Registered Nurse

About this position

Who We Are:

At Sanctuary, we are becoming a healthy, welcoming community where people who are poor or excluded are particularly valued. This community is an expression of the good news embodied in Jesus Christ.

Our faith and relationship with God inform us in identifying the following as some of our core values:

• Dignity: We believe that each person is created in the image of God and, as such, has the right to be treated with the utmost dignity.
• Mutuality: We come to our relationships recognizing that each person has gifts to be shared and gifts to be received.
• Inclusivity: We intend that our community at Sanctuary will be as inclusive as Jesus was in his life, particularly creating a space for those who are generally excluded in the broader society to experience welcome and a place of belonging.

The Role:

Each of our team, regardless of their unique focus within the community of Sanctuary, is committed to viewing themselves first and foremost as members of the community. And while still being committed to fulfilling their specific role to the very best of their ability, their engagement with the Sanctuary community takes precedence over the accomplishment of that role. The Registered Nurse’s role is to join us in our community while bringing to bear their skills in the area of nursing.

Specifically, the Registered Nurse will…

• Provide compassionate client-centered care consistent with a harm-reduction model;
• Provide primary care, liaising with other health care providers in providing continuous care and follow-up;
• Provide episodic and emergency care to those with acute and chronic exacerbations;
• Perform psychiatric assessments, make appropriate recommendations;
• Perform well-woman care, including paps, and birth control;
• Dispense appropriate medications in keeping with RN licensing and client needs;
• Perform accurate and timely charting;
• Collaborate closely with other RNs, NPs and MDs working in the Clinic, as well as with other staff and community supports in providing holistic client-care;
• Advocate for social policies that include just care for marginalized people;
• Whenever appropriate and possible, be willing to accompany members of the Sanctuary community to appointments or hospital;
• Lead education sessions with members of the Sanctuary community on health issues relevant to the community;
• Engage in reflective practice seeking out educational opportunities and debriefing with colleagues;
• Perform clinic maintenance as part of the clinic team: ordering supplies, maintaining medication and product checks, running the sterilizer, reviewing paperwork.
• Attend and contribute to clinic meetings as required.

Note that the Sanctuary clinic is a small one currently employing two full-time RNs, a NP and a team of doctors working approximately 8 hours per week.

Qualifications:

General Qualifications:

• Christian faith which informs, motivates and inspires in all facets of life;
• Demonstrated ability to walk with people from diverse experiences and life situations;
• Ability to enter a variety of different settings and to connect with people having a wide range of beliefs, values and life situations;

• Ability to listen to and work alongside other Christians who hold differing positions on potentially controversial or divisive issues;
• Commitment to the value of community as a place where we become more whole as we are challenged in our personal growth;
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively;
• Excellent communication and listening skills;
• Flexible, patient and relational.

Sanctuary’s Staff Conduct Agreement is as follows:

As staff who are members of the Sanctuary community, we covenant together to follow Jesus.  When making a decision, we will endeavour not to harm but to seek the good of each other and the community.  As others on staff make decisions, we agree to trust each other’s intentions and conscience. We agree to honour each other’s story and differences as we live in mutual accountability and freedom in Christ.

Professional Qualifications:

• Be a member in good standing with the CNO;
• Understand the determinants of health and is able to use this as a framework to create appropriate strategies for optimum client health;
• Be familiar with the stages of change and motivational interviewing, especially with respect to addiction issues;
• Have experience using a harm reduction approach while working in community health, mental health, trauma and/or with marginalized people.

The following are not required but would be an asset:

• Experience working in palliative care;
• Knowledge of wound care and healing;
• Demonstrated ability to provide mentorship to other healthcare staff and/or students;
• Skills and experience in conflict management and de-escalation.

The successful candidate will undergo appropriate reference and security checks.

Additional Responsibilities and Expectations:

• All team members are expected to attend and actively participate in weekly team meetings and retreats. Team meetings are currently held on Mondays from 9:00 to noon and retreats are currently held twice annually and begin on Wednesday and end on Friday.
• New team members, regardless of the particular focus of their role, will spend some time during the first several weeks of their employment at Sanctuary, building simple friendships within our community by working in drop-ins and participating in outreach. This will mean that they will have less time to spend on their particular role but we believe that this time of getting to know the community is vital to their ongoing success at Sanctuary.
• Along with professional networking, Clinic team members are expected to spend approximately 20% of their time in self-care activities that should include developing relationships and meeting with mentors who will support the team member in their work at Sanctuary. Some of this time may also be spent in communicating with friends, churches and other organization regarding their work at Sanctuary and for the purpose of fundraising.

Interview Process:

The interview process at Sanctuary involves several steps. While we acknowledge that the process is fairly lengthy and involved, we believe it is an important process as the staff team strives to make decisions by consensus and to invite each team member’s voice into the decision-making process. Because of the degree to which our team works together, we are committed to involving as many of the current team in the selection process.

1. Applicants interested in applying, please send a letter of intent highlighting their suitability for this role along with a resume to Alan Beattie at alanb@sanctuarytoronto.ca by Friday, May 3, 2019.
2. Those candidates for whom an interview is desired will be contacted by Friday, May 10 so that an interview time can be set within the following two weeks.
3. Prior to the interview, candidates are required to attend at least one Sanctuary worship service (Sunday afternoons between 5:00 and approximately 7:15) and a Sanctuary drop-in for a minimum of two hours. The drop-in times are Tuesday between 10:30 am – 3:00 pm and Thursday between 4:30 pm – 9:00 pm. Prior to attending the drop-in, the candidate should contact Alan Beattie at alanb@sanctuarytoronto.ca so that arrangements can be made to provide an orientation to the drop-in setting at Sanctuary. No such arrangements need to be made for the worship service. These experiences may provide an opportunity for the candidate to talk with some of our team and will offer them a valuable opportunity to get a first-hand sense of the Sanctuary community.
4. An interview will be conducted with a hiring team consisting of four staff members.
5. After the interview is conducted, a successful candidate will be selected and your references will be contacted. You will then begin a final step which we call The Rounds. In The Rounds, you will meet with those team members whom you have not met either in the interview or in the drop-in which you attended. You will meet with those team members in twos or threes in an informal setting in which you may ask questions of them and they, in turn, can ask questions of you. We will do our best to complete The Rounds as quickly as possible – ideally within one week.
6. After The Rounds are complete, someone from the interview team will check-in with you so that you can ask any follow up questions and confirm that you are still interested in working with us.
7. Our team will then meet together to confirm your selection.
8. Subject to the mutual agreement of yourself and the team, you will be asked to join us.