Band 6 Charge Nurse-Bristol

Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust; Bristol; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 37,000; Full time

Job summary

A mental health care provider in Bristol is seeking a Registered Nurse to lead and support a diverse team in providing high-quality care to individuals with Learning Disabilities and Autism. The role involves clinical decision-making, team management, and ensuring personalized, safe care delivery. Applicants must hold a current NMC registration and have significant experience in relevant settings.

Benefits

Supportive work environment

Opportunities for professional development

Qualifications

• Registered Nurse with current NMC registration.
• Good working knowledge of relevant statutory codes.
• Experience leading a team and managing care.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership and clinical support to the nursing team.
• Administer medications according to guidelines.
• Maintain high standards in patient care and documentation.

Skills

Leadership

Clinical skills

Organizational skills

Care assessment and planning

Therapeutic engagement

Education

Registered Nurse (Learning Disabilities, Mental Health or Adult)

Qualification in Management and/or leadership

Job description

To inspire, lead and provide clear leadership to those working on the ward, enabling service delivery of the highest quality, ensuring that people who have a Learning Disability and Autism are provided with a quality, person centered approach to care delivery, which always considers people's safety, privacy and dignity.

To work within a multi-professional team in an inpatient setting, providing, support, care, and treatment to individuals, within guidelines and protocols identified. Managing the development and practice of a set of therapeutic care skills, making a significant contribution to service users' psychological, emotional and social wellbeing.

Overseeing that the service provided enables patients to reach their optimum level of independence, take responsibility for ensuring individuals and their relatives receive care that prioritises safety, effectiveness, partnership and hope. To provide enhanced support to our service users who often have complex needs as expected from a specialised service.

Provisional interview dates - 2nd and 7th October 2025.

Main duties of the job

• Act as Nurse in Charge on a rota basis, ensuring safe and effective shift operations.
• Lead daily clinical management of the unit in line with NMC Code.
• Make complex clinical decisions and manage patient needs confidently.
• Administer medications in accordance with Trust and legal guidelines.
• Monitor care standards and conduct audits to drive service improvement.
• Lead innovation and implement best practices to enhance operational quality.
• Maintain high standards in clinical documentation and record keeping.
• Mentor staff, students, and new employees, fostering a supportive learning environment.
• Promote a 'just culture' through leadership and teaching.
• Oversee supervision, mandatory training (MAST), and appraisals for a small team.
• Manage staff performance and conduct per Trust policies.
• Support delivery of psychosocially-informed therapeutic programmes.
• Ensure care is personalised and aligned with individual care plans.
• Encourage meaningful engagement between service users and staff.
• Lead by example to inspire positive attitudes and teamwork.
• Promote mutual understanding and collaboration among service users, carers, and colleagues.

See further information in Job description.

About us

We are AWP (Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust):a diverse organisation with over 5,000 dedicated staff providing inpatient and community-based mental health care.

We provide services from a range of locations to approximately 1.8 million people living in Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES), Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, across the county of Wiltshire and in parts of Dorset.

Our outstanding people promote mental health and wellbeing. The expertise and resources within AWP are dedicated to a person-centred approach for those who use our services and for all employees. We recognise that happy and fulfilled employees give better care.

AWP is committed to support and create a positive research and evidence-based environment and culture, which can have a beneficial impact on everyone who works for the organisation and the care we provide to those who use our services.

At AWP we actively encourage applicants from all backgrounds; we are particularly keen to encourage applications from people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities and from the LGBTQ+ community. We want people to bring their unique blend of experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and knowledge to AWP, as diversity makes us stronger.

Job responsibilities

• Leadership to nursing team, supporting with clinical skills and quality improvement.
• Management of ward based staff.
• Medication administration.
• Providing person centred care to service users with LD and/or ASD.
• Attendance in Ward rounds, Care reviews, Admissions and Discharge meetings.
• Attendance to MDT meetings, advocating for patients and staff team.
• See further information in Job description.

Person Specification

< h3>Qualifications and Education

• Registered Nurse (Learning Disabilities, Mental Health or Adult) with current NMC registration
• Qualification in Management and/or leadership
• Training around understanding of behaviours that challenge.

Experience and Knowledge

• Good working knowledge of relevant statutory codes of conduct and practice- . NMCs the Code, Mental Capacity Act, Mental Health Act, DoL's
• clinical practice, and experience of managing / leading a team
• Experience in the therapeutic engagement with, and management of, challenging behavior
• Experience of managing a small team
• Experience of leading team with the provision of care and treatment

Skills and Abilities

• Ability to assess, plan, implement, and evaluate programmes of care and treatment
• Ability to organise and manage day to day departmental activities and the activities of large multidisciplinary team
• Undertake specific nursing/therapy skills.
• Delivering patient focused care

Other Requiements

• Good time management
• Passion to work with people LD and/or ASD
• Resilience to work in an environment that may be challenging but highly rewarding

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.