Mental Health Clinician, Emergency Services

Are you passionate about empowering individuals to overcome challenges and achieve their potential? As a Mental Health Clinician, you'll have the unique opportunity to make a tangible difference in people's lives, forging connections as you guide them on their journey to mental wellness.

This is a great opportunity for those seeking to expand their expertise within an interprofessional, collaborative academic hospital setting. Sinai Health's Psychiatry Department offers an opportunity to provide direct patient care across a variety of clinical programs. This opportunity is within Psychiatry Emergency Services.

Is this you?

You are a highly empathetic and compassionate individual with a deep understanding of the complexities surrounding mental health. Your calm and engaging demeanor allows you to connect with patients from diverse backgrounds, building trust and fostering a safe space.

Do you thrive in a fast-paced environment? Here you'll have opportunities to provide immediate support and crisis intervention to individuals facing acute mental health challenges. In this role, your skills will make a real difference in de-escalating crises and connecting patients with the appropriate level of care.

You are a lifelong learner, committed to staying at the forefront of evidence-based practices and expanding your therapeutic toolkit. This role enables you to utilize a wide range of clinical skills, including intake/triage, and resource connection. In the field of mental health, innovations and new discoveries are ever-present, ensuring your work remains stimulating, purpose-driven, and constantly evolving to meet the needs of those you serve.

You value interprofessional collaboration and thrive in an environment where effective communication between members of the team (both internal and external) is key. You are organized, self-sufficient, and possess excellent time management skills, allowing you to navigate the demands of a dynamic health care setting.

About this team

Our Psychiatry Emergency Service team provides timely, expert assessment and treatment planning for individuals experiencing mental health or addiction-related crises in the fast-paced environment of the Emergency Department. We work collaboratively to stabilize acute symptoms, ensure patient safety, and develop comprehensive care plans that address the complex needs of our patients. Following initial intervention, our interprofessional Emergency Aftercare Service seamlessly continues to provide time-limited follow-up support, connecting patients with vital resources and ensuring continuity of care to promote ongoing recovery and well-being.

In this role you will:

• Provide triage, consultations, direct assessments, crisis interventions, counselling and disposition planning for patients with mental health and addictions challenges in the ED environment
• Apply crisis intervention skills including violence and suicide risk assessment and safety planning
• Utilize and demonstrate a comprehensive theoretical knowledge base and clinical competence in caring for patients with psychiatric illness and addictions challenges
• Promote and support the maintenance of safe patient care in a work environment that encompasses a trauma-informed care approach
• Deliver patient and family centered care with an emphasis on assessment, education, prevention, harm reduction and restoration of health in a supportive and culturally sensitive manner
• Adapt approach to meet the demands and needs of constantly changing conditions, situations and people
• Utilize comprehensive knowledge of community mental health and addictions networks to assist with system navigation and to facilitate linkages and referrals to community and hospital programs across a broad range of sectors to support disposition planning
• Act as a resource consultant to assist ED physicians and nursing staff to ensure excellence in patient care
• Work in outpatient post ED care clinic, providing time limited resource navigation, counselling and ongoing safety assessments

Job Requirements

Job Requirements:

Mandatory

• Successful completion of either a Bachelor of Nursing or a Master's Degree in a health-related discipline (including Social Work, Occupational Therapy or Psychology)
• Current member in good standing with a relevant regulatory college: College of Nurses of Ontario, Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers, College of Occupational Therapists of Ontario, College of Psychologists and Behavioural Analysts of Ontario (authorized for autonomous practice), or College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (authorized for independent practice)
• Minimum 3 years relevant work experience in an acute care or emergency mental health setting

Skills and Knowledge

• Knowledge of psychiatric disorders, crisis intervention skills, support for addiction issues, interventions for severe and persistent mental illness
• Excellent organizational, communication, time management and interpersonal skills, along with ability to work effectively as a team member in a dynamic, inter-professional environment
• Knowledge of the Ontario Mental Health Act, mental health reform principles, the Substitute Decisions Act, the Health Care Consent Act and PHIPA requirements
• Proactively able to identify opportunities for and make continuous process improvement to prevent harm and improve client outcomes
• Demonstrated decision making, problem recognition, problem solving skills, negotiation and conflict resolution skills
• Ability to work effectively independently and under high pressure conditions
• A specialty-based focus in mental health and addictions care, crisis assessment, intervention and management, as well as skills including: counselling, safety planning, and resource navigation

If this sounds like you and you're ready to build your career within mental health, apply now and let us know why you would be a great addition to our team.