Nursery Nurse

Maudsley Learning; London; On-site; GBP 31,000 - 34,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player in mental health care seeks a dedicated nursery nurse for their Mother and Baby Unit. This role involves providing essential support to mothers experiencing acute mental health challenges while ensuring the well-being of their babies. With a focus on collaborative care, you will work within a multi-disciplinary team, gaining specialized training in perinatal mental health. The organization values personal development and offers a supportive environment where you can thrive. Join a team committed to making a real difference in the lives of families and contribute to a rich legacy of care and compassion.

Benefits

Generous pay and pensions

Flexible working options

Career development opportunities

Car lease benefits

Key worker housing

NHS discounts

Counselling services

Cycle to work scheme

Long service awards

Season ticket loan

Qualifications

• Strong knowledge of childcare and child development is essential.
• Experience with babies aged 0-12 months and safeguarding is required.

Responsibilities

• Provide nursery nursing interventions to mothers with acute mental health needs.
• Monitor and report on the developmental progress of babies.

Skills

Childcare Knowledge

Perinatal Mental Health Understanding

Communication Skills

Ability to Work in MDT

Time Management

Education

NNEB or equivalent

NVQ level 3 (Child Care and Education)

Job description

Main area: Psychological Medicine and Older Adults

Grade Band: 4

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Shift pattern across 24 hours)

Job ref: 334-NUR-6788736-LF

Site: Bethlem Royal Hospital, Monks Orchard Road, Beckenham, Kent, BR3 3BX

Town: Beckenham

Salary: £31,081 - £33,665 per annum inclusive of HCAS

Salary period: Yearly

Closing: 06/01/2025 23:59

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We deliver specialist services in the London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth and Richmond.

We are committed to providing high-quality specialist care to our service users and are recognized for the care and treatment we provide. The Care Quality Commission rates our services as ‘good’.

We launched our five-year strategy, Aiming High; Changing Lives in 2021, together with Our Care Improvement System as our quality management system methodology to make a positive impact on patient care, outcomes, and staff experience. By joining SLaM, all staff will get the opportunity to be part of this exciting improvement journey supported with learning and development to harness everyone’s potential as change-makers.

The trust recognizes the unique and valuable contribution that people with lived experience of mental illness can bring to a role. We therefore welcome applications from people with lived experience and consider them as an asset to the Trust.

Our Values

We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values and our promise to be caring, kind, polite, prompt, honest, listen and do what I say I’m going to do is at the heart of everything we do. When you join us, you’ll be part of something special.

As a Trust, we are happy to talk flexible working.

Job overview

The Mother and Baby Unit (MBU) is a 13-bed acute female ward, providing evidence-based mental health treatment for both pregnant women and women with babies under one year old.

Our service is for women who present with an acute or relapsing mental illness e.g. schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, affective disorders. Additionally, and unique to the perinatal specialism, is the presentation of postpartum psychosis which is considered a psychiatric emergency.

Our treatment programmes are designed collaboratively with the service user, their families, and the extensive MDT to which the nurse provides a unique voice. Our aim in promoting recovery is twofold: a) for women to develop confidence in their vital role as mothers and to have a lasting return to their community and b) for babies to grow up to be physically healthy, emotionally capable, and securely attached so that they can lead happy lives.

We do not expect you to come to us as experts in this specialist field. However, you can expect us to train you to become an expert over time. As well as in-house training, you will have the opportunity to have specialist perinatal training from the Tavistock’s large range of training courses. For example, within your two-week induction, you will be given access to ‘A brief introduction to perinatal mental health,’ which is a 5-hour online self-study. Additionally, we train all our nursery nurses in baby massage/baby yoga/breastfeeding.

Main duties of the job

As part of a rich multi-disciplinary team, you will be responsible for providing nursery nursing interventions and support to mothers with acute perinatal mental health needs and their babies. This will include mothers in the antenatal and postnatal period within the MBU setting.

The post holder is required to have a robust working knowledge of childcare and child development which is used to inform care plans and interventions. The candidate will have an up-to-date awareness of recent research and guidance regarding child development and attachment theory.

You will work alongside professionals offering therapeutic input with the mother and baby relationship as a focus of your work. You will also have an opportunity to liaise with other professional agencies as part of your role.

We are committed to the development of the people that come to work with us. We will invest in you and support you to maximize your potential. As part of your ongoing development, you will receive regular supervision and training to enable you to flourish within the service.

