Description

American Traveler is seeking an experienced RN for an inpatient Behavioral Health position in Rapid City, SD, requiring a minimum of 1 year of psychiatric nursing experience and a South Dakota or Compact RN license.

Details

• Inpatient Behavioral Health unit located at an offsite facility, approximately 15 minutes from the main hospital campus
• 52-bed unit serving psychiatric patients including children and adolescents ages 5–17 and adults
• Patient diagnoses include depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, psychosis, and adjustment disorder — no dementia, severe autism, forensic, or inmate patients; no ECT performed
• Patient population may include violent or aggressive patients; staff are expected to be comfortable with de-escalation and physical intervention
• Nurse-to-patient ratio is 1:8 with a psych tech
• Uses Epic for charting and Omnicell for medication dispensing
• 12-hour variable shifts; shift times include 12-hr days (0800–2030) and 12-hr nights (2000–0830), as well as combination weeks with two 12-hr and two 8-hr shifts
• Every other weekend rotation required, which may include Friday, Saturday, or Sunday
• Low census on-call is possible depending on unit acuity
• Floating may occur between the three floors within this offsite Behavioral Health facility; floats are within scope of practice

Requirements

• Active RN license — South Dakota or Compact license required
• Current BLS certification required; CPI certification preferred prior to start but may be obtained during assignment
• Minimum 1 year of psychiatric nursing experience required
• Epic EMR experience required; candidates without Epic experience require additional approval
• Ability to perform physical takedowns and restraints on agitated patients when necessary
• Strong verbal de-escalation and group facilitation skills
• Two professional references dated within the past year are required for consideration
• Candidates must reside at least 100 miles from any facility in the health system to qualify for this position

Additional Information

• Daily responsibilities include medication administration (PO and injectable), care plan evaluation, admission screenings, patient assessments, minor wound care, EKGs (training provided), glucometer use, Columbia suicide risk screening, telephone/verbal order acknowledgment, vital signs, end-of-shift reporting, patient belongings documentation, and discharge planning
• Team nursing approach is used on the unit
• 24/7 support includes on-site security with tasers, panic alarms worn by all staff, hallway and common area cameras, on-call MD coverage, a Behavioral Emergency Response Team (BERT), and a charge nurse covering all three units per shift
• Orientation for RNs consists of two 12-hour facility orientation shifts, one shift of I-Learns, and two departmental orientation shifts
• Required scrub color for RNs is navy
• Holiday coverage requires working 2 out of 4 major holidays; if one of Thanksgiving or Christmas is worked, the other is given off
• No time off (RTO) is approved during the Sturgis Bike Rally (first 3 weeks of August)
• Blocked scheduling will not be accommodated — variable shift scheduling should be expected throughout the contract
• First-time travelers are considered only with 2 or more years of experience
• Former permanent staff must wait 1 full year before returning to this facility as a traveler
• Free parking is available on site