Licensed Practical Nurse (ACT) - Community Support Program

Description

The Bridge offers supportive housing and behavioral health services to vulnerable New Yorkers facing behavioral health and substance use challenges. We provide individuals with the tools they need to pursue their dreams and live meaningful lives. The Bridge envisions a world where adults experiencing serious mental illness can live and thrive within their communities. As a recognized leader in developing and operating supportive housing and community-based programs, The Bridge has 70 years of experience helping New Yorkers with mental illness, including those affected by homelessness, incarceration, and institutionalization.

Scope of Position: The LPN is a shared position between 2 Bronx-based ACT Teams and is an integral part of both programs. The LPN conducts counseling and medication management to promote recovery, wellness, and optimal health. The LPN provides services within the framework of core operating principles, professional nursing ethics, and regulatory guidelines. Our clients have histories of trauma, homelessness, incarceration, long-term hospitalizations, and are primarily people of color who are victims of systemic racism. For the ACT team, 80% of the work is provided in the community.

Essential Position Functions

• Participate in defining, implementing, and maintaining standards of nursing practice within the scope of an LPN.
• Participate in determining conditions, resources, and policies essential to the delivery of nursing care services.
• Assess needs for housing, mental health treatment, substance use treatment, medical care, income support, and other services.
• Serve as an advocate and liaison for recipients in securing medical care and other community supports that promote integrated physical and mental health wellness.
• In collaboration with the RN on the ACT team, maintain medication inventory and oversee medication management.
• Assist in coordinating medical care with the psychiatric provider.
• Ensure all consumers have a primary care provider and receive annual physical and dental examinations.
• Assist in maintaining the schedule for recipient prescriptions.
• Administer IMs and vaccines, plant and read PPDs, and perform phlebotomy as ordered.
• Transcribe orders and update Medication Administration Records.
• Monitor vital signs and side effects of medications and report findings to the team.
• Provide 80 percent of treatment contacts in the community.
• Provide culturally competent services in accordance with The Bridge’s policies and practices.
• Complete progress notes and maintain nursing and health-related data entry in the EHR.
• Perform any other duties as required by the Director and Administrators.
  
  

Qualifications

• Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) with a current New York State license.
• Preferably, at least three years of experience working in human services with individuals with substance use disorders, co-occurring mental health conditions, homelessness, and involvement in the criminal justice system.
• Knowledge of community treatment, support services, and available resources.
• Highly organized and self-motivated.
• Proficient with computers.
• Fluency in Spanish preferred.