Working for our organisation

About the location:

You will be based at Bethlem Royal Hospital, Monks Orchard Road, Beckenham, Kent, BR3 3BX.

We are committed to ensuring our staff get the most out of their benefits package and understand the importance of a healthy work-life balance. There is an extensive range of excellent benefits for you and your family. We want you to feel like you are part of a close-knit team at SLaM. It’s important to us that you feel valued and appreciated, which is why we have a comprehensive benefits package on offer.

• Generous pay, pensions and leave: We offer a comprehensive pay, pensions and leave package which is dependent on the role and length of service.
• Work-life balance: We support a range of flexible options, such as part-time working and job sharing.
• Career development: There are plenty of opportunities to progress your career, and we support your development through a number of programmes.
• Car lease: Our staff benefit from competitive deals to lease cars.
• Accommodation: Our staff benefit from key worker housing available on selected sites.
• NHS discounts: Discounts up to 10% from a variety of well-known retail brands through the Health Service Discounts website.

Other benefits include:

• Counselling services
• Long service awards
• Cycle to work scheme
• Season ticket loan
• Staff restaurants

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Key Responsibilities:

1. To work as a member of the MBU delivering interventions which meet the needs of the baby for those mothers who are receiving inpatient care. The nursery nurse will also promote and support the health of the mother and baby.
2. To support the mother and the rest of the MDT to ensure that consistent and appropriate emotional and practical care of the baby is given at all times.
3. The nursery nurse will monitor, document and report the developmental progress of the babies on the unit; working in partnership with the family and the wider community nursing teams e.g. Midwives, Health Visitors, Community Nurses, and Community Nursery Nurses.
4. To ensure regular monitoring of physical health and developmental milestones of the babies is undertaken and reported back to the link health visitors as required.
5. To ensure that a Mother’s involvement in the care of her baby is fully promoted and that the mothers are consulted regarding all care given to their baby.
6. To organise and facilitate mother and baby groups with the aim of sharing and educating in all areas of baby care and play.
7. To provide written and verbal reports to the multi-disciplinary team relating to mothers' care of and behavior with her baby and any observed changes in the physical health of babies reporting any concerns immediately to the nurse in charge.
8. To communicate sensitive information to patients and/or relatives/carers concerning appropriate physical and/or psychological care and interactions with their baby.
9. To access regular supervision and appraisal and contribute to the well-being of the team by supporting other team members and treating all colleagues with respect.
10. To undertake Promotion of Safe and Therapeutic Services interventions as required in line with Trust policy.
11. To undertake any other appropriate duties as may be assigned or delegated on occasions by the Nurse in Charge.

Person specification

Qualification

• NNEB, BTEC (National Diploma in Nursery Nursing) or equivalent such as NVQ level 3 (Child Care and Education).

Experience

• Experience of working with babies aged 0-12 months.
• Experience of Safeguarding Children and Adults.
• Experience of facilitating groups.

Knowledge

• Knowledge of legislation and national directives/policies relating to children.
• An understanding of perinatal illness and working with women during the perinatal period.

Skills and Abilities

• Ability to work as part of a MDT around the needs of the parent and child.
• An ability to be self-directive and manage one’s time effectively.
• Ability to prioritize workload and carry out work efficiently and effectively.

The Trust is committed to providing services that embrace diversity and promote equality of opportunity. We are a Disability Confident Employer, and we welcome applicants from all sections of the community and people of all protected characteristics. We provide reasonable adjustments for candidates with a disability and are committed to treating people fairly with compassion, respect, and dignity while promoting equality and human rights.

Please note:

• All applications for this post will need to be made online.
• Read and understand the Job Description and Personal Specification attached to the role. Your Statement in Support should reflect the requirements specified as your application will be judged against these criteria.
• The closing date listed is a guide only and the vacancy may close earlier should a sufficient number of applicants have been received. We advise that you submit your application as early as possible.
• Once you have submitted your application, you agree to your application being transferred to a 3rd party e-recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs.
• If you have not heard from us within three weeks from the closing date, your application has not been successful.
• Priority consideration for applications may be given to at-risk NHS employees.
• Should you be successful and appointed, you authorize South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust to confirm your previous NHS service via an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process.
• We are a smoke-free Trust.

SLaM is a Stonewall Diversity Champion; Stonewall is the largest Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans (LGBT) rights charity in Europe.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.