Nurse - Supervised Consumption Services (SCS)

WellFort is seeking a Nurse (RN or RPN) to join our team!

Nurse - Supervised Consumption Services (SCS)

Part-time 0.5 FTE – 2 Year Contract until Nov 21, 2025

Please note that the hours of operation of the site are 12pm – 8pm, seven days a week, including holidays.  Candidates will need to be available to work during these times.  This is an in-person position, remote work options are not available.

WellFort Community Health Services is a non-profit, values-based organization based in Peel. We provide a wide variety of comprehensive care including primary care, dental, mental health, and chronic disease management with a focus on illness prevention, health promotion and community development. We work with residents and other agencies to increase community capacity. WellFort is committed to providing inclusive, accessible, and sustainable programs and services to a diversely rich community.

WellFort CHS is excited to work in partnership as the Clinical Service provider alongside Moyo Health and Community Services who will be the operator of the new Supervised Consumption Site.  Working in collaboration as a unified team, this role will be accountable to WellFort Community Health Services while also operationally following broad strategies agreed to within an integrated model of care.  With a dynamic team of other clinical team members from WellFort and team members from Moyo HCS including outreach and peer workers, this innovative model will bring significant community and clinical expertise to best meet the needs of our community.

As part of the comprehensive range of harm reduction programs offered by Moyo HCS, the Peel Urgent Public Health Needs Site (UPHNS) is a low threshold, health care service where people can use pre-obtained drugs in a hygienic environment under the supervision of trained staff and receive basic health care, harm reduction teaching and counselling as well as referrals to internal and external health and social services, also known as a Supervised Consumption Site. The Peel UPHNS is targeted to open before the end of 2023. 

We are seeking a Nurse (RN or RPN) to join our team. The Nurse will work within a harm reduction framework to provide assessment and treatment functions for Peel UPHNS clients and work with the broader team in providing administrative and evaluation support for the program.

 What you will do:

• Perform clinical tasks by completing intake and assessments as necessary e.g. health histories, psychosocial, functional and family status, and physical assessments such as wound assessments, both in order to establish a plan of care within nursing scope of practice and to connect service users to additional services
• Responds to medical emergencies in accordance with scope of practice 
• Dispenses medication to service users as per medical directives and as delegated by health Centre physicians and nurse practitioners
• Develops rapport with service users and maintains therapeutic relationships within professional boundaries
• Supports service users to safely administer their own drugs, who may present with a variety of acute and chronic illnesses/diseases
• Assesses, responds to and manages overdose events; provides overdose prevention education
• Initiates emergency response, if necessary, as per established protocols
• Provides harm reduction materials and information to service users and ensures safe disposal of used equipment in accordance with established protocols
• Seeks out opportunities to provide supportive counseling, education and referrals to services within and outside of Peel UPHNS
• Assesses service user knowledge of drug consumption processes and works with service user to achieve the best possible health outcomes for each service user
• Monitors and ensures appropriate flow of service users through the services and service areas • Supports a welcoming, non-judgmental and safe space
• De-escalates conflict with or among participants, according to established protocols
• Actively participates in the planning, development, implementation, and evaluation of health promotion and education and support programs that are relevant and meaningful to the community served by WellFort, at off-site locations, and in collaboration with community partners.
• Advocates for and with clients to reduce barriers to accessing health care and other services in the health centre and the broader community.
• Maintain clear, accurate, and timely written electronic documentation including EMR, requisitions, reports, encounters, and other information as required by the health centre, MOH, CNO and other regulatory bodies
• Be an active member and contributes on a number of interdisciplinary team/committees.
• Other duties and responsibilities as may be assigned from time to time.

What you will need:

• Diploma or degree in nursing from a recognized community college or university
• Registration with the College of Nurses of Ontario and in good standing.
• 3 – 5 years in a community setting or combination of community, hospital or public health settings; experience in primary care or street/outreach nursing an asset
• Significant frontline nursing harm reduction experience; values aligned with a harm reduction approach to service delivery
• Proven experience with overdose response and training in/experience with oxygen and Naloxone administration
• Physical ability to provide support in an overdose situation
• Experience working with people who use drugs, as service users and as co-workers
• Experience in emergency response
• Experience in program development, implementation monitoring and evaluation an asset
• Demonstrated ability to de-escalate conflict
• Confidence in asserting and maintaining strong boundaries
• Knowledge of community services and resources; strong advocacy skills
• Experience working with communities and individuals who face barriers accessing tradition health care institutions such as poverty, discrimination, mental health and substance use issues.
• An understanding of and critical analysis of the determinants of health and social factors, such as power dynamics that affect individual, organizational and community health.
• Excellent written communication and oral skills that meet the needs of the individual and/or community at the appropriate literacy level.
• Experience working with confidential and time sensitive documents and information.
• Experience working in a value based non-profit or social services organization.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and interdependently in an interdisciplinary team environment in which the skills and responsibilities of each team member are recognized and respected.
• Demonstrated proficiency in use of computers and various computer software applications, such as Electronic Medical Record (EMR).
• Ability to speak languages relevant to the residents of the organization’s community is an asset.
• Provide care delivery at any of the office sites as program needs dictate.
• Consistent access to a vehicle for responsive care delivery at any care delivery location.

Apply Now and EMPOWER your career

Candidates who self-identify as being from a marginalized community, including people with lived/living experience of drug use and/or houselessness, Indigenous peoples, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, newcomers, and 2SLGBTQIA+ persons, are encouraged to apply and will be prioritized. We invite these candidates to indicate their relevant identities in their cover letters.

Requests for accommodation due to disability can be made at any stage in the recruitment process.

The successful candidate will demonstrate a willingness to participate in WellFort’s commitment to becoming an inclusive, barrier-free health centre and an ability to work in an interdisciplinary team.

For more information visit www.WellFort.ca

Initial Hiring Salary Range: RN $32.86 - $38.78 per hour and RPN $23.62 - $27.80 per hour (consideration of experience). Compensation package includes health and dental benefits and HOOPP pension benefits.

Interested applicants:

Forward your resume and cover letter to hiring@wellfort.ca Open until filled

Quote “Nurse-SCS0224” in the subject line

No phone calls please. Successful candidates will be contacted

VACCINATION REQUIREMENT:

As a condition of employment, new WellFort staff must be fully vaccinated unless they have received an exemption from vaccination under the Human Rights Code. Proof of COVID-19 vaccination status will be required before the first day of work or, proof of religious or medical exemption, if or where applicable.

Fully vaccinated is defined as having received the completed series of an accepted COVID-19 vaccine, as recommended by the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health and having received the final dose at least 14 days before your employment start date.

The candidate will be asked to provide WellFort with proof of full vaccination, prior to their employment start date. Acceptable proof is a Ministry of Health Dose Administration Receipt (or such other proof of vaccination that the Province of Ontario sanctions). This can be obtained through the Provincial portal https://covid-19.ontario.ca/get-proof/.

The requirement to be fully vaccinated is subject to the Ontario Human Rights Code. If the candidate is unable to vaccinate for a reason protected by the Code, a request for accommodation can be requested and written proof satisfactory to the organization will be required.