Purpose

Outreach RN works to engage and offer assistance to adults who are living unsheltered in Seattle. This includes holding clinic hours at ETS REACH partner spaces and may include outreach on the street, in parks and in encampments. Many of our clients experience substance use and/or mental health challenges.
The Outreach RN works to integrate patients with health care services including primary care, dental care, emotional/behavioral health, and substance use treatment. The Outreach RN works autonomously, often independently, and in partnership with other team members and community outreach organizations. This position may include clinic hours to serve clients on a walk-in basis at various drop-in clinics throughout the Seattle area.

Neighborcare Health offers a robust benefit package including Health, Wellness & Retirement benefits: Medical, Dental & Vision Insurance, 18+ days of Paid Time Off, 9-Paid Holidays, Retirement with Matching, Life & AD&D, Pet Insurance, Employee Assistance Program, & More! This position is eligible for the Staff Referral Program

Primary Responsibilities

• Provide outreach health services to people who are experiencing homelessness by partnering with REACH Case Mangers to address patient-identified health care needs using a harm reduction approach.
• Provide health resources to REACH Case Managers and clients.
• Assist clients to access primary care, dental care, behavioral health services, detoxification services, and substance use treatment.
• Render first aid, wound care, and perform nursing assessments.
• Work closely as an engaged and accountable team member with our partner organization Evergreen Treatment Services REACH Team.
• Attend and participate in meetings with our partners at ETS REACH, and LEAD.
• Attend and participate in weekly meetings with the HSO (Housing and Street Outreach) team
• Act as SUD RN Coordinator for clients in partnership with other Outreach RNs, Ballard Clinic, SVdP Clinic, and other
• Neighborcare health clinics and providers as needed.
• Educate and mentor other HSO and Neighborcare Health RNs in SUD treatment and care.
• Provide supervision for nursing students assigned to Neighborcare Health as part of their professional education.
• Build trusting relationships with clients who may be wary and difficult to engage by employing a warm and accepting approach that includes trauma informed care, harm reduction and motivational interviewing. Demonstrate through language and behavior a commitment to this approach.
• Triage and assist patients in accessing indicated health resources on site as well as providing support for services available externally or via referral only.
• Provide nursing care including (but not limited to) wound care, foot care, lice, and scabies treatment. Consult and collaborate with medical staff when needed.
• Offer medication assisted treatment (MAT): In collaboration with prescribing provider, provide medication assisted treatment (MAT) intake, counseling, guidance, and education to clients experiencing opioid use disorder and other substance use disorders. This includes proactively outreaching a registry of clients for follow up care. This care follows a harm reduction model and uses motivational interviewing to help clients identify and reduce barriers to meeting their treatment goals.
• Teach clients about safer substance use, overdose prevention and overdose reversal.
• Administer naloxone to reverse overdose when needed.
• Offer clients access to tobacco cessation treatment.
• Provide contraception options counseling, family planning counseling. Administer Depo Provera.
• Create an engaging, calming, and inspiring environment that communicates acceptance, safety, encouragement, positivity and is reflective/inclusive of the people we serve.
• Creatively and sensitively employ engaging health education messaging
• in posters, signage, and hand-outs.
• Assure a safe environment, be responsible for maintaining cleanliness of tools, equipment, stock supplies as needed, maintain office setting via light janitorial tasks, keep area clean and organized, report any safety concerns.
• Conceive of, plan, and implement social mental/emotional health support groups to support people in various stages of change/recovery; possibly working with peer counselor and behavioral health counselor
• Build and maintain relationships with local pharmacies where clients fill prescribed medications, maintain positive relationships with pharmacists and incorporate their feedback to improve the client experience in filling prescriptions at these pharmacies.

