About Community Health Centres of Northumberland

CHCN opened in 2009 and remains dedicated to providing programs and services that reflect current/future needs of the community. CHCN delivers primary care (family physicians and nurse practitioners), diabetes education, mental health and addictions counseling, geriatric outreach services, a memory clinic, dental care, and many health promotion and community development activities.  Priority remains focused on supporting vulnerable populations across Northumberland including but not limited to seniors, people struggling with mental health issues and/or addictions, those struggling with housing and food security and at risk youth.

About Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario (YWHO)

YWHO supports local service providers to work together to provide young people in Ontario aged 12 to 25 with low barrier access to a full range of services including but not limited to primary care, mental health and substance use counselling, service navigation, peer support and community and social supports all through youth-friendly access points.

With an anticipated opening in the summer of 2025, the Youth Wellness Hub Northumberland will offer integrated and holistic services that focus on early intervention and collaboration among various service providers in order to address gaps in the healthcare system for young people. The main goal is to improve experiences and outcomes for youth by increasing access to rapid, low-barrier services, reduce wait times for vital primary care/mental health services and reduce transportation barriers. Until the physical space is opened, staff will begin offering virtual services to community members in March of 2025.

The Hub would be the first and only Youth Wellness Hub available between Scarborough, Haliburton & Kingston ON, significantly increasing accessibility of services across the region.

About the Role

The Nurse Practitioner (NP) will work as a member of our diverse interdisciplinary Youth Wellness Team, supporting youths’ overall health and wellness, including those experiencing mental health and substance use challenges. The NP provides leadership and promotes excellence in care from a primary care lens in all areas of Advanced Practice Nursing.  NPs are registered in the Extended Class at the College of Nurses of Ontario and belong to a subspecialty group of primary care.

The main components of the NP’s role include clinical practice; education (e.g., providing education to other professionals and continuing professional development); mentorship activities; nursing leadership activities and scholarly activities (e.g., clinical practice change initiatives, quality improvements projects, and evaluation). The NP role will have both a population and scope based focus. The NP will focus on care for youth aged 12-25 years for broad-based primary care needs on episodic bases. The role will be collaborative and consultative with community partners and additional medical specialties to ensure the youth receives comprehensive care for their episodic needs.  NPs seek to apply best practices and use evidence to inform decisions and care planning.  Curiosity and attention to quality improvement are cornerstones of how NPs advance patient care and nursing practice within the teams they work.

The ideal candidate will play a vital role in providing high-quality and youth friendly clinical care, collaborating with healthcare professionals, and contributing to the overall well-being of our youths. You will support a workplace that embraces diversity, encourages teamwork and complies with all applicable and regulatory requirements.  The Candidate will possess a clinical nursing focus in primary care.  You will demonstrate a commitment to accountability: critical thinking, reflective practice and continuous learning. You possess excellent organizational, time management, communication and interpersonal skills enabling you to work within a collaborative and diverse interprofessional team. Effective leadership, decision-making, and problem solving skills are required. Your skills will include the ability to be flexible, self-reflective and supportive.  Having the ability to work effectively as a team member in a dynamic and a fast-paced multidisciplinary environment is essential.  You will have skills in providing services reflective of the needs of the youths and their families.

Main Responsibilities

CLINICAL PRACTICE

• The NP will all collaborate with community partners, family, caregivers with the consent of the patient to collect collateral information that can help to inform the assessment, diagnosis and treatment plan.

• Provides care for youth and/or monitors the ongoing therapy of youth. Where necessary and appropriate consults with other members of the interdisciplinary team to provide interventions and comprehensive care, including prescribing drugs, ordering laboratory tests and Emphasizes health promotion, education and disease prevention with youth.

• Make referrals where necessary to other community providers.

• Employs nursing communication skills in all interactions (e.g., active listening, respectful and culturally appropriate verbal and non-verbal communication, compassion, empathy, etc.).

• In collaboration with youth, support the use of YWHO standardized measures to support measurement-based care to provide health and services, monitor progress, and improve youth outcomes

• Participates and/or leads in complex care planning, including assessing, evaluating, amending plans of care after ongoing evaluation of the youths’ needs in collaboration with the interprofessional team.

• Provide virtual-based (online, phone) and in-person service.

• Provides comprehensive primary care to individuals’ ages 12-25 years of age.

• Perform compressive assessment that includes completing a health history, collecting all relevant information pertaining to the presenting problem.

• Performs selected diagnostic and therapeutic procedures and pharmacological agents and therapeutic measures within scope of practice.

• Identifies and communicates a medical diagnosis to the youth.

• Integrates psychotherapeutic approaches into their clinical visits.

