Staff Nurse - Registered Mental Health Nurse

Staff Nurse - Registered Mental Health Nurse

Band 5

Main area Offender Healthcare Grade Band 5 Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Shift work including weekends) Job ref 277-8114189-SWALE-C

Site HMP Swaleside Town Isle of Sheppey Salary £34,073 - £41,043 PER ANNUM **RECRUITMENT & RETENTION INCENTIVE INCLUDED** Salary period Yearly Closing 27/10/2026 23:59

Job overview

This position is located at HMP Swaleisde within the Primary Care Nursing Team. The post holder will also need to collaborate closely with colleagues at nearby Kent prisons, including HMP Emley and HMP Standford Hill, and may occasionally provide cross-cover between sites.

The Staff Nurse will deliver high quality, personalised, compassionate care to service users, providing a range of specialist interventions.

Ensure consistently high standards of practice and clinical excellence, which comply with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) code of professional conduct.

Lead the delivery of comprehensive service user assessment, planning, implementing and evaluating programmes of patient-centred care in a range of settings.

Provide clinical supervision and support to junior colleagues, including students.

Assist and support the manager, as directed, to deliver a nurse-led integrated care service and develop a specialist practice-based clinical model of care.

Maintain a safe and therapeutic working environment, working collaboratively with the Multi-Disciplinary Team and maintaining accurate records.

Band 5 Nursing roles are only open to staff with a Nursing registration, obtained as a result of completing a qualification recognised by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

Important Sponsorship Information for this post: We are currently unable to offer a certificate of sponsorship for this post.

Main duties of the job

Exercise a high degree of personal and professional autonomy and have the ability to plan and reach complex and critical judgments, using decision-making skills within the framework of established Trust policies, procedures, and the NMC Code of Conduct.

Deliver high-quality clinical care within the service, contributing to the physical, psychological, social, recreational and spiritual care in a recovery-focused way, through therapeutic engagement and activities, in line with the NHS Plan, public health indicators and National Service Frameworks.

Lead on and undertake activities to ensure that the fundamentals of care are met – nutrition, hydration, comfort, emotional and social support.

Demonstrate and provide robust clinical skills with a sound understanding of evidence-based nursing practice to provide a pro-active approach to ensure quality and outcome-driven practice on a day-to-day basis.

Demonstrate an enhanced understanding of Mental Health signs and symptoms, understanding how these may present in practice, including recognition of impact on patient presentation and behaviour and risk factors.

Recognise and respond appropriate to challenging behaviour in line with Trust policies and training. Support junior staff in managing difficult situations and de-escalation, developing resilience and strategies to manage

Working for our organisation

Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children’s centres, schools and people’s homes.
We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.

Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:

• We Listen
• We Care

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Assess, plan, implement and evaluate clinical care/care packages within scope of practice.
• Provide specialist advice concerning the care of treatment of identified groups of patients / service users.
• Support the delivery of an effective integrated healthcare service clinical model.
• Manage a complex clinical caseload.
• Administer and monitor the side-effects of medication, monitoring service user compliance, demonstrating a sound understanding of pharmacology, particularly for regular medications used in the clinical area.
• Ensure all clinics and consultations are delivered in a clinically effective and timely way, in line with service needs.
• Be able to give intravenous injections, immunisations and syringe pumps and infusions as necessary for the role.
• Implement 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, contribute to psychological interventions.
• Escorting service users, as required, in line with Trust policies.
• Maintain systems for the collection of triage and allocation of referrals, as appropriate, monitoring and supporting the auditing of quality and effectiveness of service delivery.
• Maintain an effective case management service to ensure care and continuity of treatment is maintained throughout the patient care pathway.
• Attend and actively participate in team / care plan reviews.
• Maintain close working partnerships with all services that may be involved with the care and management of the service users.
• Understand and work within the boundaries of the Lone Working Policy and have an awareness of Personal Safety in all healthcare settings, including clear and updated communication with the shift lead.
• Maintain timely and accurate patient written/electronic records in line with the Trust Policy, procedure and protocols. Use and complete care plans, pathway documents and SystmOne notes appropriately and in a timely manner.
• Advocate for service users’ needs and rights within Trust policy. Encourage and empower service users to have an optimum level of responsibility for their individual programme of care.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION, PLEASE READ :

All applicants must be willing to undertake National Security Vetting in order to work in a Prison Setting. This will be completed as part of the pre-employment checks through Oxleas and the prison vetting team.

