Clinical Nurse Specialist

The Integrated Schizophrenia and Recovery Program provides tertiary level of care mental health assessment and treatment to patients that have been diagnosed with Schizophrenia or related psychotic disorder. The Clinical Nurse Specialist will work in a multidisciplinary team in the program and providing direct clinical in the outpatient clinic. The CNS will provide effective leadership in the area of specialty, improving clinical outcomes for patients with Schizophrenia or related psychotic disorder, through advanced nursing practice, program planning and delivery, consultation, research and its application, education, efficient resource utilization and capacity building.

Duties:

• Provides direct, expert, comprehensive care/nursing services, incorporating health promotion, disease prevention and management, patient and family advocacy, and collaborative strategies to positively affect health outcomes.
• Demonstrates expert knowledge and synthesis of advanced nursing practice in order to perform comprehensive health assessments and clinical decision-making.
• Assesses complex clinical care issues, develops, implements, and evaluates innovative approaches and programs addressing these issues.
• Recognize the need for and plan outcome measurements (e.g., obtaining client feedback, conducting pre- and post-surveys, monitoring length of stay, readmission rates, reduction of secondary complications, and knowledge of staff providing care).
• Identify and assess trends or patterns, at macro, meso, and micro levels that have health implications for patients towards adopting efforts to mitigate negative outcomes and enhance positive outcomes.
• Understand and integrate the principles of resource allocation and cost-effectiveness in organizational and health system-level decision-making.
• Participate in strategic planning for their health-care service, department or facility.
• Contribute to system-level change through the development of standards of care, practice guidelines, care protocols, programs, and/or policies.
• Identify gaps in nursing practice and organizational processes towards developing strategies to facilitate and manage change.
• Understand legislative and standards driven issues that influence health policy and use this knowledge to build strategies to improve patient care and/or health care access.
• Disseminate knowledge, using appropriate delivery methods (e.g., pamphlets, visual aids, presentations, and publications).
• Identify the learning needs of nurses and other members of healthcare team and find or develop programs and resources to meet those needs.
• Plan, initiate, coordinate, and evaluate specialized education programs for patients, families, and/or health professionals based on needs, priorities and organizational resources.
• Plan, initiate, coordinate, and evaluate needs-based continuing education programs for staff and clinical partners to promote quality patient care.
• Act as a mentor, preceptor, coach or role model for nursing colleagues, other members of the health-care team and students.
• Contribute to the knowledge, clinical skills and client care abilities of team members and other health-care providers (e.g., by responding to clinical questions and sharing evidence).
• Contribute to, and advocate for, an organizational culture that supports professional growth, continuous learning and collaborative practices.
• Contributes to evidence of clinical practice by utilizing and/or supporting research.
• Identify and evaluates clinical research and incorporates findings into patient care, departmental/organizational program planning, where appropriate.
• Identifies opportunities to participate in research, publish in clinical journals and present at conferences.
• Identify, appraise, and apply research, practice guidelines and current best practice.
• Collect data on and evaluate client outcomes, and/or health-care delivery.
• Participates in and supports nurses in continuous quality improvement initiatives evaluating the effectiveness of interventions/nursing services on patient outcomes.
• Fosters critical thinking amongst staff in decision-making and problem solving.
• Apply theories and principles of project and change management.
• Participates in and provides leadership on interprofessional committees as they pertain to the select patient population.
• Facilitates and supports a collaborative, interprofessional team practice model.
• Initiate timely and appropriate consultation, referrals and collaboration with other health care providers.
• Provide recommendations or relevant treatment in response to consultation or incoming referrals.
• Works collaboratively with health care providers to assess, plan, implement, and evaluate clinical interventions.
• Shares expertise provides consultation and advocates as required at the regional, provincial, national level in area of specialty.
• Articulate the contribution of CNS within the interprofessional health care team and among intersectoral stakeholders.
• Function as an effective member of an interdisciplinary team.
• Liaise and consult with relevant community agencies and service providers.
• Build effective collaborative working relationships with stakeholders.
• Participate in program and discipline specific committees and task groups.
• Work in a manner that complies with staff and patient/client safety practices, policies and procedures of the Royal.
• Ensure a work environment that is conducive to the Royal’s Anti-Racism, Discrimination & Harassment-Free Workplace policy.
• Other duties as required.

Qualifications:

• Registered with the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO).
• Master’s Degree in Nursing required
• Minimum 5 years’ experience as a Registered Nurse providing services in psychiatric care and mental health.
• Member of relevant professional organizations (preferred).
• CPMHN (C) required
• Experience with CBTp (preferred)
• Current CPR certificate, Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS) Level C.
• Direct clinical practice experience in psychiatry/mental health nursing care.
• Knowledge of mental health best practices, community services, and crisis response.
• Proven ability in independent and collaborative decision-making.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Ability to work with adult learners and colleagues in a variety of settings using a collaborative approach.
• Ability to respond to questions and requests in a timely manner.
• Demonstrated commitment to own continuing academic growth and development.
• Excellent analytical, critical thinking and problem solving skills – ability to respond to shifting priorities and to multi-task.
• Strong organizational skills with demonstrated ability to meet deadlines/timelines.
• Demonstrated computer literacy.
• Commitment to Continuous Quality Improvement, Best Practices and Team Work.
• Effective mentoring and clinical supervision skills to support both the academic role and the clinical practice of other team members.
• Experience with clinical documentation in an Electronic Health Record.
• English level A- is mandatory in oral comprehension, expression, reading, and writing. Bilingual (French/English) is considered an asset.