Registered Nurse; RN

Registered Nurse (RN)

Join to apply for the Registered Nurse (RN) role at DESC (Downtown Emergency Service Center).

Three (3) 12‑hour shifts with at least two 30‑minute lunch breaks, 7:00 am – 7:30 pm, per week, with some weekends required; and one additional 12‑hour shift every four weeks.

Full‑time

• Dental, Life, Long‑Term Disability, Medical (no premiums/payroll deductions for employee coverage)
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Flexible Spending Account (FSA), ORCA card subsidy, Paid Time Off (34 days per year), Retirement Plan

This position is a part of a union and is represented by SEIU Healthcare 1199NW.

ORCA RN Supervisor

A cover letter is required as part of your application to be considered for this role.

DESC (Downtown Emergency Service Center) is a nonprofit organization working to help people with the complex needs of homelessness, substance use disorders, and serious mental illness achieve their highest potential for health and well‑being through comprehensive services, treatment, and housing. Our vision is a community where no person is abandoned, ignored, or experiencing homelessness. As the region's leading provider of services to multiply disabled adults who have experienced chronic homelessness, DESC serves almost 3,000 people each day.

Our integrated service model is designed to help people secure and maintain appropriate, safe and affordable housing. DESC is recognized nationally and regionally as an innovator in developing solutions to homelessness.

DESC’s ORCA program provides compassionate, low‑barrier, and evidence‑based care to individuals who are recovering from opioid overdose and those seeking treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD). The ORCA Center, our brick‑and‑mortar location, provides post‑overdose subacute stabilization services and provides walk‑in access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD). The ORCA Patient Outreach Division (POD) delivers field‑based MOUD care – meeting people where they literally are in the community.

Open 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, including holidays. Staffed by a multidisciplinary team including providers, nurses, medical assistants, peers, and milieu specialists. The ORCA Center offers four overlapping types of services:

• Care to individuals in stable condition who have experienced an opioid overdose, brought to the ORCA Center by first responders or transferred from local emergency departments.
• Rapid initiation of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), including buprenorphine (sublingual and long‑acting injectable) and methadone under the “72‑hour rule”, or CFR Title 21 § 1306.07(b), for people with OUD, regardless of whether an opioid overdose has recently occurred.
• Harm reduction counseling and OUD‑related physical and behavioral health services.
• Follow‑up care for individuals who have started MOUD to ensure support in MOUD continuation.

Field‑based care team bringing MOUD induction, stabilization, and maintenance services as well as education and other supports directly to patients in the community. Operates during business hours (Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.). The multidisciplinary team includes providers, nurses, and peers, operating across several geographic areas throughout the greater Seattle region, including:

• Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) sites
• Emergency shelters
• Encampments or unsanctioned sites
• High‑need geographic zones identified in collaboration with DESC and community partners
• Areas without easy access to low‑barrier MOUD services

The Registered Nurse (RN) acts as a member of a multi‑disciplinary team responsible for providing nursing services to adults who have experienced an opioid overdose and/or have a diagnosis of Opioid Use Disorder. DESC’s ORCA Center provides 24‑hour, low‑barrier, enhanced supportive services. The RN will provide in‑the‑moment, low‑threshold medical access to clients who may not otherwise present to more traditional clinics.

Work is done under the supervision of the ORCA Nurse Supervisor, Senior Nurse Manager, Director of…