Assertive Outreach Nurse

Change Grow Live are a charity dedicated to the belief that we can make a difference to our Service Users lives. Our core values are ‘Be open, be compassionate and be bold’ and our teams apply these daily offering support and respect in a safe environment, treating each user as an individual and working with them to find the right treatment and care options.  

Our teams are multi-disciplinary, they consist of a service manager, consultant psychiatrists, doctors, nurses, health care assistants, recovery staff, volunteers, administrators, and peer mentors, all focused on bringing the individuals using our services the best possible support & interventions.

A fantastic, new opportunity has arisen to become an Assertive Outreach Nurse, improving choice and control for individuals who may be rough sleeping, homeless or at risk of homelessness.  We are hoping this role will be for you. 

Our Assertive Outreach Nurses play an integral part in Change Grow Lives mission to help people change the direction of their lives, grow as individuals, and live life to its full potential. Working as part of a multi-disciplinary team, they offer specialist clinical interventions to people who use our services.  

The post holder will be supporting our hard-to-reach clients with dual needs, helping them to access the mental health support and treatment they need alongside addressing their housing and substance misuse issues.    

Where: Southampton 

Hours: 22.5 per week

Salary: £36,635.38 - £42,743.46 pro rata

Responsibilities

The Assertive Outreach Nurse role is a varied one, the successful candidate will be an integral member of a multidisciplinary team, offering specialist clinical interventions to people who are homeless and or find it difficult to engage with services.

In this role no two days are the same. Every person who we come into contact with is treated as an individual, so understanding the importance of a whole person approach along with being curious, a good listener, a clinically robust practitioner and having a flexible approach are essential skills.

Your role includes:

• Using your nursing skills/knowledge to carry out physical and psycho-social assessments for the homeless population.
• Providing clinical / therapeutic treatments based on best possible evidence that will improve health outcomes for the homeless population.
• Provide screening for blood borne viruses (BBV), through dry blood spot testing.
• Working within and consolidating integrated care and treatment pathways for individuals infected with BBV/s (Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and/or HIV). Provide Hepatitis A and or B vaccinations when indicated.
• Working in partnership with other community teams/voluntary organisations to ensure the seamless delivery of care to the homeless population.
• Acting as an advocate for people experiencing homelessness, supporting the individual’s own choices regarding their care whilst promoting independence and self-care.
• To contribute to CGL Naloxone Strategy by training staff and individuals in the use of naloxone.
• Offer wound care assessment and basic wound dressing to individuals who use our services. Organise signposting to other services as required and ensure clear pathways into other treatment arenas as appropriate.

About you: 

• First level registered nurse with recent relevant post qualification experience and a current PIN 
• Relevant recent experience of working within drug and alcohol treatment (desirable but not essential) 
• Sound and demonstrable knowledge of harm reduction and health promotion interventions 
• Ability to assess and recovery plan service users and formulate written  
  reports, as necessary 
• Clinical auditing skills to inform evaluation of the service and identify areas for development 
• Employ a professional, empathetic, and non-judgmental attitude towards  
  service users and all stakeholders 
• An understanding of the importance of professional integrity in relationships with service users, peers, and other relevant professionals 

We want to support you to recognise and achieve your goals:

• We hold regular national nurse and HCA forums, and you will have regular 1:1s and appraisals
• We actively support our nurses with revalidation with protected continuing professional development time, which totals up to 6 days per year.
• We also have a wide range of educational opportunities including free access to the RCNi learning platform and we pay for your NMC fee
• We offer you the opportunity to use the government backed Apprenticeship Levy fund to develop nursing practice in line with your specific role
• All our team members are encouraged to take a wellbeing hour every week and access personal well -being resources
• Our nursing pay is competitive with the NHS Agenda for Change pay bands.

What we will give to you:  

• 25 days holiday (+ bank holidays) rising by 1 day for each years’ service “Capped at 30 days” 
• Paid ‘Wellness’ hour each week along with a ‘Wellness’ hub and Employee Assist Programme  
• Contributory pension scheme  
• Annual reimbursement of your NMC fee  
• Dedicated and protected professional development time  
• Access to excellent training programmes including the RCNi learning platform  
• A great selection of benefits incl. discounts for shopping, cinema, holidays, etc.  
• A friendly and supportive team  
• Training, career development & progression opportunities  
• Protected monthly CPD  
• Refer a friend scheme and receive generous vouchers if candidate is successful.  
• Our nursing pay is competitive with the NHS Agenda for Change pay bands. 

Please read attached Job Description for a more detailed out line of responsibilities