Job summary
The focus of the role is to help address the physical and emotional health needs of young adults leaving care as they transition into adulthood and independence. Rather than providing long-term support, the post holder will act as a 'navigator' for these young people, providing holistic assessment, brief information, advice and guidance to address their physical, emotional and mental health needs. A key focus will be on building resilience amongst this group to help them to manage future health and wellbeing needs.
The aim of the role is to meet unmet need for health and wellbeing support amongst young adults leaving care, and will require the post holder to be engaging and relatable for young people, in order to build trusting relationships, increase motivation, and reduce drop-out from services. Young adults worked with are likely to be those that are not currently linked with the relevant services, and may not have received a recent assessment of their needs.
Though the focus of the post is emotional wellbeing, support provided will be holistic and encompass all elements of physical and mental health and wellbeing.
The post holder will be a highly specialist and experienced nurse with knowledge and experience in the field of adolescent and young adult health and wellbeing and emotional and mental health.
Main duties of the job
This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced RN or RMN to join the specialist health team for Children Looked After in order to support the physical and emotional health needs of young care leavers aged 18-25. This is an extension for at least another year following a successful pilot.
We welcome applications from experienced nurses who have knowledge and experience in the field of vulnerable adolescents and young adults health and wellbeing.
The post is offered on a 1yr fixed term contract. A secondment could be considered for the right candidate. A comprehensive induction and training in brief interventions for emotional well being will be provided.
About us
Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust run a high quality and well-established specialist health team for Looked After Children, which has worked in close partnership with the London Borough of Lewisham and other local health and care partners for a number of years.
The Lewisham Corporate Parenting Strategy brings together all of these partners, and includes a shared aim to improve the health wellbeing of young people leaving care as they transition into independence, including improving access to and availability of wellbeing support, ensuring a transitioned step-down from specialist mental and physical health services at age 18, and ensuring care pathways are effective for children leaving care, including pathways into ongoing support from wider community/universal services. The post outlined in this document will contribute towards these aims
Job description
Job responsibilities
- Work directly with young adult care leavers aged 18+, in the holistic assessment of health and wellbeing needs. Identify and prioritise needs, and identify the most appropriate intervention to best meet an individuals needs.
- Work directly with those young people identified as having a mild to moderate emotional or mental health needs, providing one to one support for the young person as required. This will include providing time-limited support using evidence-based tools and techniques to support emotional health and wellbeing. Support should be psychosocial, in that it addresses both the psychological and wider social needs of young people.
- Be a dedicated point of contact for brief information, advice and guidance for young people leaving care in relation to their physical, emotional and mental health needs.
- Support onwards referrals and signposting to services, including the transition into adult services, or to specialist services for more complex cases and/or where longer-term support is needed.
- Be a point of contact for advice and guidance for professionals working with care leavers, such as Personal Advisors within the Leaving Care Service, to support them in their health and wellbeing work with care leavers.
- Consult on complex issues in relation to care leavers and unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in formal settings.
- Effectively engage with hard to reach groups, offering outreach and creative methods to promote positive health outcomes for care leavers acting as a role model and advocate.
Job description
Job responsibilities
- Work directly with young adult care leavers aged 18+, in the holistic assessment of health and wellbeing needs. Identify and prioritise needs, and identify the most appropriate intervention to best meet an individuals needs.
- Work directly with those young people identified as having a mild to moderate emotional or mental health needs, providing one to one support for the young person as required. This will include providing time-limited support using evidence-based tools and techniques to support emotional health and wellbeing. Support should be psychosocial, in that it addresses both the psychological and wider social needs of young people.
- Be a dedicated point of contact for brief information, advice and guidance for young people leaving care in relation to their physical, emotional and mental health needs.
- Support onwards referrals and signposting to services, including the transition into adult services, or to specialist services for more complex cases and/or where longer-term support is needed.
- Be a point of contact for advice and guidance for professionals working with care leavers, such as Personal Advisors within the Leaving Care Service, to support them in their health and wellbeing work with care leavers.
- Consult on complex issues in relation to care leavers and unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in formal settings.
- Effectively engage with hard to reach groups, offering outreach and creative methods to promote positive health outcomes for care leavers acting as a role model and advocate.
Person Specification
esential and desirable
Essential
- Registered Nurse; RN/RMN
- Minimum 1 year experience working at Band 6
- First Degree
- Experience of working with vulnerable young adults
- Experience of safeguarding practice
- Experience of working as an autonomous practitioner and managing own caseload
- Experience of working in a diverse inner city area
Desirable
- Qualified Specialist Community Public Health Nurse; Health Visitor/ School Nurse
- Masters qualification or working towards
- Experience of data analysis and producing high quality reports
Person Specification
esential and desirable
Essential
- Registered Nurse; RN/RMN
- Minimum 1 year experience working at Band 6
- First Degree
- Experience of working with vulnerable young adults
- Experience of safeguarding practice
- Experience of working as an autonomous practitioner and managing own caseload
- Experience of working in a diverse inner city area
Desirable
- Qualified Specialist Community Public Health Nurse; Health Visitor/ School Nurse
- Masters qualification or working towards
- Experience of data analysis and producing high quality reports
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
