At Houston Methodist, the Mobile Assessment Team (MAT) Specialist position is an experienced registered nurse responsible for the development, coordination, implementation, evaluation and revision of programs aimed at supporting and enhancing mental health services and facilitating utilization of inpatient mental health services in a manner consistent with the mission and vision of Houston Methodist. This position demonstrates compassion, proficiency and clinical competency when providing care, use of technology, and carrying out tasks for population-specific patients in the hospital. The MAT Specialist position is responsible for the development and maintenance of collaborative relationships with physicians, staff, and the community through referral and resource management. This position is an expert in the field and able to perform a skilled nursing assessment of patients referred to this service and provide education to patients, staff, physicians and the community related to this specialty. Role modeling compassionate communication with physicians and the interprofessional health care team, the MAT Specialist position assumes leadership responsibilities with high level contributions at the bedside, unit, service line, and across Houston Methodist.

PATIENT AGE GROUP(S) AND POPULATION(S) SERVED
Refer to departmental "Scope of Service" and "Provision of Care" plans, as applicable, for description of primary age groups and populations served by this job for the respective HM entity.

HOUSTON METHODIST EXPERIENCE EXPECTATIONS

• Provide personalized care and service by consistently demonstrating our I CARE values:
  • INTEGRITY: We are honest and ethical in all we say and do.
  • COMPASSION: We embrace the whole person including emotional, ethical, physical, and spiritual needs.
  • ACCOUNTABILITY: We hold ourselves accountable for all our actions.
  • RESPECT: We treat every individual as a person of worth, dignity, and value.
  • EXCELLENCE: We strive to be the best at what we do and a model for others to emulate.

• Practices the Caring and Serving Model

• Delivers personalized service using HM Service Standards

• Provides for exceptional patient/customer experiences by following our Standards of Practice of always using Positive Language (AIDET, Managing Up, Key Words)

• Intentionally collaborates with other healthcare professionals involved in patients/customers or employees' experiential journeys to ensure strong communication, ease of access to information, and a seamless experience.

• Involves patients (customers) in shift/handoff reports by enabling their participation in their plan of care as applicable to the given job

• Displays cultural humility, diversity, equity and inclusion principles

• Actively supports the organization's vision, fulfills the mission and abides by the I CARE values

PEOPLE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Provides leadership, direction, development, and evaluation of the mental health care program. Develops and maintains rapport with representatives in the community to promote effective interactions and appropriate referrals.

• Functions as a mental health care expert consultant to interprofessional team members for symptom management issues through provision of advanced assessment skills for care. Develops educational information for the nursing units regarding when to activate the MAT either by phone or by consult. Practices in a manner that is congruent with cultural diversity and inclusion principles. Serves as a patient advocate in preventing/resolving ethical issues.

• Contributes to improving nurse satisfaction/engagement by serving as a role model and mentor, coaching staff in effective verbal, non-verbal and written communication, which includes active listening, and facilitating teamwork with RNs, non-licensed and interprofessional staff, as evidenced by the annual RN-RN teamwork score and interprofessional relationship score.

SERVICE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Based on the Attending Physician and Psychiatrist's order, assists with community resources and follow up appointments if appropriate for when the patient is discharged from the hospital and with transfers/admissions to the inpatient psychiatric unit or mental health facility.

• Initiates mental health court paperwork: Emergency Detention Order (EDO), Order of Protective Custody (OPC), Warrant Transfers when appropriate.

• Partners with the nursing unit RN assigned to the mental health patient to fully assess the patient's mental, emotional and physical status and needs. Monitors plan of care development and appropriate delivery care, referral to appropriate resources, coordination of access other health care facilities/entities when needed.

• Strives to exceed patients and coworkers' expectations. Drives department activities to improve department score for patient satisfaction on unit-based scorecard, through peer-to-peer accountability.

QUALITY/SAFETY ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Models the standards of care related to the nursing process, as outlined in the Houston Methodist Professional Nursing Practice document. Collaborates with interprofessional health care team to achieve patient goals. Anticipates/prevents and recognize/resolves early declines in patient condition and emergent situations.

