Physical Health Nurse

Are you a Nurse Practitioner with a passion for working with children and young people who have experienced significant trauma and have complex needs?

Are you motivated by a role where you can make a huge difference to the lives of some of the most vulnerable individuals in the community?

If so, our senior nursing position at Lansdowne Secure Children's Home in Hailsham, East Sussex is the role for you!

This is an exciting and challenging opportunity for a knowledgeable, dynamic Nurse. You will be joining a friendly, supportive and creative multi-disciplinary team, dedicated to providing a high-quality service that addresses the health inequalities experienced by our young people.

FTC / Secondment through to 31/5/26

Main duties of the job

What we are looking for:

• A part-time paediatric nurse Practitioner to work within the Integrated Health and Emotional Wellbeing Service at Lansdowne Secure Children's Home.
• Someone who has enthusiasm to learn (however experienced) and to be part of a team.
• Someone who likes to manage their diary and enjoy autonomy as a practitioner - whilst having the reassurance of knowing what is expected from their role and activity (always knowing there are colleagues available for reflection).
• Initial assessments of physical health on a young person's entry to Lansdowne.
• Support to the GP's and Practice Nurse who provide the primary care provision.
• Facilitating access to secondary services such as dentistry and optometry.
• Leading on the support to care staff who are caring for a young person with chronic health needs e.g. diabetes or epilepsy.
• Monitoring young people's physical health as required e.g. after a restraint, or as part of a wider health promotion intervention e.g. to address obesity.
• Working collaboratively with the social care and education team on the creation of an environment that prioritises healthy eating and healthy living.
• This is a part-time post.

About us

Sussex Partnership provides mental health and learning disability care for children, young people and adults across Sussex and for children and young people in Hampshire.

We encourage flexible working. We know that a positive work/life balance brings about huge health related benefits, which has a positive impact on the care we provide. Please speak to us about flexible working, for example, flexible start/finish times or anything else. If it works for you and works for the role, we'll do our best to make it happen.

We'd love you to join our Trust that is rated 'good' overall and 'outstanding' for caring by the CQC. Our staff agree, with 82% of people in our recent staff survey telling us that they recognise that care for patients is our top priority.

Job responsibilities

In order to be a successful Nurse Practitioner in our team you will be:

• Registered with the NMC.
• Experienced in risk management.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced and varied role.
• Adaptable, organised, compassionate and a team player.

It would also be advantageous if you are:

• Experienced working in CAMHS (Children and Young Peoples Mental Health Services) and/or inpatient settings, experience with developmental trauma, neuro-disability and/or forensic CAMHS.
• A nurse prescriber qualification would also be desirable - and if not already, an interest in completing this qualification would be essential.

The setting

Lansdowne Secure Children's Home is a 12-bedded provision for young people aged 12-17. The young people are placed with us for welfare reasons, secured under the Children's Act (1989), Section 25. They have a history of persistent absconding and are likely to continue to abscond from anything other than secure accommodation, during which episodes they are likely to suffer significant harm, or injure themselves or others. The young people have complex needs and are described as high need/high vulnerability/high risk.

The IHEWS Team

The Integrated Health & Emotional Wellbeing Service (IHEWS) is an embedded multidisciplinary health team commissioned by NHS England to support the physical and mental healthcare needs of young people at Lansdowne Secure Children's Home (SCH). It is a small, welcoming and supportive team of 6.5 WTE across physical and mental health nursing, psychology, occupational therapy, psychiatry, speech and language therapy, and administration.

You will need to be able to work autonomously but will also work closely with the Physical Health Senior Nurse Practitioner and the wider multi-disciplinary health team and will receive supervision from both a Senior Nurse in the SPFT Acute CAMHS Nursing team and a Clinical Psychologist in the IHEWS.

IHEWS aims to:

1. Improve the health and wellbeing outcomes of the young people - this will help address health inequalities and provide an environment which enables good health and wellbeing.
2. Help improve trauma-informed understanding and practice in the wider health, social care and educational setting - this will enhance psychological knowledge and skills of all staff groups and support organisational development.
3. Support the development of emotionally resilient staff who feel cared for, safe and supported - this will provide the most helpful therapeutic environment for the complex young people cared for in this setting.

The Trust

You will be part of an active team of nurses in CAMHS and will be welcomed to local professional meetings and CPD events that focus on professional issues and supporting children and young people, with colleagues from all branches of nursing.

The trust is committed to supporting its nurses to progress professionally across the 4 pillars of nursing - Clinical Practice, Facilitating Learning, Leadership and Evidence, Research and Development. A copy of the CAMHS and Specialist Services Nursing Strategy 2022-2027 can be found here.

You will be supported by the IHEWS with the space and time to grow and develop in your nursing role.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Registered Nurse with current registration (mental health / LD/ Adult) appropriate to the job role.
• Degree/diploma level supplemented by specialist qualification, training, experience, courses to masters level equivalent relevant to the care group.
• Evidence of post registration training in relevant service area.
• Completion of Practice Assessor/ Practice Supervisor training.
• Non-Medical Prescribing or willingness to train in (through trust support and sponsorship).

Knowledge/Experience

• Extensive post qualifying experience in relevant service area.
• Experience of supervising staff and students.
• Able to manage a caseload of patients with complex health needs.
• Comprehensive knowledge of interventions specific to service area.
• Awareness of Trust policies and service specification.

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.