• Provides leadership advocating for the practice changes to enhance safe patient care.

• Knowledge of approaches that promote health equity, including anti-oppressive and anti-racist practice, 2SLGBTQ+ inclusion, community engagement, cultural safety, trauma-informed care, harm reduction, and human rights and accessibility frameworks.

• Provide services and support to youth and their families in a way that is consistent with the values of the YWHO Model.

• Provide access to services both in person, remotely (off site) or virtually (online, phone) as needed.

MENTORSHIP AND QUALITY IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES

• Works collaboratively with Hub leadership to identifying quality improvement activities (e.g., clinical practice change initiatives, quality improvements projects, and research).

• Develops and implements; or participates in and promotes quality improvement activities (e.g., clinical practice change initiatives, quality improvements projects, and evaluation).

• Collaborate with Youth Wellness Hubs, YWHO Provincial Office and other clinical partners with developing, participating in knowledge exchange activities. 

• Participation in the Provincial Primary Community of Practice.

• Collaborates with individuals, youths and groups to identify and implement education/programs to address specific learning needs for YWHO youths.

• Seizes opportunities for continued professional development and engages in informal and formal learning opportunities.

• Seeks opportunities to engage in mentorship activities.

• Participates when and where possible in the academic community by providing education to students, acts as a clinical preceptor to a student, provides mentorship to students, or participates in education initiatives (e.g. invited to lecture).

• Provides health education in areas such as harm reduction, gender affirming care, sexual health collaboratively with others from the Youth Hub team, partners and the larger Network. 

  LEADERSHIP

• Possess excellent communication skills.

• Collaborates with YWHO Hub leadership team to implement the Nurse Practitioner role fully based on legislative/regulatory requirements; professional standards and guidelines; organizational policies and procedures; and individual knowledge, skills and judgment. 

• Acts as a mentor and role model for clinical practice initiatives.

• Advocates for development and changes in primary health care delivery in the community

• Participates in professional organizations (e.g., is a member of the NPAO, RNAO etc.).

• Accountable to align activities and performance with strategic goals and objectives of YWHO Hubs.

• Advocates to influence primary health care practice, policy and outcomes.

  Qualifications/Experience Required

• Masters of Nursing (or equivalent) with clinical focus of Primary Care, all ages or equivalent.  Evidence of completion of a Nurse Practitioner course.

• Completion of education required by the College of Nurses of Ontario on prescribing controlled substances.

• Willingness to pursue subspecialty education in mental health and addictions and gender affirming care.

• Current license with College of Nurses of Ontario in the RN (Extended Class)

• Experience working with youth and young adults in a community setting is an asset.

• Strong clinical skills in mental health assessment and treatment

• Proficiency in a second language is considered an asset

• Valid Ontario G class Driver’s License and a reliable vehicle with minimum $2,000,000 insurance liability, as travel throughout Northumberland County is required

• Must obtain a complete criminal reference check from the local Police Force, including a Vulnerable Sector Search and Local Police Record Search.

Location & Commitment

• Hours of Work: Flexibility in work hours will be required to best serve youth populations including ability to work weekends/evenings for purposes of program delivery and attendance at activities and events where necessary.

• Location of work: Our main Hub will be located at 15 Cavan St, Port Hope, ON L1A 3B5 with future satellite spokes planned to open across Northumberland County. This main location has a planned opening for the summer of 2025. Staff will begin working out of Rebound Child and Youth Service’s office in Cobourg or one of our collaborative partnership team’s locations in Port Hope, transitioning to the main hub once open. Staff will begin offering virtual services and transition to both in person and virtual services once the hub opens.

• Travel: Candidates should be prepared to travel across satellite locations in the future and attend outreach events/initiatives where necessary.

• Office Space: Candidates should expect to share their office space with our Youth Wellness Team/Community Partners through a desk hoteling model.

Contact Us to Apply

Interested candidates, please submit a resume and cover letter to our Clinical Director, Marley Budreau with the subject line “Nurse Practitioner”.

We strongly encourage applications from First Nations, Métis, Inuit, Black, and other racialized people who are reflective of intersectional experiences (i.e., 2SLGBTQ+, neurodevelopmental differences, living with a disability, etc.).

We thank all candidates in advance for their interest, however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted. Please be prepared to provide at least 3 (professional, educational, community) references.

Job posting will remain open until it is filled.

Rebound is an equal opportunity employer committed to a diverse workforce. We encourage applications from all qualified individuals, including those from diverse cultural, racialized, and gender identities. Rebound ensures an inclusive and barrier-free selection process and work environment. Accommodations, accessible formats, and communication supports are available upon request, in accordance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).