Community Psychiatric Nurse (CPN)

• To provide comprehensive, culturally appropriate, evidence-based assessments to establish client's needs; level of support and type of interventions required to facilitate their rehabilitation
• To manage a small caseload of service users with complex, severe and enduring mental health needs; using evidence based and recovery principles to assess, plan, implement and evaluate treatment and support for clients in our Boroughs who are registered with a local GP.
• To act as a named worker for service users and hold a caseload of nursing-specific clients (usually for medication administration and physical health monitoring). Undertake assessment and care co-ordination activities within a multi-disciplinary framework, in order to identify the needs of service users and to arrange and provide appropriate packages of care within the available budget.
• To present cases to the relevant placement panels for in-borough and out-of-borough placements, both for initial funding requests and reviews.
• To work proactively with service providers to draw up resettlement plans and carry out regular reviews for clients to assess their progress towards identified goals.
• To contribute to service development
• To undertake supervisory and appraisal responsibilities for allocated team members
• To act as mentor to students on practice placement and to mentor junior members of staff.

Essential

• Current professional qualification in Mental Health Nursing
• Registration must be live with the NMC
• Evidence of post registration training and CPD.

Desirable

• Other relevant training, e.g. substance misuse
• Family Therapy/Work training.
• Training in Psychosocial Interventions or Thorn

Essential

• Experience of working in multi-disciplinary mental health teams with clients with severe and enduring mental health problems
• Knowledge of multi/unidisciplinary care planning processes and multi-agency working
• Work with people experiencing mental health crisis.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including report writing and presentations / IT skills.
• Ability to assess, plan, implement and evaluate a comprehensive care package for the identified client group, using a wide range of resources.
• Able to develop a comprehensive programme of intervention and support for the identified client group and their families
• Advanced skills in risk assessment and management.
• Can demonstrate understanding of psychosis and its impact on service users and carers.
• Demonstrate knowledge of current legislation and guidance applicable to this client group
• Can demonstrate understanding of the needs of diverse groups, e.g. residents of inner city; black and minority ethnic groups, and skills in engaging with them.
• Skills in psychosocial interventions
• Prior experience of working in mental health rehabilitation or assertive outreach

Desirable

• Basic counselling and group work skills.
• Skills in leadership: ability to motivate others, use initiative and manage change.
• Working with people who use substances
• Audit and research; Teaching.
• Supervision of students and junior staff.

Essential

• Motivated
• Able to create good relationships with clients, carers, other professionals and other stakeholders
• Work with service users who are difficult to engage with
• Reliable
• Disciplined