40 Hours

M-F 8:30-5:00

PATCH is a psychogeriatric outreach program for the elderly in Baltimore City Senior Housing. The PATCH model targets a population with high prevalence of mental health disorders to maximize efficiency. It is a proactive, mobile psychiatric service that provides training and education to community workers to act as case finders and bring psychiatric services to the elderly who may be homebound due to medical or psychiatric reasons. Patch provides in home psychiatric assessment by a psychiatric nurse to address high medical comorbidity and psychiatric illness. The nurse works with the PATCH team psychiatrist to evaluate, diagnose and treat psychiatric illness along with identifying barriers to traditional treatment The goal is to provide psychiatric services and treatment in order to stabilize the patient and then assist with referral to traditional outpatient treatment

PATCH Clinical Nurse duties :

The Patch nurse is responsible for case finding, initiating contact, completing psychiatric nursing assessment. The nurse will work independently under supervision of PATCH psychiatrist and provide psychiatric treatment of patients including facilitating evaluation and diagnosis through home visits with psychiatrist, medication management, care coordination with medical providers and family members . The nurse will facilitate psychiatric stabilization and transition to traditional outpatient psychiatric care.

Patch nurse will provide regular and ongoing educational programs to the senior building managers and service coordinators as well as community agencies on recognizing signs and symptoms of mental illness and facilitate identifying cases of seniors in need of mental health services

Patch nurse is responsible for maintaining a collaborative relationship with the agencies in State of Maryland who deliver care services to the elderly in the community. Patch is a grant funded program and the Patch nurse is responsible for monitoring # referrals and quality assurance measures and reporting quarterly statistics to Baltimore Behavioral Health System. The nurse will be involved in reporting statistics as requested for audits.