Psych
Psychiatric RN — Inpatient Behavioral Health | Des Moines, IA
Shift & Schedule
Night shift, Monday–Friday | 11:00 PM – 7:00 AM | 40 hours/week
Every other weekend required | No on-call | 13-week contract
Position Overview
This inpatient behavioral health role serves a diverse psychiatric population across geriatric, adult, and adolescent units. The facility manages acute psychiatric patients presenting with major mental illness, chronic behavioral challenges including aggression, mania, self-harm, and violence. Nurses will float across multiple Des Moines campuses to like behavioral health units. The home unit is geriatric psychiatry.
Clinical Scope
- Acute inpatient psychiatric care across all age groups
- High-acuity behavioral presentations requiring de-escalation skills
- Restraint competency required
- Staffing ratios vary by unit and shift
Scrubs: Navy blue solids
Holiday Requirement
Contractors are expected to work 1–2 of the following holidays unless the unit is closed: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's.
Requirements
- Minimum 15 months of Psych/Behavioral Health experience (required); 12 months accepted for first-time travelers
- Recent inpatient psychiatric experience (highly preferred)
- Experience with adolescent, adult, and geriatric populations (required)
- Active Iowa RN license or multistate compact license (required at submission)
- BLS from AHA or American Red Cross (required)
- De-escalation certification — MOAB, MAB, or CPI (preferred; can be obtained during onboarding)
- Psych/behavioral health–specific skills checklist (required)