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Nov 09, 2026

Registered Nurse - Behavioral Health Nurse

General Nursing Behavioral Health

Job Description

10393

General Information

Job Name
Registered Nurse - Behavioral Health Nurse
Department
6340790 - PSYCH INPATIENT LP MZ
Position type
Full Time
Workplace
Fully On-Site
Primary Location
San Francisco, CA, United States
Job ID
10393

Description & Requirements

Job Description

This new Nursing position will require direct nursing care of our Emergency Department (ED) patients presenting with a full spectrum of psychiatric diagnoses, substance abuse issues, and/or both chronic and acute medical issues.

Currently, psychiatric patients in the ED experience long lengths of stay creating more patient anxiety, increased WPV incidents, strain on resources while severely impacting capacity management. Opportunities for stabilization, discharge and hospitalization are routinely missed due to lack of specially trained Psychiatric Staff to meet the needs of these complex patients.

The Behavioral Health Nurse will be working with a team that consists of an Psych Hospital Assistants, Psych NP, and ED staff in an assigned 12-hour shift that will be practicing within a set of nursing assessments, interventions, scope of practice, utilizing current clinical knowledge of psychiatric and medical illnesses. This Nurse will be responsible for Code 100s, Code 99 in addition to evaluating and documenting results of interventions for a given patient population. This may include taking nursing histories from patients and/or others that identify common variables affecting care by writing and evaluating nursing care plans, teaching patients and families about illness/symptom management. The Behavioral Health Nurse will be working closely with the ED Nurse who is also responsible for the Psychiatric Patient until medical clearance and or transfer has been achieved.

All Nursing care is provided in the Emergency Department, with interactions occurring with Emergency Department staff, SAWs, Providers, APPs, ED Pharmacists, Social Services, Case Management, Substance Abuse Counselor, ED PCTs, ED Discharge Coordinator, Security, UCPD, SFPD and EMS Agencies.

Qualifications
Required Qualifications: - Minimum one (1) year of recent acute care/inpatient hospital experience. - Recent 6 months psychiatric experience required in an inpatient psychiatric setting. - Lifting more than 50lbs, bending, twisting. (Not a sedentary position). - Excellent communication and interpersonal skills. - Demonstrated excellent attendance and reliability. - A preliminary job offer, and assignment may be extended pending successful background clearance. - Knowledge and abilities essential to successful performance in the duties assigned to the position. - This position requires the flexibility to orient and work at all UCSF Medical Center locations Preferred Qualifications: - Active Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI) training - Experience with electronic health record in healthcare setting. - Knowledge of California Mental Health Holds (LPS). - BSN Licensure/Certifications: - Possession of the legal requirements to practice as a Registered Nurse as determined by the California Board of Registered Nurses. (CA RN License) - Current BLS for Healthcare Providers Certification. - Active American Heart Association CPR certification - Active Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI) training within 6 months of hire
License / Certification
Basic Life Support, Registered Nurse

Additional Details

Job Code
CLIN NURSE 2 (009139)
Assignment Category
Career
IAP Level
Staff Plan (target potential payout of $900, maximum of $1,800)
Job Family
Nursing
Campus 1
Parnassus Heights (SF)
Percentage (%)
90.00
Shift Length
12 hours
Shift Type
Day
Bargaining Unit
NX
UCSF Health
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