Licensed Vocational Nurse I

Full Job Description

If you are passionate about helping others and want to work in your community, join the team as a Licensed Vocational Nurse I!

Starting salary up to $39.08/hour ($81,564/year), reimbursement for licensure-related fees, and a competitive total compensation package!*

The Department of Health Services is currently recruiting to fill one full-time and two extra-help Licensed Vocational Nurse positions at either the I or II levels.

If you are interested in being considered at the different levels of this opportunity, you must apply to the separate concurrent recruitments being conducted for each level.

What We Offer

Working at the County of Sonoma offers expansive opportunities for growth and development, the ability to be a part of a challenging and rewarding work environment, and the satisfaction of knowing you're working to better our communities.

You can also look forward to flexible work arrangements and excellent benefits* including:

• Hybrid Telework - A schedule that meets the needs of our staff, department operations, and the communities we serve may be available depending on the assignment
• Salary Advancement - A salary increase after 1,040 hours (6 months when working full-time) for good work performance; eligibility for a salary increase for good performance every year thereafter, until reaching the top of the salary range
• Career Advancement - With time and good performance, the opportunity for advancement to Licensed Vocational Nurse II ($34.11 - $41.46/hour)
• Fee Reimbursement - Possible reimbursement for registration fees and additional Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians requirements
• Shift Assignment Premium - A 5% hourly premium for hours worked in the Crisis Stabilization Unit
• Shift Differential Premium - A premium may be available for qualifying hours worked on an evening shift or night shift
• Cost of Living Adjustment - Effective March 3, 2026, these positions receive a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) of 3%
• Flexible Schedules - Flexible schedule opportunities may be available for certain positions
• Paid Time Off - Competitive vacation and sick leave accruals, 12 paid holidays, and an additional 8 floating holiday hours per year
• County Paid Health Premium Contributions - 100% premium contribution for the majority of employee-only and employee + family health plan options
• Post-Retirement Health Reimbursement Arrangement - County contributions to help fund post-retirement health insurance/benefits
• Retirement - A pension fully integrated with Social Security
• Paid Parental Leave - May be eligible for up to 8 weeks (320 hours) after 12 months of County employment
• Additional Benefits: Excellent dental, vision, disability, life insurance, employee assistance program, professional development, and more
• Student Loan Debt Relief – County employees may be eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness through the U.S. Department of Education

The Department of Health Services Crisis Stabilization Unit (CSU) is looking for two extra-help Licensed Vocational Nurses to provide specialized and mandated nursing services to individuals experiencing a psychiatric emergency.

These positions will be required to work on-site at our Santa Rosa unit, working as part of a 24-hour multi-disciplinary team.

This role will partner with clinic staff in crisis intervention and de-escalation, seclusion and restraint, and assist with maintaining client safety.

Preparing meals and completing other daily living skills will also be required.

Please note that this program runs 24 hours a day/7 days a week in a locked facility for adults, children, and families experiencing a mental health crisis.

The incumbents may be required to work evenings, holidays, weekends, and/or overnights.

• Answering client and caregiver inquiries about medications, including side effects, refill issues, and lab work
• Taking verbal medication orders from psychiatrists
• Coordinating care with primary care providers, including requesting medical referrals, lab orders, and visit notes
• Processing and managing referrals for clients stepping down to lower levels of care
• Documenting all services in the electronic health record and reporting urgent needs to the psychiatrists

• Prior recovery-focused professional experience with substance abuse disorder and/or mental health clients
• Experience working with and documenting services with an electronic health record
• A calm demeanor, especially when needing to work with upset clients or parents
• The ability to build relationships across clinical team members and clients
• An interest in working in a clinic environment, where there may be limited face-to-face client interaction
• A familiarity with community resources
• Attention to detail and the ability to thrive in a fast-paced working environment
• English/Spanish bilingual skills are desired, but not required
• Ability to work evenings, overnights, weekends, and holiday shifts are desired for the CSU positions

*Salary is negotiable within the established range. Benefits described herein do not represent a contract and may be changed without notice.

Additional information can be found in the Service Employees International Union Local 1021 Memorandum Of Understanding (SEIU MOU) and our Employee Benefits Directory.

