Substance Use Nurse

WithYou; Ayr; On-site; GBP 29,000 - 40,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

28 days annual leave

Birthday/occurrence day

Pension scheme

Blue Light Card

Flexible working

Refer a Friend £500 bonus

Job summary

WithYou in South Ayrshire is seeking an experienced Substance Use Nurse to join our service, delivering high-quality recovery care to a diverse service user group. The role is full time and fixed term for 12 months; requires driving license and access to a vehicle.

You will assess care needs, develop, implement and evaluate programmes of care, and work with multidisciplinary teams to support patients through their journey.

Qualifications

• Must hold NMC registration as a Mental Health Nurse and be a registered nurse.
• Experience delivering nursing interventions in community settings.
• Ability to carry out comprehensive assessments including risk assessments and care planning.

Responsibilities

• Provide health, wellbeing and harm reduction interventions to service users.
• Deliver high standards of nursing care and assess, develop, implement and evaluate programmes of care.
• Advocate for patients and work with MDTs to support health needs.
• Support delivery of clinics or groups and provide education to clients.
• Work flexibly in various settings to promote safety and wellbeing.

Skills

NMC registration

Mental Health Nurse

Community nursing

Risk assessments

Drug handling

Driving license

Communication skills

Job description

We are looking for a Substance Use Nurse to join our service in South Ayrshire.

Our team in South Ayrshire is recruiting for an experienced Substance Use Nurse, to join them in providing high quality recovery care to a diverse service user group. If you are an enthusiastic and creative registered nurse, passionate about changing people’s lives for the better, we’d love to hear from you.

We need your passion and dedication to help us change the lives of the people we support. You will be part of a dynamic team who will value your input and ideas. Our clients will benefit from your clinical skill set, experience and knowledge as you empower them to overcome their personal challenges. We truly believe that education is a powerful tool, we are continuously learning how our clients want to be supported and reflecting on ways to improve our services.

This is an extremely rewarding role, one from which you will have the opportunity to be part of a patient's journey from end to end. We are certain this role will remind you of why you chose nursing as a career pathway. As a leading charity supporting people with drug, alcohol, and mental health challenges, we operate over 80 services across England and Scotland, providing free and confidential support to more than 100,000 people each year. Find out more about us on our website.

Please use the linked job description to support your application.

This role is full time and fixed term for 12 months. Some evening and weekend work will be required for this post. The salary for the role is £34,500 per annum. Please note a driving license and access to a vehicle is required for this role.

The closing date for applications is 2nd September 2026. Please note that this role may close early should sufficient applications be received, so early application is advised. All applicants should submit a CV along with a cover letter explaining why they should be considered for this role.

Job Description

As our Substance Use Nurse, you will provide a range of health and wellbeing and harm reduction interventions to service users in accordance with the agreed model of service delivery. You will deliver high standards of nursing care to those affected by substance use and be responsible for the assessment of care needs, development, implementation and evaluation of programmes of care.

You will be an advocate for our patients, working closely with them to identify the physical, psychological, spiritual and social support they need. You will work flexibly providing a high standard of nursing care in a variety of settings, promoting the health and well-being of service users whilst maintaining a safe, caring and therapeutic environment.

You will participate as an active member of the nursing and multi-disciplinary teams, accountable for your practice, and work in partnership with other health care professionals, psycho-social case managers, patients and others in the delivery of care. You will support the delivery of specific healthcare clinics or groups, designed to support and educate clients, providing them with practical tools to overcome life’s challenges, this will include pre-session planning and post-session evaluation.

The post is within the Connect4Change Service who provide multidisciplinary intensive, flexible, and assertive outreach support for vulnerable people who:

• are 16+ and a resident of South Ayrshire
• may be disengaging from core alcohol or drugs services
• and / or have had recent contact with emergency services due to their alcohol and drug use
• and / or have experienced a recent non-fatal overdose

Please note that you must have current NMC registration as a Mental Health Nurse to be considered for this position.

• Registered Nurse with current NMC registration and post registration clinical experience
• Experience of delivering nursing interventions in a community setting
• Demonstrable experience of comprehensive assessment of need including risk assessments
• Knowledge of safe storage, handling and administration of drugs in particular controlled drugs
• Be able to work constructively with a wide variety of groups and individuals in a range of settings and work roles
• Be able to assess plans, implement and evaluate service user care and act accordingly if untoward changes occurred
• Be able to positive engage service users and treat the with respect and dignity
• Have effective written and communication skills
• Ideally you will have experience of working in a drug and alcohol setting
• A driving license and access to a vehicle

Company Benefits

• 28 days annual leave, plus bank holidays
• An extra day off for your birthday or a special occasion of your choice
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption leave
• 2 days paid volunteer leave per year
• Auto-enrollment into We Are With You’s pension scheme
• Access to a Blue Light Card - giving you great savings on big high-street and online brands
• Flexible working opportunities and access to a range of services and resources to support you with your wellbeing
• We have an excellent Refer a Friend scheme which offers you a £500 bonus for any recommendations, any role! Our scheme allows you to recommend your friends and family to work with us and earn a £500 bonus payment for every successful referral you make. Please note, the Refer a Friend scheme is only applicable if your recommended friend completes their 6 months probation period

Creating an Inclusive Environment

As an organisation, we continue to build an inclusive culture that encourages, supports and celebrates the diverse voices and experiences of our staff. We know that representing the communities we serve is key to us meeting our vision of a future where everyone lives a life free from the harm associated with drugs and alcohol. We welcome the unique contributions that you can bring and we encourage people from underrepresented communities and backgrounds to apply to join our team, including people with lived experience, people with disabilities, people from racialised communities, LGBTQ+ people, people of all ages and armed forces veterans.

As part of our commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant we provide a guaranteed interview scheme for candidates that are veterans and meet all the essential criteria for a role. With You is also a Disability Confident Employer and we offer a guaranteed interview scheme for candidates with a disability and meet all the essential criteria for a role.

If you have a disability, a learning difficulty such as dyslexia or a medical condition which you believe may affect your performance during any aspect of our selection process, we’ll be happy to make reasonable adjustments to enable you to perform at your best.

Please note that you will be required to provide 3 years worth of references and where applicable, undergo an enhanced DBS check, to be considered for a role at WithYou.