Mental Health Nurse in Kingswood

Hours: full time – 37.5 hours per week

Location: Kingswood and Carfax

Job summary: To work as part of the practice team to provide specialist mental health assessment, guidance and evidence based interventions to patients via telephone or face to face consultations.

Main Duties:

• Offer ongoing follow up appointments to patients if deemed appropriate.
• Carry out necessary risk assessments and refer patients where needed to secondary care services.
• Signpost patients to available resources or activities.
• Recommend psychological services and signpost accordingly to those patients who would benefit from such an approach.
• Carry out annual mental health reviews.
• Participate in training and development opportunities that accompany the role.
• Abide by the professional standards of practice as set out by the NMC.
• Ensure safe practice at all times through the recognition and appreciation of clinical governance.
• Support developing the role of a Mental Health Nurse and increase awareness of the role across Swindon GP practice.
• Maintain effective liaison with other agencies and staff concerned with patient care and with all other disciplines within the practice, with appropriate regard to confidentiality.
• Maintain continued education by attendance at courses and study days as deemed useful or necessary for professional development.
• Assist in promoting and maintaining their own and others’ health, safety and security as defined in the practice health & safety policy, the practice health & safety manual, and the practice infection control policy and published procedures.
• Using personal security systems within the workplace according to practice guidelines.
• Identifying the risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks.
• Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills.
• Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy and safe way and free from hazards.
• Actively reporting of health and safety hazards and infection hazards immediately when recognised.
• Keeping own work areas and general/patient areas generally clean, assisting in the maintenance of general standards of cleanliness consistent with the scope of the job holder’s role.
• Undertaking periodic infection control training (minimum annually).
• Reporting potential risks identified.
• Such other duties of a similar nature commensurate with the grading of the post.

Person Specification:

Qualifications / Registration:

• Registered Mental Health Nurse.
• Current registration with the NMC and commitment to ongoing CPD.
• Proven experience and ability to work in accordance with the UKCC Code of Conduct.
• Ability to self-motivate, organise and prioritise workloads.

Essential Experience/Knowledge:

• Proven experience of practising in a wide variety of settings, understanding the role of primary and secondary health services in managing patients with mental health problems.
• Front line experience of using advanced assessment skills to determine the diagnosis and severity of mental illness.
• Extensive experience in assessing risk and developing risk management strategies.
• Vast knowledge of the different treatment approaches and rights of people with mental health problems.
• Possess a deep understanding of the impact on mental illness on the individual, their carer and their family.
• Exceptional verbal communication skills, being able to engage with patients of all backgrounds and being adept at recognising when a more assertive approach is needed.
• Outstanding active communication skills showing empathy, picking up on cues and being able to check a patient’s understanding.
• Sound understanding of the relevant legal frameworks including Mental Health Act, Mental Capacity Act, Safeguarding and the CPA.
• Highly competent at written documentation.
• Proficient IT skills with flexibility to learn new computer systems.
• Substantial experience in education of other health care professions.

Benefits:

• Company pension.
• Free parking.
• Free flu jabs.

Ability to commute/relocate: Swindon SN3 2RJ: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required).

Application question(s): Registered Mental Health Nurse, Proven experience and ability to work in accordance with the UKCC Code of Conduct, Sound understanding of the relevant legal frameworks including Mental Health Act, Mental Capacity Act, Safeguarding and the CPA.

Licence/Certification: registration with the NMC (required).