Nurse Clinician

Overview

Institution: Institute of Mental Health

Family Group: Nursing

Department: Community Mental Health Team

The Nurse Clinician is responsible for providing clinical nursing leadership in the delivery of safe and competent patient care and maintains accountability for clinical standards and nursing practice in Community Psychiatric Nursing Service (CPNS) / Community Mental Health Team (CMHT).

Clinical Supervision

• Plans and conducts clinical teaching to new staff / trainees.
• Serves as an expert clinical and management resource within the team and provides direct care during home visits.
• Orientates and precepts new nurses and trainees.
• Mentors nurses through intensive clinical supervision, role modelling and nursing practice.
• Conducts on-the-job clinical teaching and identifies learning needs of nursing staff and patient service assistant within the department.
• Conducts staff performance appraisal in collaboration with the Senior Nurse Manager.
• Conducts home visit and performs bio-psycho-social assessment for clients and their home environment.
• Plans, implements and documents effective and comprehensive care plan with the multidisciplinary team for client on identified problems/needs.
• Assists clients in developing their own rehab goals and plans.
• Monitors clients’ progress, supervises their medication and administers injections as prescribed by the doctor.
• Assesses client’s mental and physical status and notifies the doctor when there are aberrations or improvement in patient’s condition.
• Demonstrates knowledge of medication action, mode of administration, side effects and contraindications for commonly used psychiatric and medical medication.
• Administers depot injections and performs treatment as ordered by doctor.
• Reports all medication errors and near misses promptly to the reporting officer for immediate action.
• Adheres to infection control practices in the delivery of care.
• Maintains required certification in resuscitative techniques.
• Prepares or escorts clients for admission to hospital when necessary.
• Monitors compliance to follow-up and treatment regime. Encourages clients to be compliant to treatment.
• Maintains safe storage of depot injections (if any).
• Demonstrates knowledge of therapeutic modalities that can be used to help patient deal with health problems such as Assertive Community Treatment Model, Psychosocial Rehabilitation Model, Psychotropic Medications, Illness Self Management Recovery, Family Nursing and Patient Education.
• Promotes and demonstrates therapeutic nurse patient relationship in all patient transactions.
• Assesses, identifies and prioritizes patient and family learning needs, including communication limitations and need for alternative forms of communication.
• Provides relevant educational materials to patient and family.
• Demonstrates effective communication skills with patients and families.
• Provides counselling and psychological support to patients and their caregiver.
• Maintains proper documentation of care given in patient’s record.

Care Coordination

• Assesses the needs of the client and the client’s family, when appropriate, and arranges, coordinates, monitors, evaluates, and advocates for a package of multiple services to meet the specific client’s complex needs.
• Coordinating delivery of care with resources available.
• Seeks information from other resources for incorporation in assessment and treatment plans for clients in community.
• Demonstrates awareness of the community resources available.
• Identifies client’s need for assistance for community resources and provides relevant information as needed.
• Explores referrals to community resources where appropriate and assists clients and family involvement in such services.
• Collaborates with other members of the multi-disciplinary team in the management of clients.
• Chair or participates in case presentations and discussions.
• Reports on the progress of the clients and facilitates the implementation of the multidisciplinary team’s decisions.
• Administers outcome measure tools timely and accurately.
• Participates in networking with community partners.
• Conducts training for community partners and external agencies.

General

• Provides oversight to data collection and maintains record of referral for the team.
• Ensures all team members collect and submit data in an accurate and timely manner.
• Leads and participates in quality improvement initiatives.
• Assists in the implementation and evaluation of procedures or systems within the program.
• Leads or assists in research studies related to CMHT.
• Assists Team Leader or Senior Nurse Manager in management responsibilities such as:
• Supervising, guiding and counselling junior nurses.
• Deputising the Senior Nurse Manager in his / her absence.
• Maintains and monitors team cohesiveness, productivity, needs for development, level of motivation and barriers.
• Performs any other duties as assigned by team leader / senior nurse manager.

Competency

• Passion to work in the community
• Possess good interpersonal, communication, writing & IT skills
• Able to build genuine and trusting relationship with clients
• Familiar with healthcare environment
• Able to work independently with good decision-making skills
• Able to understand, communicate with. And effectively interact with clients across diverse cultures and backgrounds
• Able to identify and manage acute psychiatric crises including suicidal ideation, self-harm, or aggression. This involves de-escalation techniques, safety planning, and coordinating emergency services when needed.
• Able to manage personal well-being to prevent burnout and compassion fatigue. This includes setting boundaries, engaging in reflective practice, and seeking supervision or support when needed.
• Comfort using telehealth platforms, electronic health records, and digital tools for remote patient monitoring and communication.

Educational and Professional Requirements

• Diploma / Bachelor's Degree in Nursing
• Registered Mental Nurse/ Psychiatric Nursing Cert/ Adv Dip in Nursing (Mental Health)
• Must be registered with Singapore Nursing Board
• Minimum of 2 years working experience as Nurse Clinician
• Demonstrates competent leadership, teaching, communication and interpersonal skills

The Institute of Mental Health (IMH) in Singapore, established in 1928, is a premier 2,000-bed psychiatric hospital nestled in Buangkok Green Medical Park, providing comprehensive mental health services across 50 inpatient wards and 7 outpatient clinics, while also playing a pivotal role in training the next generation of mental health professionals through the NHG-AHPL Residency Programme and collaborations with local academic institutions.