Certified Peer Specialist

$35,339 - $47,133/Yr

Unclassified - Albuquerque, NM

Full-time

Albuquerque, NM

About the position

The Certified Peer Specialist role in Albuquerque focuses on providing essential services and resources to individuals and families to promote rehabilitation, recovery, and resiliency. The position involves supporting clients in crisis situations, facilitating personalized interventions, and helping them develop skills for independent functioning in the community. The specialist will work across various age groups, including pediatric, adolescent, adult, and geriatric populations, ensuring adherence to hospital and departmental policies.

Responsibilities

• Assist and encourage the development of skills in activities of daily living, interpersonal coping, socialization, & community functioning
• Assist in obtaining financial and medical benefits/entitlements; facilitate the maintenance of safe, affordable, & stable housing
• Assist with identification and resolution of developmental, familial, social, educational, and/or work-readiness concerns, issues, and problems
• Offer information and resources about patient mental condition; serve as a mentor to promote recovery and resiliency and instill hope
• Teach symptom monitoring, symptom management, and relapse prevention skills; provide information about co-occurring illnesses
• Teach skills classes to clients
• Assist individual to develop a working knowledge of their medication and discuss concerns about medication regimen
• Assist in the development of self-motivational skills for adhering to prescribed medication regimen; encourage individual to identify what symptoms might emerge if s/he does not take medication as prescribed
• Assist in the development and coordination of the individual's service plan based on his/her identified strengths and goals to include a recovery/resiliency management plan, crisis management plan and advanced directives concerning the individual's behavioral healthcare
• Assist coordinating services and resources to help the individual gain access to necessary rehabilitative, medical and other services
• Encourage the development and eventual succession of natural supports in the workplace, school, family, and community environments
• Work with the individual/family to identify personal strengths, needs and barriers to attaining self-identified goals. Conduct ongoing assessments to determine if the services accessed are meeting or have adequately met the individual's needs
• Assess, support and intervene in crisis situations, including use of individual crisis management plans that recognize the early signs of crisis/relapse and the use of natural supports. Identify & encourage use of alternatives to hospital emergency departments and inpatient hospital services
• Document all client encounters and those made on behalf of clients; complete and submit billing documentation as appropriate; maintain current and comprehensive client files
• Maintain and report applicable statistics regarding programs and client services
• Enhance professional growth and development through participation in educational programs, reading current literature, attending in-services, meetings and workshops
• Follow patient safety-related policies, procedures and protocols
• Demonstrate proactive approach to patient safety by seeking opportunities to improve patient safety through questioning of current policies and processes
• Identify and report/correct environmental conditions and/or situations that may put a patient at undue risk
• Report potential or actual patient safety concerns, medical errors and/or near misses in a timely manner
• Encourage patients to actively participate in their own care by asking questions and reporting treatment or situations that they don't understand or may 'not seem right'

Requirements

• High School or GED Equivalent
• Certified Peer Specialist recognized in State of NM
• CPR for Healthcare/BLS Provider or Professional Rescuers within 30 days
• Valid New Mexico Driver's License
• UNM Vehicle Operator's Permit within 60 days

Nice-to-haves

• Bilingual English/Keres, Tewa, Tiwa, Towa, Zuni, or Navajo

Benefits

• Sign-on Bonus available