Band 6 Specialist Practitioner Op Courage - Weston-Super-Mare

NHS; Weston-super-Mare; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare organization in Weston-super-Mare seeks a Specialist Practitioner to join Op Courage. This exciting role involves providing essential support for veterans, ensuring they receive timely mental health care. As a qualified NMC Registered Mental Health Nurse, you'll work independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team. Responsibilities include advocating for service users and delivering person-centred care in a hybrid format, utilizing online and face-to-face contacts. Join us in making a significant impact in the lives of Veterans and their families.

Qualifications

• Registered Nurse with current NMC registration and completion of preceptorship.
• Experience working with mental health difficulties.
• Understanding of trauma-informed approaches.

Responsibilities

• Provide liaison, advice, and support services for veterans.
• Deliver person-centred nursing care in various formats.
• Advocate for service users needs and rights.

Skills

Strong communication and interpersonal skills

Ability to work autonomously

Build excellent therapeutic relationships

Empathise for individuals who have experienced mental health problems

Education

NMC Registered Mental Health Nurse

Post-graduate qualification in nursing or related discipline

Job description

Band 6 Specialist Practitioner Op Courage - Weston-Super-Mare

We are looking for a Specialist Practitioner to join OpCourage South West, covering the Plymouth, Cornwall and Devon area.

Are you passionate about ensuring that our ex-British Armed Forces (Veterans) - have excellent mental health care?

Are you driven and professionally skilled in engaging, assessing and helping to navigate Veterans that sometimes can be difficult-to-engage, complex and risky? Working alongside our Veterans and their families ensuring they receive timely and appropriate support, often supporting to navigate other systems and services.

Are you determined and resourceful to help support the service as part of the wider NHS OP Courage services, including our urgent and treatment pathway colleagues.

Are you a team player, initiative-taking and robust? This is an exciting opportunity to join OP Courage, bringing together all the three elements of NHS mental healthcare for our Veterans. Together we can go further to ensuring that the NHS fulfils its commitment and picks up and responds to the specialist needs of Veterans and their families. You will work within the team, covering a designated geographical area.

Main duties of the job

The core purpose of this role is to provide liaison, advice, and support services for veterans, supporting the coordination of care from referral to the service through to discharge.

You will work in a hybrid way, using a mix of online platforms, telephone, and face-to-face contacts as required. The team meets at regular intervals, and full support will be provided to develop the role alongside colleagues.

For the full list of duties and responsibilities for this role, please refer to the attached job description and person specification.

For a full list of duties and responsibilities, please see the attached 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

Work autonomously within the parameters of the role, leading on the implementation and delivery of quality nursing care. Contribute to physical, psychological, social, recreational, and spiritual care in a recovery‑focused way through therapeutic engagement and activities, and take steps to address any issues that arise.

Demonstrate highly developed skills in assessing and interpreting complex patient/client needs, e.g., clinical assessment of complex health and social needs, interpretation of vital signs, and related physical health assessments.

Deliver person‑centred nursing care via face‑to‑face, online, or telephone contact, in line with the persons choice, risk, and/or clinical need.

Facilitate access to services such as housing, employment, education, and substance misuse support, advocating for patients needs and preferences.

Provide education and support to families and carers to enhance understanding and involvement in the patients recovery journey.

Coordinate and evaluate collaborative patient‑centred care; gather feedback and improve Personal Wellbeing Plans with the multi‑disciplinary team (MDT) and system partners. Liaise and work positively with members of the MDT and partner organisations.

Advocate for service users needs and rights within Trust policy, encouraging and empowering service users to take an optimum level of responsibility for their individual programme of care.

Communicate complex and sensitive clinical information to patients, families, and carers in a clear, compassionate, and professional manner. Ensure that all information regarding Personal Wellbeing Plans, treatment options, and health conditions is accurate, timely, and presented in an accessible format.

Comply with and implement local and Trust policies and procedures regarding appropriate communication.

Deliver specific interventions in line with the treatment pathway, including for complex service users. Provide care that is evidence‑based, reflecting current best practice and research (including NICE guidelines), and demonstrate clinical excellence and high standards of professional practice to other staff.

Demonstrate empathy, active listening, and reassurance when supporting individuals through difficult or emotionally charged situations. Adapt communication approaches to meet the individual needs of patients, including those with sensory impairments, cognitive challenges, language barriers, or disabilities.

Proactively support patients in engaging with mental health and related community services, promoting recovery, independence, and social inclusion. Identify and address barriers to engagement, including stigma, accessibility, cultural factors, and individual anxieties or mistrust of services.

Advocate for service users needs and rights within Trust policy, encouraging and empowering service users to take an optimum level of responsibility for their individual programme of care.

For a full list of duties and responsibilities, please see the attached job description.

Person Specification

Education and Qualification

• NMC Registered Mental Health Nurse with current registration and has successfully completed preceptorship
• Professional knowledge acquired through degree/diploma
• Specialist knowledge across a range of nursing procedures and theory - Safety assessment, Safety planning, Safe medication practice, Basic counselling, de‑escalation, Working with families, Mental Health Act, Care Act and Mental Capacity act
• Practice supervisor and Practice Assessor
• Post‑graduate qualification in nursing or related discipline

Experience and Knowledge

• Experience of working with people who experience mental health difficulties
• Enhanced understanding of Mental Health signs and symptoms and an understanding of how these may present in practice including recognition of impact on service user presentation and behaviour including risk factors
• Practical experience of providing high quality care and exceeding expectations
• Understanding of safe medication management practices
• Understanding of the importance of Health and Safety
• Understanding of trauma informed approaches and current nursing practice
• Knowledge of current developments in mental health care in the community
• Understanding effective risk assessment and developing coproduced safety plans/risk management plans.
• Understanding of and demonstrable practice within the NMC Code of Practice , Working understanding of the Mental Health Act 1983, the Mental Capacity Act (2005), Care Act (2014)
• Substantial experience at band 5
• Completed a relevant course on teaching and assessing in clinical practice or equivalent
• Is a veteran, has lived experience of the veteran community or has experience of caring for veterans
• Training in specific clinical interventions
• Evidence of QI work

Skills and Abilities

• Build excellent therapeutic relationships
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to work autonomously and as part of a multidisciplinary team
• Liaise and work positively with members of the multi- disciplinary team and partner organisations.
• Communicate effectively and efficiently with system partners
• Function as keyworker coordinating all aspects of care and communication for the person, their family members
• Recognise signs of stress in self and in others
• Empathise for individuals who have experienced mental health problems
• Cope with behaviour which may be challenging at times
• Demonstrate leadership skills - motivating others, using own initiative, change management
• Be motivated to provide the highest standard of care in a changing service
• Evidence of basic counselling and group work
• Able to undertake clinical supervision
• Evidence of QI work
• Family work, Motivational Interviewing qualification

Other Requirements.

• Able to travel easily and frequently around the region which will include attending face to face appointments, Trust training and team meetings as required
• Able to promote Op Courage at external events as required and on occasional weekends
• Willing to undertake further training relevant to clinical area
• Demonstrate commitment to own structured training and development program
• Demonstrable ability to meet the trust PRIDE values

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.