Extra-Help Employment

Extra-help employees relieve or augment permanent staff. Intermittent, extra-help employees are not in the classified civil service and do not have property rights to permanently allocated positions.

In addition, they do not receive most regular employee benefits such as long-term disability insurance coverage, accrual of vacation, participation in the County retirement program, or eligibility to take promotional examinations.

Intermittent, extra-help employees are limited in their employment to a maximum of 1,380 hours within any twelve-month consecutive period.

Extra-help employees who meet the eligibility requirements may qualify for a County contribution toward medical coverage.

This Licensed Vocational Nurse I employment list may also be used to fill future full-time, part-time, or extra-help (temporary) positions as they occur during the active status of the list.

Qualified County employees who wish to be considered for future positions should consider applying to this recruitment.

Application submissions require the Supplemental Questionnaire to be completed.

Requirements

Qualifications

Additional Information

• Your application information and your responses to the supplemental questions are evaluated and taken into consideration throughout the entire selection process.
• You should list all employers and positions held within the last ten years in the work history section of your application. Be as thorough as possible when responding to the supplemental questions.
• You may include history beyond ten years if related to the position for which you are applying. If you held multiple positions with one employer, list out each position separately.
• Failure to follow these instructions may impact your competitiveness in this process or may result in disqualification.

Please visit Getting a Job with the County of Sonoma to review more detailed information about the hiring process, including the application process, examination steps, and department selection process.

Application submissions require the Supplemental Questionnaire be completed.

Responses to supplemental questions may be scored using position-specific criteria.

Please provide specific and detailed responses of a reasonable length to allow for a thorough assessment of your qualifications.

Responses that state, "See Resume" or "See Application" may be considered insufficient and therefore may not be scored.

The selection procedure will consist of the following examination:

An Application and Supplemental Questionnaire Appraisal Examination (weight 100%) will be conducted to evaluate each applicant's application and supplemental questionnaire for satisfaction of minimum qualifications (pass/not pass); and for educational coursework, training, experience, knowledge, and abilities which relate to this position.

Personally identifiable information (PII) is removed from the standard application fields and applicable attachments.

This PII blind screening practice redacts a candidate’s personal information that could potentially influence or bias the scoring process.

Personal information includes the applicant’s name, former last name, address, phone number, email, driver's license number, school name, education start and end dates, age, date of birth, gender, and race.

This PII blind screening practice helps contribute to a fair and equitable examination process.

Each applicant will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Relevance of work history, related experience, and achieved level of education and/or training as described in the application and responses to the supplemental questions.

Candidates demonstrating possession of the minimum qualifications will be placed on an employment list in order of most qualified to least qualified based on the achieved score received in the Application and Supplemental Questionnaire Appraisal Examination which evaluates the education, training, experience, skills, knowledge, abilities, and other qualifications that you demonstrate in your application and/or response to the supplemental questionnaire.

Please be aware that resumes and cover letters are not typically evaluated in the Application and Supplemental Questionnaire Appraisal Examination.

Scores may be adjusted based on such factors as the number of candidates, anticipated vacancies, past practice, and natural breaks in the scores achieved by this group of candidates.

Additional Information

A background investigation is required prior to employment.

Candidates referred to departments for a selection interview are typically required to sign authorization and release forms enabling such an investigation.

Failure to sign prescribed forms will result in the candidate not being considered further for that vacancy. Reference information will not be made available to applicants.

Additional requirements, such as successful completion of a physical exam, drug screen, etc., may apply, depending on the duties and responsibilities of the position.

If you receive a conditional job offer for the position, the requirements upon which the offer is contingent will be outlined in the conditional job letter.

You may also review the Job Classification Screening Schedule to determine the requirements for this position.

How to Apply

Applications are accepted online at www.yourpath2sonomacounty.org. Paper applications may be submitted by person, fax (707-565-3770), email, or through the mail.

All applications and appropriate supplemental information as outlined in the job announcement must be received by the time and date specified on the first page of this job announcement.

Applications received after the recruitment closes will not be accepted.

The County of Sonoma values diversity and is dedicated to creating a workplace environment that provides individuals with a sense of belonging.

We are committed to having a diverse workforce that is representative of the communities we serve.

The County is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer where all aspects of employment are based on merit, competence, performance, and business need.

HR Analyst: SZ

HR Technician: PPB