KEY SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE & ABILITIES

• Desire to work in a non-traditional setting.
• Able to work independently and with a team.
• Able to prioritize responsibilities, work independently, exercise professional judgment, maintain healthy boundaries, and
• practice compassionate self–care.
• Have excellent physical and mental health assessment skills.
• Possess or be willing to learn basic field first aid and wound care skills.
• Excellent listening and communication skills.
• Comfort with a philosophy of care that embraces the use of trauma informed care and harm reduction and truly puts the
• person at the center of care.
• Experience or willingness to learn motivational interviewing techniques.
• Interest or experience in working with adults who are experiencing homelessness.
• Interest or experience in working with people who are using substances to cope with life circumstances or are struggling with addictions.
• Experience with Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT)
• Interest or experience working with individual who are enduring mental illness and/or co-occurring substance abuse disorders.
• Willing to learn about homelessness and substance use/ SU disorders didactically, from team members and from client stories and experiences.
• Able to work effectively with clients displaying a wide range of behaviors, some of which may be peculiar or disturbing.
• Interest or experience working with people who have difficulty managing chronic diseases.
• Interest in or experience working with participants who are difficult to engage and refer to health care.
• Desire and ability to communicate and work effectively with staff and clients from various socio-economic, ethnic, and racial background backgrounds
• Knowledge about or willing to learn about a plethora of social and health care resources.
• Able to earn the trust of people who have difficulty trusting the health care and social service system.
• Able to approach clients with an attitude of acceptance, nonjudgmental and express interest in their well-being.
• Flexibility, willingness to adapt to changing circumstances, accept new responsibilities and work cooperatively with team members.
• Experience or willing to learn about working on a multidisciplinary team (including providers, nurses, mental health professionals, chemical dependency specialists, outreach, and peer support staff)
• Ability to create and maintain positive, cooperative relationships with a multiplicity of agencies and service providers who may partner in caring for our clients.
• Respect for participant rights and personal preferences in treatment are essential.
• Clear understanding and respect for the importance of maintaining client confidentiality while working in public spaces and other settings.
• Knowledge and understanding of the healthcare needs of people who are living homeless as well as the health care disparities that put people who are experiencing homelessness at a disadvantage.
• Knowledge and understanding of racial and ethnic health and social disparities.
• Knowledge of / willingness to learn about and adopt an approach to patient care that is Trauma-Informed, based in Harm Reduction and employs Motivational Interviewing
• Knowledge and understanding of chronic disease management and patient education techniques
• Knowledge of health behavior change strategies, gauging readiness to change
• Knowledge and understanding of mental health illness.
• Knowledge about, experience with, or willingness to learn about the Behavioral Health care system
• Teach patients with low literacy skills Work effectively with people of varied racial, ethnic, educational, social-economic, and sexual orientation backgrounds.
• Ability, skill, and knowledge in establishing and maintaining patient partnerships, reflective of nursing professionalism
• Demonstrate excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Develop and maintain rapport and work effectively with a wide range of individuals
• Meet and comply with HIPAA/Confidentiality policies and procedures and to handle confidential and sensitive patient and staff information
• Detail oriented and handle multiple tasks under stressful conditions
• Organize, problem solve and to follow up on tasks
• Complete charting and any required reports in a timely way
• Approach problem solving in a creative manner
• Demonstrate good judgment
• Self-start and manage time effectively.
• Remain calm and professional when faced with challenging situations or emergencies
• Work with supervision, receiving instructions/feedback, coaching/counseling and or action/discipline
• Willingness, and openness to learn and change
• Self-assess knowledge and nursing skill, and continuously develop clinical expertise through Neighborcare Health and community-based continuing education and through peer review.
• Work resourcefully and independently in the absence of detailed instructions
• Flexible regarding working environment.
• Interact appropriately and cooperatively with coworkers, community partners and clients.
• Demonstrate, reliable and timely attendance
• Travel to any of our Neighborcare clinics

Education: 

Required: Advance degree in Nursing

Preferred: BSN or MSN

Licenses/Certifications/ Registrations

Required: RN

Preferred: BSN

Years of Relevant Experience required: 2

Years of Relevant Experience preferred: 2 - 15

Our Mission
The mission of Neighborcare Health is to provide comprehensive health care to families and individuals who have difficulty accessing care; respond with sensitivity to the needs of our culturally diverse patients; and advocate and work with others to improve the overall health status of the communities we serve.

About our Service Commitments
Our service commitments were created by staff members, leaders, board members and patients.  We use these as a guide and expectation for how we treat our patients and each other.  You may learn more about our service commitments here, https://neighborcare.org/about-us/service-commitments/

• Serving patients
• Serving each other
• A warm welcome
• Caring
• Respect
• Working together
• Trusting Relationship

About us
For 50 years, Neighborcare Health has been caring for our neighbors with essential medical and dental care, counseling, outreach, health education and more in Seattle, Vashon, and our newest dental clinic in Olympia!  Our purpose is to improve health by engaging, educating, and empowering people in the communities we serve.  We are looking to hire the best talent to support our culturally diverse workplace and community. 

Compensation 

• The wage range for this position is minimum $39.02 to $54.13 maximum.  
• Compensation will be determined based on years of relevant experience.

Union: Yes 

Full job description will be provided during the interview process.