Location: CHA Somerville Campus
Work Days: 8 hour shifts, w/ E/O wknd rotation and holidays as assigned
Category: Human and Social Services
Department: Psych SH 5 East Neuro Nursing
Job Type: Full time
Work Shift: Day / Evening
Hours/Week: 40.00
Union Name: SH Laborers 381
CHA is offering a $5,000 sign on bonus for all Milieu Counselor positions that are 32-40 hours per week.
Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) is a vibrant, innovative health system dedicated to providing essential services to all members of the community. With almost 140,000 patients in Cambridge, Somerville, and Boston’s Metro North region, CHA is a local provider of choice for primary care, specialty care, emergency services, hospital care, maternity care, and behavioral health.
CHA recently opened a new inpatient center for youth with acute behavioral health needs. Located in Somerville, the beautiful new facility offers care for children 3-12, adolescents 13-17, and children with neuro-developmental disorders. The new Center for Inpatient Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at Somerville will provide a transformative continuum of patient and family-centered care for diverse youth with mental health needs.
Cambridge Health Alliance's Child and Adolescent inpatient Neurodevelopment Unit provides specialist assessment and care for children and adolescents who have severe mental health and neurodevelopmental needs. CHA provides services for children experiencing complex and persistent emotional and behavioral difficulties due to neurodevelopmental challenges. We care for our patients in a newly renovated secured 6-bed unit at the CHA Somerville Campus. Our unit offers private rooms, communal eating and living areas, an outdoor activity space, an active sensory room, and quiet ‘calming’ spaces for both individual and group play and learning.
Job Purpose
The Milieu Counselor is a member of the multidisciplinary team who, under the supervision of a registered nurse, is responsible for a safe and structured service as well as attending to the individual needs of patients in crisis in an inpatient psychiatric setting.
The role of a Milieu Counselor will assist with ADLs, lead or co-lead groups, perform safety checks, conduct 1:1 meetings with patients, and accurately chart patients' B/P, TPR & weight. Notifies RN of any changes in vital signs. Accurately measures and documents patient's intake and output. Assists patients in following through with ADLs (bathing, laundry, toileting, organizing room), maintaining nutritional and hydration needs, and assisting and monitoring the patient’s needs and other tasks as assigned by the charge RN.
Qualifications/Experience:
- High school diploma required; B.A, B.S., or M.A. preferred or equivalent years of human service experience.
- Current American Heart Association Basic Life Support (BLS) certification.
- Prior human services, behavioral or psychiatric experience strongly preferred. Inpatient psychiatric experience is preferred.
- All newly hired candidates must successfully complete a job-specific physical test.
In keeping with federal, state, and local laws, Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) policy forbids employees and associates to discriminate against anyone based on race, religion, color, gender, age, marital status, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law. We are committed to establishing and maintaining a workplace free of discrimination. We are fully committed to equal employment opportunity. We will not tolerate unlawful discrimination in recruitment, hiring, termination, promotion, salary treatment, or any other condition of employment or career development. Furthermore, we will not tolerate the use of discriminatory slurs, or other remarks, jokes, or conduct that, in the judgment of CHA, encourage or permit an offensive or hostile work environment.
