Amendment issued April 19, 2016 (See Special Requirements.)

Residence Requirements:

RESIDENCE REQUIREMENTS:  THERE ARE NO RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPATION IN THIS EXAMINATION.  At present there is one vacancy at the Erie County Medical Center.

Examples of Duties:

A Clinical Nurse Specialist- Behavioral Health  functions as an expert clinician, consultant, educator, researcher and leader to provide comprehensive care and quality outcomes for clients requiring Emergency Psychiatric Services and In-patient Psychiatric Services at the Erie County Medical Center Corporation; 
Participates in intra- and inter-disciplinary health care teams to assess, analyze, identify priorities, evaluate and create care plans for patients, families and other caregivers involved in highly complex situations; Develops and evaluates innovative approaches and programs for complex practice issues; Collects and analyzes data regarding patient care outcomes; evaluates the effectiveness of care provided, makes recommendations to change standards of care or best practices; Advocates for client focused decision-making within the health care delivery system by assessing clients' capabilities to participate in decision making, involving clients and family in decision making and expanding other caregiver's understanding of the client's experience; Provides consultation and guidance to clients and family/caregivers, determines focus of consultation, plans and recommends services and documents analysis, findings and recommendations; Participates in learning needs assessment related to professional development of nursing staff and others; identifies learning facilitators and barriers to professional education; Provides staff with continuing learning opportunities by identifying and/or creating resources for learning and facilitating the implementation of planned learning experiences; evaluates the effectiveness of learning experience, identifies learning issues and problems; Disseminates recent innovations and research findings relevant to nursing practice and clinical outcomes; Participates in employee recruitment, selection, career development and performance appraisal; Participates in the development of nursing roles and special projects as assigned; Participates on committees relating to delivery of care, policy and procedure development, research and education and professional development; May be required to provide training or lectures at universities or colleges.   

Qualifications:

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:  Candidates must meet the following requirements on or before May 18,2016:
Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university with a Master's Degree in Nursing or Nursing Education and three years of direct nursing care experience in Psychiatric Nursing, at least one of which occurred within the past five  years.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:

1. Possession of a license and current registration to practice as a Registered Professional Nurse in New York State a time of appointment at the time of application to the examination.
2. Section 424-a of the Social Services law requires the local social services district to inquire whether the applicant is the subject of an indicated child abuse or maltreatment report on file with the State Central Register of child abuse and maltreatment. All potential employees for this position will be requested to sign the necessary clearance form prior to being advised that they will be hired. Refusal to sign will be cause for an automatic non-selection. 

Notes:

NOTES:  1.  Verifiable part-time and/or volunteer experience will be pro-rated toward meeting the experience requirements.  2.  Your degree and/or college credit must have been awarded by a regionally accredited college or university or one recognized by the New York State Education Department as following acceptable educational practices.  If your degree and/or college credit was awarded by an educational institution outside of the United States and its territories, you must provide independent verification of equivalency.  You can write to this Department for a list of acceptable companies providing this service; you must pay the required evaluation fee.

Subjects of Examination:

SUBJECT OF EXAMINATION: The only subject of examination will be an evaluation of your training and experience. You are, therefore, asked to include in your application a summary of all pertinent training and experience in sufficient detail so that your background may be evaluated against the duties of the position.

In your summary of training include all college course work, formal in-service training, and seminars you have attended. You must specify either the number of credits received or the number of contact hours and dates of attendance. Also include a copy of your professional license. Specify the date that your license was first issued.

In your summary of experience, you must specify the dates of your employment, the number of hours worked per week, your title, and the main duties for each. Be specific; vagueness and ambiguity will NOT be resolved in your favor. Candidates who submit incomplete applications or documentation may be disqualified.

**IMPORTANT APPLICATION FEE - READ CAREFULLY**

A $15.00 filing fee is required for this exam. The required fee must accompany your application. Send or bring check or money order made payable to Erie County Personnel Department and write the examination number(s) on your check or money order. Do not send or bring cash, as the County cannot be responsible for cash payment. As no refund will be made, you are urged to compare your qualifications carefully with the requirements for admission and file only for those examinations for which you are clearly qualified.