You will need to provide:

Proof of right to work documentation

Proof of ID, needs to include 1 photographic ID

Proof of address documentation

Non-UK passport holders will need to have correct documentation (right to work in the UK) and a Home office Share code.

Address History:

5 years address history will be needed.

Applicants that are not UK Passport holders who provide less than 5 years UK address history will need to provide a Police Certificate which must be in English from where they resided previously.

Applicants who are UK Passport holders who have lived abroad for a period of more than six months during the last three years will need to provide a certificate of good conduct or an overseas police check in English from the countries resided in or visited.

In order to assist you in obtaining a Police Certificate, guidance can be sought from:https ://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-records-checks-for-overseas-applicants

If the country you have resided in is not listed here, you can obtain the necessary information by contacting the relevant Embassy or High Commission for that Country. Their contact details can be found on the Foreign & Commonwealth Office website ( http://www.fco.gov.uk/en ).

Person specification

Education/Qualifications

• Professional NMC Qualification (Registered Mental Health Nurse)
• Professional, clinical knowledge acquired through training to degree level or equivalent.

Experience

• Experience of working as part of a multi-disciplinary team
• Experience of providing and receiving complex, sensitive information
• Working knowledge of current issues/agendas facing healthcare in chosen area of specialism
• Experience of setting, monitoring and evaluating standards of care.
• Experience of research-based/reflective practice.

Skills/Abilities/Knowledge

• Ability to communicate effectively (written, verbal and non-verbal communication) with patients/relatives and carers and all members of the multi-disciplinary team.
• Ability to present ideas with clarity in a persuasive and influential style.
• Ability to work effectively and autonomously
• Ability to lead and empower people to make decisions and plan ahead.
• Ability to develop effective and appropriate relationships with people, their families, carers, and colleagues.

We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace that welcomes and supports individuals of all abilities. Remember, if you meet the minimum criteria for this role and you have a disability, you can be guaranteed an interview under the Disability Confident Scheme - Please ensure you select this on your application form. We would encourage you to be open about your needs so we can work with you to design a comfortable and accessible interview experience. Any information you provide regarding a disability or a need for adjustments will be treated in confidence and will only be shared with colleagues who are supporting this request.

If you require any adjustments to participate fully in the interview process, please let us know by adding the relevant details when scheduling your preferred interview date and time. Please feel free to contact the appointing manager to discuss your needs.

We encourage applicants to contact the hiring manager before their interview, if they have any questions about the role or the process. This is a great way to get clarity and prepare effectively for the interview.

If you have declared you are part of the armed forces community, you may be asked to provide evidence during the recruitment process. If you misrepresent this information, your offer may be withdrawn. For Armed Forces specific support, see our webpage: https://oxleas.nhs.uk/armed-forces-community/

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

If you choose to use AI or other tools to assist in writing your application, it's essential to personalise this information, particularly your supporting information section. While AI can help streamline the writing process, these tools cannot fully grasp the context or requirements of the job you’re applying for. There is also a risk that it can generate false or misleading information. AI-generated job applications can often be generic, impersonal and may not accurately reflect your qualifications, knowledge, skills, and experiences. It is crucial that you personalise your supporting statement by articulating these in your unique voice. Relying solely on AI to write your application or supporting information section is not advocated by Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust and could negatively impact your chances of success in the application process.

We monitor applications for any behaviour that could create an unfair advantage, and we check all references carefully. You are likely to be tested on your experience at interview, so be honest and make sure all the information in your application is correct.Please note that the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is prohibited during the interview process.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Name Clare Denny Job title Recruitment & Retention Resourcing Officer Email address claredenny@nhs.net Telephone number 07504877653

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