Mental Health, Justice Health and Alcohol and Drug Services (MHJHADS) provides support to youth and adults via inpatient and outpatient settings, community health centres, justice health facilities and other community settings, including people’s homes. MHJHADS aims to be socially inclusive and operate within a recovery-focussed and/or harm minimisation approach.

ACMHS teams operate across the Australian Capital Territory, adhering to either the Adult Community Mental Health Model of Care or the Older Persons Community Mental Health Model of Care depending on area of practice. ACMHS program area services the community’s mental health needs in the areas of intake, recovery, supported and therapeutic accommodation, therapy, older persons, neuropsychology, assertive community outreach, homeless outreach, and intensive home treatment.

Specifically, this position is for the Assertive Community Outreach Team (ACOS). ACOS is a multidisciplinary team who provide assertive outreach treatment in the community for persons who present with severe mental illness, primarily a psychotic disorder or severe bipolar disorder, and enduring symptoms despite treatment. Persons who receive treatment and care through ACOS typically have had a history of poor engagement with mental health services and poor response to treatment and require assertive follow-up to manage frequent relapses, significant impairment in functioning, and significant risk issues, such as homelessness and suicide. ACOS operates extended hours from 8:30am to 9:00pm, 7 days per week, to ensure flexibility and continuity of care. This is a shift working position, and you will be required to participate in the full rotating roster.

The position involves providing clinical management in a shared team environment and overseeing consumers on clozapine. The applicant will be highly motivated to engage in consultative and educative practices with families, carers, and other agencies. ACOS is situated at the City Community Health Centre (CCHC), though a large portion of clinical work is completed via outreach interventions around the ACT.

Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following.

• Participate in shift lead responsibilities by providing clinical leadership, support, and direction to other staff and students.
• Maintain key worker responsibilities for a caseload of consumers by ensuring outcome measures, risk assessments, tribunal reports, care plans, case reviews and other necessary administrative tasks are completed within established timeframes.
• Regularly conduct risk and mental state assessments for people with a major mental illness residing in the community.
• Provide in-reach support to ACOS-managed consumers currently admitted to an inpatient unit or remanded to a forensic facility.
• Provide clozapine advice to consumers, ACOS, and its health partners, such as community pharmacies, NDIS supports, and General Practitioners (GP). Ensure whilst referring to established guidelines that the relevant health assessment of clozapine consumers is being performed regularly and that the information is being documented.
• Deliver evidence-based clinical interventions and provide expert clinical advice within your scope of practice for people with a major mental illness residing in the community.
• Provide education, support, advice, and liaison to all relevant stakeholders including consumers, carers, support workers, government and non-government parties, internal and external agencies.
• Complete all clinical documentation to a high standard and within established timeframes.
• Participate in handover and multidisciplinary meetings and processes, team meetings, education sessions, quality improvement projects, tribunal hearings, and other relevant team or stakeholder activities and meetings.
• Champion one of the National Safety and Quality in Healthcare Service (NSQHS) standards by participating in relevant working groups and/or education sessions, and by providing relevant education, training and guidance to the team in relation to your standard.
• Participate in a 7 day/week rotating shift-work roster including evenings, weekends, and public holidays.
• Undertake other duties appropriate to this level of classification which contribute to the operation of the organisation.

Specific competencies include but are not limited to the following.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills and the ability to communicate with influence.
• Expertise in making informed clinical decisions based on evidence, patient needs, and ethical considerations.
• Ability to conduct comprehensive assessments to evaluate mental and physical health, including monitoring for signs of agranulocytosis and other side effects.
• Ability to educate patients and families about clozapine, its risks and benefits, and the importance of regular blood monitoring.
• Ability to work collaboratively and congenially with a wide range of people including peers, consumers, carers, managers, medical officers, internal and external organisations and stakeholders.
• Being prepared to respond to acute situations, including understanding the protocols for emergency interventions.
• Understand clozapine's pharmacology, including its indications, dosing, and potential side effects, as well as monitoring for therapeutic levels.
• Commitment to continuous learning and improvement through regular reflection on professional practice.
• Commitment to involving patients in their care planning and respecting their autonomy and preferences.
• Understand and apply obligations for risk identification and safe practice within the clinical practice environment under the Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act 2011.