• Models the standards related to regulatory requirements and professional practice as outlined in the Houston Methodist Professional Nursing Practice document. Role models highly developed assessment, clinical documentation, leadership and analytical skills; integrates and contributes to professional practice standards, policies, procedures, protocols and leads improvements in patient safety-related processes at unit or service line level. Serves as a patient advocate by identifying and reporting unsafe or malfunctioning equipment and unsafe operational practices to department leadership. Contributes to development of service line and hospital standards and guidelines.

• Audits adherence to program and hospital initiatives; fostering quality & safety improvements as necessary. Tracks data for all consulted patients and logs information within the EMR and other databases as indicated. Reports data as required.

FINANCE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Implements department strategies to achieve financial target on unit-based scorecard and mentors others to do the same through timely documentation of care, decreasing length of stay, optimizing efficiency, and other areas according to department specifications.

GROWTH/INNOVATION ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Promote mental health services within the hospital provided on the unit. Identifies and helps develop patient, professional and public educational materials and presentations. Provides seminars and presentations as appropriate. Attends related conferences to embrace best evidence and increase own knowledge in the related field.

• Develops and updates demographic information on community resources for the mental health patient:¿ Psychiatrists¿ Therapists¿ Mental Health Day programs¿ Mental Health Intensive Outpatient Programs¿ Chemical Dependency inpatient and outpatient programs¿ Other psychiatric inpatient units

• Leads and identifies opportunities for practice changes, innovative solutions to improve patient care and performance improvement. Investigates and incorporates evidence-based practices which are presented to shared governance and leadership. Supports change initiatives and adapts to unexpected changes. Expands individual nursing knowledge and coaches staff to grow in knowledge, abilities, skills, and attitudes. Completes and updates the My Development plan on an on-going basis.

This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive; the employee will also perform other reasonably related business/job duties as assigned. Houston Methodist reserves the right to revise job duties and responsibilities as the need arises.

EDUCATION

• Graduate of education program approved by the credentialing body for the required credential(s) indicated below in the Certificates, Licenses and Registrations section

WORK EXPERIENCE

• Three years' experience with direct clinical nursing patient care

• 18 months clinical nursing in psychiatry care

LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS - REQUIRED

• RN - Registered Nurse - Texas State Licensure and/or Compact State Licensure within 60 days OR
• RN-Temp - Registered Nurse - Temporary State Licensure within 60 days AND
• BLS - Basic Life Support (AHA) AND
• NVCRISIS - Nonviolent Crisis Intervention (CPI) AND
• Magnet - ANCC Recognized Certification

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

• Demonstrates the skills and competencies necessary to safely perform the assigned job, determined through on-going skills, competency assessments, and performance evaluations

• Sufficient proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing the English language necessary to perform the essential functions of this job, especially with regard to activities impacting patient or employee safety or security

• Ability to effectively communicate with patients, physicians, family members and co-workers in a manner consistent with a customer service focus and application of positive language principles

• Demonstrates proficient time management skills

• Demonstrates expertise in operating the electronic medical record

• Working knowledge of Microsoft products including PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook

• Acts as effective change agent

• Uses therapeutic communication to establish a relationship with patients, families and interprofessional team to collaborate on the plan of care

• Strong assessment, organizational and problem-solving skill as evidenced by capacity to prioritize multiple tasks and role components

• Ability to function independently and exercise judgment in interactions with physicians, interprofessional care team and patients and their families

• Uses critical thinking skills and clinical judgment to work autonomously as defined by the Nurse Practice Act

SUPPLEMENTAL REQUIREMENTS

WORK ATTIRE

• Uniform No
• Scrubs Yes
• Business professional Yes
• Other (department approved) Yes

ON-CALL*
*Note that employees may be required to be on-call during emergencies (ie. DIsaster, Severe Weather Events, etc) regardless of selection below.

• On Call* Yes

TRAVEL**
**Travel specifications may vary by department**

• May require travel within the Houston Metropolitan area Yes
• May require travel outside Houston Metropolitan area Yes

Houston Methodist Baytown Hospital, located 35 miles east of Houston, is the area's only full-service hospital offering specialized medical care for patients at every stage in life. This 230-licensed bed hospital with 15 operating rooms and over 1,700 employees, brings Medical Center excellence and quality care close to East Harris and surrounding counties.