Rough Sleepers Mental Health Nurse

at  Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

FIXED TERM - 12 MONTHS

The Communiy Mental Health Team are seeking to recruit an enthusiastic and dynamic mental health nurse who can be clinically creative in engaging an often marginalized client group.
Your skills and abilities will enable you to work closely with other statutory mental health services, housing provider services and social care teams to deliver an assertive and responsive service throughout the rough sleeper pathway.
You will also gain experience of working closely with third sector, charitable and voluntary homeless services. This role involves working in many, varied settings and on any given day you may find yourself engaging clients at their sleep sites, hostels or day-centres in addition to the more usual community practice areas.
This post offers an excellent opportunity to develop and build upon existing clinical skills within the framework of a supportive multi disciplinary team.
Though two years post registration experience is desirable for the Band 6 post, there is the potential for a less experienced Band 5 nurse to join the team in a developmental role.
If you are interested in this role Nicholas Bygraves prior to applying on 07496962902 or email: nbygraves@nhs.net
To be you and to do what you do best in the job you love!
The successful applicant will take the lead of a caseload of patients and be at the forefront of their care. You will also be expected to work in collaboration with the Operational Team Manager, Clinical Leads/Senior Practitioners and to have close working relationships with Adult Social Care and local homeless providers.
To help support you with the above we offer a robust induction and tailored training will be given and encouraged . As an employer, CNWL also offer various training opportunities, dependent on how long you are in post and your development needs as well as the CMHH offering internal training opportunities so that the team continues to learn and evolve their practice and support of their clients and each other.
The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings.
In return we can offer you the following;
Flexible shift working opportunities for a healthier work-life balance
Commitment from the team to develop you by offering c oaching and in-house development sessions s
Free access to our Staff and Wellbeing service to ensure that you are always looking after yourself
Commitment to career mapping to ensure continuous professional development including opportunities within the Trust
Shadowing opportunities i
Local Reflective Practice forums run by one of the senior leads
An opportunity to work with a friendly, dynamic, passionate and diverse team who are committed to looking after each other as well as their patients
Excellent staff benefits : our benefit packages are amongst the best in London and include: childcare vouchers, health and wellbeing services, season ticket loans, cycle to work scheme, blue light card, discounts at Nando’s and Superdrug, mobile phone contracts and much more!
Award-winning Staff Networks
Hidden Gem & annual award ceremonies
Key Duties

Clients/Users

• To contact rough sleepers, homeless people in Day Centres and other voluntary organisations providing services for homeless people.
• To undertake individual comprehensive assessments of mental health housing and social care needs.
• To offer short-term intervention to link clients into mainstream services where appropriate.
• To undertake care management assessments and responsibilities for individual clients in relation to care planning.
• To carry an allocated caseload of clients with ongoing Care Management responsibilities for assessment, care, treatment and review for individual clients.
• To assist where necessary in rehabilitation programmes for individuals and groups.
• To advocate for clients in relation to access to services, including welfare benefits and housing and social care, and complete applications as required.

Team

• To participate as a full member of the multidisciplinary team.
• To be familiar with all legislation and policies that relate to the team and apply correctly in practice. This will include all housing legislation and government homelessness initiatives in addition to national and local mental health policies and directives.
• To attend team meetings and support groups and other routine and specific meetings as required.
• To undertake joint work with other team members and to co-ordinate this if required.
• To contribute as required to the development of policies and procedures devised by the team.
• To take part in the weekly Duty Rota for the Advice and Referral service.
• To take part in regular reviews of team performance and goal setting.

Agency / Liaison

• To undertake planned, regular contact sessions at specific agencies e.g. Day Centres, Hostels
• To develop good communication with agency staff as a basis for good working relationships.
• To represent the CNWL at agency meetings if requested to do so.
• To offer informal consultation on mental health issues to agency staff.
• To offer formal training sessions to external agencies on mental health and homelessness issues if requested to do so.
• To develop and maintain effective joint working arrangements with colleagues in mainstream Health and Social and Community Services Departments to ensure a comprehensive and co-ordinated service.

Data/ Administration

• To collect and record client data in the required format both manually and on PC.
• To maintain client records accurately and up to date in the required format.
• To undertake correspondence about and on behalf of clients.
• To write clear reports and summaries as requested.
• To take part in any approved research programmes.
• To maintain and observe the confidentiality of all information relating to team clients as laid down in the confidentiality policy.

Profession Specific (Nursing)

• To use a full range of mental health skills to contribute to the assessment, care and support of team clients.
• To order, carry, store and administer prescribed drugs as required by CNWL Mental Health Trust.
• To carry a personal caseload and throughout the care co-ordination process to provide for clients and carers, as appropriate, advise, counselling, treatment and advocacy according to professional expertise.
• To maintain accurate records about the administration of medicines to individual clients.
• To be conversant with and to operate within CNWL policies and practice pertaining to Community Psychiatric Nursing practice.
• To have or develop a good understanding of the nature of the nursing role within a multidisciplinary team.
• To offer training to other team members on nursing specific issues.
• To keep up to date with new thinking and approaches in the nursing profession by reading and appropriate training.
• To participate in the teaching of nursing students or other professional students on placement or visiting the team.
• To have valid NMC registration and adhere to NMC code of professional conduct.

Street Outreach

• To undertake planned and regular evening street outreach in order to extend the team’s service to users who may not have regular access via day centres and hostels (up to a maximum of two evenings weekly dependent on the needs of the service).
• To work assertively, where necessary, with clients who may actively wish to avoid contact with mental health services, identifying and assessing the potential risks involved in work activities on the street and how best to manage these risks.
• To liaise closely with other outreach teams and assist in the assessment of clients referred by them.
• To undertake follow up work with individuals contacted on outreach and to engage and assess clinical and social care needs.
• To undertake regular sessions as required in hostels and day centres as a means of maintaining contact with service users who are street homeless, and contributing to the team’s work generally.
• To produce regular reports and statistics for monitoring and evaluation purposes.

Management Supervision and Accountability

• To be accountable to the Team Leader.
• To receive management and clinical supervision from the Senior Nurse Practitioner.

Diversity
To practise in such a way that the service is culturally sensitive, accessible and responsive to the needs of a wide range of service users.

General

• To observe all policies determined by CNWL at team level concerning:
• Equal Opportunities
• Confidentiality
• Health and Safety (including Smoking Policy)
• Data Protection
• Any other duties as required by the nature of the post.

• To be accountable to the Team Leader.
• To receive management and clinical supervision from the Senior Nurse Practitioner