Community Psychiatric Nurse

Job overview

We are seeking mental health nurses to work in Carshalton & Wallington Integrated Recovery Hub (IRH) as Care Co-ordinator/Community Psychiatry Nurse. We provide service to adults with complex health and social care needs using the recovery model.

You will be a registered mental health nurse with post registration mental health experience, preferably within a community mental health setting. We would consider someone without community experience if they can demonstrate the right aptitude and ability. You will be someone with a range of clinical skills in assessment, crisis intervention and care coordination.

We offer a supportive working environment, with a visible and accessible management team. Supervision is a priority as we pride ourselves in supporting staff to meet the needs of the patient and we are committed to delivering an exemplary service with a strong culture of training and education.

Main duties of the job

The role involves the management of a caseload of patients diagnosed with a range of severe and enduring mental illness. You would need to demonstrate the ability to facilitate care planning with individual patients which includes their mental, physical, and social care needs; recovery goal setting; and providing regular Care Programme Approach (CPA) reviews. The post involves working closely with other teams and services within the borough, the Trust, our partner agencies, and non-statutory organizations; writing social circumstances reports for mental health review tribunals and attending reviews.

You will be committed to working creatively to provide a community service for people experiencing mental health problems. You will be well organized, able to work autonomously, have excellent communication skills, both written and oral, and be a team player. The team works closely with Sutton and Cheam Integrated Recovery Hub and the post also requires you to represent duty across both teams on a regular basis. You must hold a full driver’s license and have access to your own vehicle.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

1. Working autonomously within the parameters of the role leading and supporting junior staff and wider care team to implement the delivery of quality nursing care, contributing to the physical, psychological, social, recreational and spiritual care in a recovery-focused way through therapeutic engagement and activities, and taking steps to address any issues that arise.

2. Leading on and undertaking activities to ensure that the fundamentals of care are met - nutrition, hydration, hygiene, comfort, emotional and social support: Co-ordinating and evaluating collaborative patient centred care; getting feedback and improving plans with the multi-disciplinary team (MDT).   Providing accurate information about care in an accessible format to patients and their relatives / carers. Liaising and working positively with members of the multi- disciplinary team and partner organisations. Administering, and monitoring the side-effects of, medication; monitoring service user compliance.  Safety; safe custody of medicines, sharps, clinical equipment, report all  incidents following trust policy.

3. Leading and supporting/teaching junior staff on risk assessment and risk management that involves making decisions based on knowledge of the research evidence, knowledge of the individual service user and their social context, knowledge of the service user’s own experience and clinical judgment.

4. Supporting and supervising junior staff to develop the management of care needs through: Initial data collection Monitoring of individual service user / patient progress Feedback and discussion Producing reports and in-care reviews Devising a plan of care and interventions in partnership with service user, carer and MDT

5. Coordinating junior staff and the wider care team in providing hands-on care to service users and evaluating processes of care delivered. This will include: Undertaking 1-1 engagement with service users in an honest, open and non-judgmental way. Recognising and valuing service users as individuals, acknowledging the  importance of maintaining the service user’s respect and dignity at all times and ensure that the care provided respects equality and diversity. Developing care plans that reflect service user needs and relevant patient care documentation working in partnership with service users, wider MDT and family/carers. Ensuring the monitoring and recording service user clinical observations are undertaken, such as physical observations and vital signs and treating or escalating as appropriate any signs or symptoms of deterioration or that does not fulfill the personal parameters to the relevant professional for treatment. Promote healthy lifestyles and give health promotion advice and support. Implementing the principles of ‘recovery’: encouraging and supporting service users to engage with healthy lifestyles, facilitating psychosocial activities and other activities of their interest. Where appropriate contributing to psychological interventions.

6. Escorting service users, as required, in line with Trust policies.

7. Advocating for service users’ needs and rights within Trust policy. Encouraging and empowering service users to have an optimum level of responsibility for their individual programme of care.