Charge Nurse

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a caring, compassionate and highly motivated individual to work with Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust as a Band 6 Charge Nurse on  Mulberry Ward at Charlton Lane Hospital.

Charlton Lane is an Acute Mental Health Hospital for older age patients situated in Cheltenham, and it provides inpatient services to the population of Gloucestershire. It offers a vital service in supporting and rehabilitating those suffering from mild to severe mental health problems. All wards are serviced by an enthusiastic, multi-professional team of people, including Doctors, Nurses and Allied Healthcare Professionals who are supported by Ward Secretaries and Hotel Services Staff.  Mulberry Ward is a busy 18 bedded mixed gender admission ward.

We are now seeking a highly motivated caring, compassionate and committed Band 6 Charge Nurse to complement our current team of professionals. As the ideal candidate for this post you would be an experienced mental health nurse seeking an opportunity to make a real difference to people’s lives, through effective positive leadership and a passion for helping those experiencing an acute mental health concern.

Main duties of the job

The purpose of this role is to:

• Provide assessment and implementation of evidence-based interventions for service users who are experiencing common, acute mental health and longer-term recovery needs
• Facilitate early discharge from hospital and respond to agencies requiring assessment of users who are being considered for immediate psychiatric hospitalisation, handover of mental health care between primary and secondary services and vice versa
• Support clinical governance initiatives at ward / hospital level

The qualification, training & experience requirements for the role are underlined in the Job Description/Person Specification.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Engage in complex health assessments as appropriate and plan relevant care in partnership with services users e.g. Specialist assessment of complex nursing needs
• Utilising the Care Programme Approach (CPA) and in line with Trust policy, provide specialist care, education and advice to service users (including carers) who are suffering from common, severe and enduring mental health to promote recovery and social inclusion and in accordance with Trust policy act as care co-ordinator as and when required, including adults at risk and supervision procedures
• Develop, implement and evaluate care plans in conjunction with service users, carers and other professionals which reflect individual needs
• Ensure that everyone involved in the care plan receives a copy and to ensure that all relevant details are recorded on trust IT systems
• Assist service users to meet their personal care needs e.g. assisting with bathing and  washing, as outlined in the Care Plan. This intervention may be delegated where appropriate
• Liaise with and offer specialist assessment and advice to other agencies and professions. To participate in Multi-Agency meetings to offer advice and opinions to facilitate the ongoing treatment and care of clients and to ensure adherence to National Service Framework (NSF) guidelines
• Actively support service users in the management of their medication within a ‘concordance framework’ and relevant policies. Administer medication, including Intra-muscular injections depot medication as appropriate and monitor side effects. Delegate the checking and delivery of medication when appropriate
• Carry out Independent Prescribing as appropriate within the policy and related protocols if the post holder has the relevant training and qualifications, working with relevant members of the multi-disciplinary team
• As named nurse to have responsibility for undertaking mental and behavioural state examinations for own service users and service users being admitted, repeated on at least a weekly basis with clinical risk assessment and management plans
• As part of the Unit Wide Emergency Response Team to carry one of the specialised roles required, ensuring that there are adequately trained numbers of staff available (if applicable)
• Act as first point of contact with the Trust and Department when accepting external referrals from Commissioners and other providers