FULL-TIME 'LPN/LVN' for Holistic Mental Health Facility

The Alternative to Meds Center is a one of a kind holistic health center in Sedona. We specialize in assisting patients taper off of and find alternatives to prescription medications. Our residents travel to us from all over the world to participate in our immersive residential program. We are a small organization of around 50 team members delivering care to up to 17 residents at a time.

ATMC is a team oriented workplace. can be extremely rewarding when helping people achieve physical, mental, and spiritual transformations. This is a unique opportunity and we are looking for a unique individual to join our team and serve our clients.

This position will be full-time, 35-40 hours each week, with opportunities for on-call shifts as well (paid at a flat rate in addition to your hourly wage). The selected candidate will assist with medication and supplement services in our treatment center. Duties include documentation in medication charts, filling medication organizers, filling prescriptions, making medication adjustments, intake assessments, TB testing, physical exams, discharge preparation,and assisting with insurance reviews. Applicants should have active Arizona LPN/LVN level licensing and be comfortable working in a behavioral health setting. Experience with nutrition, supplements and co-occurring disorders are a plus.

SCHEDULE: Mon / Tues/ Wed / Fri, (8am-5pm)

We are looking for someone who would describe themselves as flexible, independent, highly motivated, detail oriented, who wants to build a long-term employee/employer relationship, and has a great sense of humor. :)

Please visit our website at www.alternativetomeds.com to learn more about what we do. If interested in being considered for this position, please submit your resume for review, as well as a cover letter stating why you believe you are a good fit for our organization.

Thank you!

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Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) Job Description

Purpose:

Nurses (RN’s & LPN’s) centralize the responsibility for nursing duties. They maintain accurate and updated resident records, offer residents a safe harbor to express physical, mental or emotional issues and manage government required/licensing employment guidelines to ensure we are in compliance.

Required Certification(s):

Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) in the state of Arizona

Supervisor: Director Of Nursing

Supervised: N/A

Resident’s safety and well being as well as Care Providers ability to stay in compliance with medication and supplement assistance and documentation.

Minimum qualifications

• Minimum level role required as defined by AZ DHS behavioral health licensing board
• Behavioral health technician, which is defined as an individual who is not a behavioral health professional who provides behavioral health services at or for a health care institution according to the health care institution’s policies and procedures that:
• If the behavioral health services were provided in a setting other than a licensed health care institution, the individual would be required to be licensed as a behavioral professional.
• Are provided with clinical oversight by a behavioral health professional
• Experience
• Some experience working in behavioral health preferred but not required
• Education
• At minimum an associates degree in nursing
• Licenses and certification
• Current licensure as a licensed registered nurse with AZ nursing board
• CPR for healthcare providers
• Arizona Fingerprint Clearance Card
• Required trainings (provided by employer)
• Policy and procedure
• Agency Orientation
• Medication skills and knowledge
• HIPAA
• Verification of skills
• Risk assessment training
• Waived testing

Key responsibilities

• Documentation of patient information for the use of insurance billing in a way that advocates for the treatment the resident needs
• Assist the medical director in the documentation of medication orders such as med increases, decreases, new medications, as well as the discontinuation
• Assist the medical director with the ordering of labs as well as the retrieval of the results in a way that is efficient and supports the needs of the resident
• Performs initial assessments for new residents in a way that ensures they receive the appropriate level of care and their needs are met
• Provides TB tests for both staff and residents to ensure the facility is free from TB infection
• Fills medication organizers accurately based on the prescriptions of the medical director
• Ensures the EMR/MAR is accurate and up to date based on the most recent changes in a resident’s treatment plan
• Provides waived testing services to residents such as urine drug screening and Point of Care testing for Covid-19
• Ensure that the storage of all medications is secure and safe
• Assist the team in providing referrals for outside providers and sharing patient information as needed

Metrics

• # of residents with completed files per # of total residents within the nurses employment range.
• Direct feedback from residents experiences with nurse and having medical needs met.
• # of employees/contractors with fulfilled observation and testing requirements per # of employees/contractors needing observation, testing and timeliness of completion.

Activities:

Obtain orders from MD for any medication increase, medication decrease, discontinued medication, or new medication.

• All medication changes must be documented by creating a doctor’s order, or prescription.
• All med orders are kept in the resident's chart in the EMR.

Order and pick up medication from the pharmacy ensuring that all insurance information is updated at the pharmacy.

• The nurse is responsible for making sure meds are stocked. The resident is not expected to keep track of their meds or get refills. We are responsible for all prescription meds and ensuring the resident has enough of all prescribed meds.
• Refills can be called in by the nurse with the authorization of the provider, except for some schedule 1 medications that require an e-scribe prescription delivered to the pharmacy.
• Nurses also advocate for residents to ensure costs of medications are covered by insurance whenever possible.

Fill medication boxes once a week or when needed.

• The nurse fill the resident’s medication organizer for the week. The organizer reflects what the most current doctor’s orders are for the resident’s medication. The organizer also allows non-licensed staff to assist the resident with the self-administration of medication.
• When a medication change is ordered by the provider, the nurse alters the medication organizer and associated documentation to reflect the change immediately.

