoms relating to physical and mental illness, as well as indicators of wellness
• Knowledge of medications and drugs, common dosages, their psychological, physical and physiological effects and possible adverse reactions
• Knowledge of emergency treatments and interventions
• Knowledge of teaching and consulting techniques
• Ability to recognize changes in signs and symptoms that warrant the immediate action of a physician
• Ability to develop, evaluate, implement and modify a plan of nursing intervention to meet the needs of individual clients
• Ability to interact appropriately and respectfully with clients, staff and community members