Psychiatric Liaison - STC Behavioral Health - Sharp Tri City - Variable Shifts - Per Diem

Sharp HealthCare; Oceanside (CA); On-site; USD 85,000 - 94,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

SEIU affiliation

Job summary

Sharp HealthCare's Tri-City Medical Center seeks a licensed Psychiatric Liaison to perform psychiatric assessments across the center, serving as a bridge between hospital and community providers. You will coordinate admissions, transfers, and referrals to ensure safe, appropriate dispositions for patients in psychiatric need.

You will respond to urgent cases with collaboration from on-call psychiatrists, document assessments, and support families while ensuring compliance with the SEIU

Qualifications

• Familiarity with psychiatric symptoms, diagnoses, medications and referrals.
• Working knowledge of the current DSM.
• Ability to communicate effectively in writing and speaking.

Responsibilities

• Thoroughly assesses emotional and psychiatric needs and gathers information from families.
• Coordinates admission, transfer, or referral to ensure appropriate disposition.
• Maintains effective communication with physicians, nurses, and social workers.

Skills

Psychiatric symptoms

DSM knowledge

Communication skills

Education

Master's degree in a relevant healthcare field (Psychology, Social Services, MFT, Nursing)

Job description

Hours:

Shift Start Time:

Variable

Shift End Time:

Variable

AWS Hours Requirement:

12/36 - 12 Hour Shift

Additional Shift Information:

Weekend Requirements:

Every Other

On-Call Required:

No

Hourly Pay Range (Minimum - Midpoint - Maximum):

$62.040 - $62.040 - $68.240

This position is covered by a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with SEIU.

In alignment with the SEIU CBA, this position will be posted for 7 days internally from 8/20/26 to 8/28/2026 and available only to existing members of the ratified SEIU Bargaining Unit.

What You Will Do

The Psychiatric Liaison (PL) is a licensed mental health professional who is responsible for performing psychiatric assessments throughout Tri-City Medical Center. Serves as the liaison between the hospital and providers in the community. The PL conducts assessments and coordinates for the safe admission, transfer, referral, or other appropriate disposition of patients according to their needs. The PL also serves as a liaison to the community and responds to law enforcement, friends, families, and others in the coordination of appropriate treatment for patients who are experiencing a psychiatric emergency. The PL is responsible for ensuring the appropriate placement for patients requiring admission or transfer. Patients not requiring inpatient services are assisted with appropriate outpatient referrals.

Required Qualifications

• Master's Degree in a relevant healthcare field (Psychology, Social Services, Marriage and Family Therapy, Nursing).
• 1 Year professional experience or internship within an acute inpatient setting or two (2) years within an acute outpatient setting.
• California BBS Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) - CA Board of Behavioral Sciences; OR California BBS Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) - CA Board of Behavioral Sciences; OR California BBS Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) - CA Board of Behavioral Sciences; OR California Licensed Clinical Psychologist (LCP) - CA Board of Psychology; OR California Registered Nurse (RN) - CA Board of Registered Nursing -REQUIRED

Other Qualification Requirements

• Certification as a Supervisor for Intern and Practicum students. - REQUIRED
  NVCI required within 90 days of hire or transfer. - REQUIRED

Essential Functions

• The position characteristics reflect the most important duties, responsibilities and competencies considered necessary to perform the essential functions of the job in a fully competent manner. They should not be considered as a detailed description of all the work requirements of the position. The characteristics of the position and standards of performance may be changed by TCMC with or without prior notice based on the needs of the organization.
  Maintains a safe, clean working environment, including unit based safety and infection control requirements.
  Patient Assessment and Disposition
  Thoroughly assesses the patient’s emotional and psychiatric needs, including gathering information from families or significant others.
  Performs patient assessments on medical units upon referral and completes clinical documentation in accordance with hospital standards.
  Collaborates with referring physicians, nurses, and social workers to determine requests for services and achieve satisfactory dispositions and transfers.
  Consults with the on-call psychiatrist to determine the disposition of the patient.
  Utilizes problem-solving techniques and sound clinical judgment when assessing and dispositioning patients, particularly in high-stress situations. Is able to handle high stress situations and uses clinical skills to defuse escalating patients, family members, etc.
  Coordination of Patient Care and Admissions
  Discusses clinical impressions and recommendations with referring physicians and nurses to expedite patient placement.
  Coordinates admission to the inpatient unit with psychiatrists and nursing staff.
  If admission to a local hospital or LPS-designated facility is required, facilitates handoff procedures and ensures the transition is managed efficiently.
  Ensures patients are transferred expeditiously after medical clearance.
  Verifies payer benefits for admissions and coordinates transfers to LPS-designated facilities.
  Legal and Documentation Responsibilities
  Initiates 72-hour (or SB43) holds when clinically indicated and informs patients accordingly.
  Collects required county data and reporting requirements for 5150s.
  Completes all required documentation, including PL Assessments, Suicide Risk Assessments, Elopement Risk Assessments, logs, and Requests to CMH.
  Records the activity from each shift according to documentation expectations in the patients record.
  Communication and Collaboration
  Develops and maintains effective communication with physicians, patients, families/significant others, and both internal and external healthcare teams.
  Communicates urgent issues to the ED Manager and Behavioral Health Manager as appropriate.
  Participates in regular staff meetings, including bi-monthly PL meetings.
  Professional Responsibilities and Training
  May provide ongoing supervision to MFT, PhD, and PsyD trainees and interns.
  Utilizes organizational and time management skills to perform duties efficiently and responsibly.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Familiarity with psychiatric symptoms, diagnoses, medications and referrals.
• Possess a working knowledge and understanding of the current DSM.
• Ability to communicate effectively utilizing both written and verbal skills.

Sharp HealthCare is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, status as a protected veteran, among other things, or status as a qualified individual with disability or any other protected class

California BBS Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) - CA Board of Behavioral Sciences; California BBS Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) - CA Board of Behavioral Sciences; California Registered Nurse (RN) - CA Board of Registered Nursing; California BBS Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) - CA Board of Behavioral Sciences; California Licensed Psychologist - CA Board of Psychology; Master's Degree