Manage the storage of all medication

• The bulk meds (medication bottles) are kept in a separate safe that only the nurses have access to. PRN medication bottles are kept in the resident’s medication bin which the care providers have access to.
• All narcotic medications are required to have a count done on them and the count must be kept current day to day. The nurse does the initial count and monitors that care providers continue to keep an accurate count as they assist with the self-administration of medications.

Manage referrals for outside providers.

• This may require obtaining a Dr’s order/referral for a specialist such as dermatologist, chiropractor etc...
• This may also involve:
• coordinating treatment with those providers
• sharing labs and other pertinent medical information
• making appointments for residents
• ensuring follow up care/appointments occur
• communicating pertinent information to the team

Order labs for residents and ensure labs are carried out.

• Some labs are standing orders for all residents. For example, all residents may receive an initial lab on the first business day after their intake. This lab is a comprehensive panel to test kidney/liver function, blood sugar, wbc count, and other basic functions to ensure the resident is in an appropriate condition to participate in all aspects of the program.
• Some additional labs may be ordered throughout the course of treatment based on individual need. These labs may include, but are not limited to... allergy, neurotransmitter, thyroid, or hormone testing.
• Protocol for residents with a minimum 8 week stay in treatment includes a challenged/provoked toxic metal/essential minerals test. This test will give the resident an idea of what their toxic burden is as well as how mineralized they are. This will also give the resident clues to the source of their symptoms and the future course of action to resolve these issues.

Obtain lab results online and review with doctor and resident.

• We receive both an electronic and a hard copy of all labs. The quickest way to retrieve the lab is online through our account with the lab. Most labs are straightforward to read as they will clearly state whether the readings are out of range.
• All labs must be reviewed by the doctor with the resident.
• The doctor will determine the proper course of action based on the lab results.
• The doctor and the resident both sign the lab to document it was reviewed.
• The toxic metals/essential minerals lab is a bit more complicated to read. This is because we are using a challenged/provoked specimen and the test read for unchallenged specimens. The test is challenged by using a chelating agent, so the readings will typically be higher than the range allows for. This factor is taken into account when reading the test.

Inform residents of any change of medication and provide education.

• Residents should be an active participant in their treatment.
• Any decisions regarding their medication or medical care should be done with the resident with them being part of the decision making process.
• Any changes to their meds(decreases, increases, discontinuing or adding new meds) must be discussed with them prior to them taking effect.
• The resident should be informed of the effects the changes to their medication may have on them.
• The nurse should explain possible withdrawal symptoms, side effects, as well as suggest coping techniques to help the resident manage these symptoms.

Monitor residents on medication withdrawal while tapering.

• The nurse monitors the residents through direct interaction as well as reports from the team to ascertain the status of their symptoms and progress in regards to their medication changes.
• The nurse will monitor the effects of any new medication and report the findings to the doctor and the medical team.
• The nurse will also monitor the effects of any medication reduction to determine the level/severity of withdrawal symptoms as well as the residents ability to continue their med taper.

Communicate medication changes and medical concerns/updates to the team.

• The nurse will generate a comprehensive report weekly to communicate to the team medication changes, changes to symptoms, progress, special needs, and any other pertinent information related to the resident’s ongoing care.
• Staff are required to read these reports in order to offer continuity of care.

Manage medication knowledge, training and supervision of Care Provider medication delivery and blood pressure training.

• Nurses train and monitor newly hired Care Providers for a minimum of 1 hour on the proper use of our EMR (Sunwave), our MAR system, how to assist residents in the self administration of medications, proper documentation of medication self administration, etc.
• The nurse monitors the daily medication assistance by Care Providers to residents. The nurse ensures that the Care Providers…
• Document clearly, accurately and appropriately.
• Have an understanding of medications commonly prescribed.
• Have an understanding of common symptoms, withdrawal, side effects of medications.
• Are competent taking manual blood pressures and have an understanding of appropriate blood pressure ranges and when to report to a medical staff.
• Have an understanding of appropriate behavioral and physical ranges and when to report to a medical staff.

Conduct initial assessments for new residents.

• Nurses conduct the initial assessment at intake which includes:
• Vital signs, observed symptoms both subjective and objective
• Administering TB for residents upon intake.
• Documentation of assessment (see form)
• Documentation of current medications in medication log book
• Organizing scheduled and PRN medications in a medication organizer
• Email assessment report to staff

Provide TB testing and Physical for staff as necessary

• The nurse is responsible for administering TB tests for staff as directed by HR Admin. To meet facility requirements.
• The nurse is to conduct a physical for new staff as directed by HR Admin. To meet facility requirements.

On-call as needed

• On-call is designated to an authority making staff to address crisis needs during irregular business hours. The nurse serves as backup for said on-call person to answer questions and provide professional advice as needed.
• The nurse is only called by the on-call person after chain of command protocol has been utilized and not available at all hours for any other staff members.
• On-call nurse schedule rotates between nurses weekly.
• During scheduled on-call nursing time the nurse will be accessible via phone or text.

Concurrent insurance reviews

• Communicate with insurance liaison for any pertinent insurance information

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $30.00 - $33.00 per hour

Expected hours: 32 – 40 per week

Benefits:

• Dental insurance
• Employee discount
• Flexible schedule
• Life insurance
• Vision insurance

Ability to Commute:

• Sedona, AZ 86336 (Preferred)

Ability to Relocate:

• Sedona, AZ 86336: Relocate before starting work (Preferred)

Work Location: In person

Salary : $30 - $33