Job responsibilities
Based at our England South Hub, Tyrwhitt House, Leatherhead, KT22 0BX
Status: Permanent
Salary: Band 6, £35,973 - £43,457 per annum, dependent on experience, plus 5% Outer London Fringe Allowance
Hours: Full-time, on a rotational shift pattern Monday to Friday with occasional weekends.
Please note that there is a requirement the post holder works rotational shifts (Including nights and occasional weekends) when the residential programme is running. When the residential programme is not being delivered there will be some flexibility in working patterns and options to work from home depending on the needs of the service.
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About Us:
Combat Stress is the UK's leading charity for veterans' mental health; for over a century, we've helped former servicemen and women deal with trauma-related mental health conditions.
Today we provide UK-wide support to veterans from every service and every conflict, on the phone, online, in the community and at our treatment hubs.
Some of the short-term programmes of care that we provide are delivered residentially Monday to Friday and this post forms part of the nursing support
About the role:
For a Senior Registered Mental Health Nurse, an appointment working with our Armed Forces veterans would be a hard role to beat. Our residential treatment programme is based at Tyrwhitt House in Leatherhead. Our veterans have served in every campaign since the First World War, and for over a hundred years our nurses have been there to support them with their mental health needs. You will work with a service user group who have a real motivation to make positive changes to their lives and your experience, compassion and focus on recovery will help them to get there.
The Intensive Treatment Service (ITS) has been developed by Combat Stress and is designed to provide comprehensive treatment for Veterans with a diagnosis of PTSD or Complex PTSD. The programme consists of three phases (the preparatory phase, the residential intensive treatment phase and the post-intensive treatment phase). There is strong empirical support for the clinical effectiveness of intensive treatments for PTSD and C-PTSD. In particular, intensive treatment not only achieves significant symptom reduction but has also been shown to improve engagement and treatment completion with the least possible disruption to veterans' personal lives.
The treatments and therapies provided in the ITS are also in line with national guidelines for the treatment of PTSD and are backed by evidence for their effectiveness. The ITS incorporates a number of different treatment approaches delivered by different members of the team. It is designed so that these different kinds of treatment all support one another.
We will offer training for upskilling opportunities on the following - Anger Responses and Anxiety Management, Sleep Hygiene, Dream Completion, Physical Pain Management, Healthy Diet and Lifestyle measures, Substance Misuse, Physical Health Needs common to Veterans - High Blood Pressure, Diabetes etc. Other related topics with the aim to facilitate ongoing recovery for Veterans
Induction/ Managerial and Clinical Supervision and Support for Revalidation.
Experience of working with military and veteran populations would be welcome but it is by no means essential. Your interest, enthusiasm and commitment are more important. We are a trauma informed service so all staff receive training at induction on the culture of the Armed Forces and the impact trauma can have on those who have served.
As an organisation we have our own research department and work closely with King's Centre for Military Health Research at Kings College, London, We conduct high quality, robust research to ensure we are delivering the best possible services for our veterans
You will work within a highly skilled multidisciplinary team to provide a timely and high quality specialised mental health service for veterans. We will work with you to develop your skills and abilities, we know that an investment in you, is an investment in our veterans.
You will provide flexible and individualised support to meet the mental health requirements of veterans with mental health needs. You will require specialist clinical risk assessment and treatment skills, along with an understanding of the occupational role and needs of individuals presenting to the service. The role will require you to be proactive in the development of service and organisational initiatives.
Your Day-to-Day
Undertake assessment of the clinical needs of veterans, planning, implementing and evaluating care with a high level of autonomy.Work 1-1 with individual veterans on your caseload.Participate in and support your therapy, OT, peer support and medical colleagues in the wider MDT.Participate in clinical multi-disciplinary meetings.Work collaboratively with the veteran and include family members and significant others in the veteran's treatment when appropriate.Maintain professional, ethical and legal standards in carrying out therapeutic interventions.Ensure the safety of the veteran and others is maintained at all times.
You will have
The Skills
Compassion, resilience and a dedication to empower and support our service users.Enthusiasm and a willingness to undertake specialist training in working with former military personnel with mental health conditions.Exceptional communication and people skills and the emotional resilience to help veterans in their recovery.The ability to remain calm in complex or distressing situations; you will be an inspirational and supportive member of our team.A commitment to patient recovery in order to effectively monitor, manage and reduce risk.The skills to identify the potential abuse or neglect of vulnerable individuals and contribute to the development of protection plans under the Safeguarding Adults procedure.
The Experience
Experience as Registered Mental Health Nurse with a with a current PIN.Previous experience of working with military personnel and their families or a strong interest to do so.Experience of supervising junior staff.Experience of working in a mixed shift pattern.The ability to maintain documentation, undertake audits and demonstrate integrity in your role.
The Opportunities
You will work within a reputable charity that is constantly evolving to meet the needs of our veterans. Combat Stress has strong values, is a fantastic cause and has a very committed follower and supporter base.The opportunity to work with our inspirational veterans and support them to make lasting change to both them and their familiesThe opportunity to collaborate with a multidisciplinary team and external agencies to ensure that appropriate family and carer support is in place, and promote the needs of veterans by providing training and support to non-specialist clinicians, military charities and others who may be involved in the care of veterans and service leavers.Specialist training.27 days paid holiday plus bank holidays, increasing to 30 days after 5 years and 33 days after 10 years.Opportunity to buy or sell annual leavePay 1% above NHS Agenda for Change pay scales and unsocial hours paid Opportunity for extra bank shiftsA paid lunchbreak.Lunch is provided during residential phase for all nursing staffCompetitive stakeholder pension scheme - contributions matched up to 11%.Discount shopping vouchers.Cycle to work scheme.Access to the Employee Assistance Programme.Death in Service scheme
Your energy and drive will be rewarded with the support of a dynamic team that strives to create a progressive, kind and compassionate environment.
This role is subject to a DBS check.
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Please note, we reserve the right to close this advert early, should we receieve a sufficient amount of applicants
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