Behavioral Health Safety & Wellness Officer - Full Time Dayshift

at  Centra Health

The P&BH Service Line is committed to providing a safe and secure environment for staff, patients, and family members. Generally, the role of SWO personnel is to support nursing staff with patients who have been assessed as presenting a potential risk to themselves and or others and require an increased level of observation. SWOs will support de-escalation and restrain of patients under the direction of nursing and medical staff. This procedure applies to use of SWOs for patients/residents/clients receiving BH care in all locations throughout the P&BH service areas.
Duties and Responsibilities:
SWO personnel will be a calming presence promoting safety and wellness throughout the unit.
SWO personnel are to be polite, courteous, obliging, and non-judgmental in their approach to all.
SWO personnel will not carry weapons of any kind, nor mace/pepper spray.
SWO personnel are required to carry out any lawful instructions expediently and efficiently within their scope of practice, and according to Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI) training and competency.
The primary nurse caring for the patient and the charge nurse of the shift are to be identified to the SWO personnel at the beginning of their shift.
The SWO will receive updates on the beginning of every shift on potential issues concerning the safety on the unit. The information must be updated and given to the relief SWO for the next shift.
The person who activates the request for SWO personnel must make a PE note of the request.
SWO personnel are not to engage in conversation with a patient while medical/clinical staff are interacting with the patient unless assistance is directly requested.
Interactions with all patients are to be restricted to non-clinical topics. Patients are to be referred to clinical staff for information with regards to any clinical matter.
Any information pertinent to the patients condition that is observed, received, or heard must be reported to nursing staff.
SWO personnel are not to engage in clinical conversations with family or visitors and must refer any questions to clinical staff.
If SWO personnel have a complaint or concerns while working in the unit, these are to be reported verbally to the charge nurse, or nurse manager.
SWO personnel will coordinate and execute the personal and property searches of visitors entering the unit as well as during patients admission process.
SWO personnel will complete RL6 incident reports regarding incidents that occur involving patients, staff members, other individuals and Centra property.
SWO personnel are responsible for maintaining radio contact with Centra/campus security.
SWO personnel will assist and coordinate with outside law enforcement agencies while they are interacting with patients, clinical staff, or visitors.
SWO personnel will respond to code Atlas to manage and assist combative patients while ensuring safety of patients and staff.
SWO personnel will assist staff with admissions search process and escorts to discharge procedures.
SWO personnel will only use cell phones for work related matters.
Confidentiality:
Under no circumstance is personal information to be exchanged between SWO personnel and the patient. This includes, but is not limited to names, addresses and telephone numbers. The SWO personnel must inform the charge nurse as soon as possible if a patient has disclosed or sought personal information.
Confidentiality is to be maintained by SWO personnel under HIPPA Compliance Regulations.
Duty of Care:
All SWO personnel are to be oriented to the units on which they are required to provide wellness and safe environment.
SWO personnel are to be advised of the location and use of panic-alarms, emergency codes and CCTV.
SWO personnel are to remain in the room/area be observant, diligent, and keep the patient in view as per observation level and direction from clinical staff.
SWO personnel should report any issues regarding their duties or concerns for the patient promptly to the charge nurse.
While every effort is made to make available security personnel of the same gender for individual patients, male SWO personnel must exercise caution to stay in view of staff while attending female patients.
SWO personnel are to follow directions from clinical staff during any emergency code in coordination with Centra security team.
Continuous visibility and rounding throughout BH units to promote positive perception of safety for all patients, visitors, and staff.
SWO personnel Intervenes in patient, visitor and/or staff escalations/confrontations as appropriate using least restrictive methods, as indicated by CPI.
SWO personnel are the first responder to patient threats of violence.
Required Education: High school diploma or equivalent. Current CPR/ First Aid. Successful completion of de-escalation (CPI-Highest Level) and restraining training.
Required Experience:Requires intense attention to ensure a safe and therapeutic environment. Ability to communicate patient behaviors to the appropriate staff in the event patient safety is compromised.Demonstrates good organizational skills. Requires critical thinking skills, decisive judgment, and the ability to work with minimal supervision. Ability to successfully complete training as required by the department.
Preferred Experience: Experience in an acute care hospital setting, inpatient behavioral health unit or related experience preferred.

Please refer the Job description for details