Specific qualifications include, but are not limited to, the following.

Essential

• Tertiary Qualification or related qualification in nursing.
• Registered or eligible for registration with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).
• Australian driver’s license.
• Have an understanding of how the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) indicators align with this role.

Desirable

• Post Graduate Qualification in Mental Health Nursing or working towards such.

Specific experience includes but is not limited to the following.

Essential

• A minimum of 4 years’ fulltime equivalent experience working professionally in mental health services or post-graduate degree in mental health nursing.
• Experience working with clients on clozapine.
• Experience or knowledge of the CHS Exceptional Care Framework, and all other related frameworks.

Desirable

• Experience working in Adult Community Mental Health Services.
• Familiarity and experience with Clozapine treatment protocols.
• Experience working closely with the NDIS.

Appointment to this position is conditional on being granted and retaining appropriate clearances.

• Pre-employment National Police Check.
• Current registration issued under the Working with Vulnerable People (Background Checking) Act 2011 is required.
• Comply with Canberra Health Services Occupational Assessment, Screening and Vaccination policy.

All employees are required to:

• adhere to the Canberra Health Services Values and the ACT Public Service Code of Conduct
• act in accordance and comply with all relevant Safety and Quality policies and procedures.
• Comply with all relevant clinical and/or competency standards.
• Be available for weekend and/or after-hours work.

CHS is leading the drive to digitally transform health service delivery in Australia through the implementation of a territory wide Digital Health Record. Computer literacy skills are required which are relevant to this role as you will be responsible for completing required documentation and becoming a proficient user of the Digital Health Record and/or other Information Technology systems; once proficient, you will need to remain current with changes, updates, and contingencies.

These are the key selection criteria for how you will be assessed in conjunction with your resumé and experience.

1. Proven communication skills and nursing practice, including knowledge and skills in Clozapine and physical health assessment, the ability to liaise with medical staff, nursing staff, and Pharmacy; and to problem solve and practice with influence within a multidisciplinary team
2. Proven ability to produce quality information, to manage Clozapine database recording, support established recovery models, ensure partnerships with consumers and multi-disciplinary team members to provide assessment, intervention and observation to consumers prescribed Clozapine in community settings
3. Demonstrated ability to provide and engage in supervision, undertake quality improvement and/or research activities, commitment to continuing professional development and a willingness to provide staff education to colleagues in community settings
4. Well-developed written and oral communication skills, including the preparation of various types of correspondence and experience in office computer applications.
5. Demonstrates understanding of, and adherence to, safety and quality standards, Work Health and Safety and the positive patient experience. Displays behaviour consistent with CHS’s values of reliable, progressive, respectful, and kind.

The following work environment description outlines the inherent requirements of the role and indicates how frequently each of these requirements would need to be performed. Please note that the ACT Public Service is committed to providing reasonable adjustments and ensuring all individuals have equal opportunities in the workplace.

Administrative	Frequency
Telephone use	Frequently
General computer use	Frequently
Extensive keying/data entry	Occasionally
Graphical/analytical based	Frequently
Sitting at a desk	Frequently
Standing for long periods	Occasionally

Travel	Frequency
Frequent travel – multiple work sites	Frequently
Frequent travel – driving	Frequently

Physical demands	Frequency
Distance walking (large buildings or inter-building transit)	Occasionally
Working outdoors	Occasionally

Psychosocial demands	Frequency
Distressed People e.g. Emergency or grief situations	Occasionally
Aggressive & Uncooperative People e.g. drug / alcohol, dementia, mental illness	Frequently
Unpredictable People e.g. Dementia, mental illness, head injuries	Frequently
Restraining e.g. involvement in physical containment of clients/consumers	Never
Exposure to Distressing Situations e.g. Child abuse, viewing dead / mutilated bodies; verbal abuse; domestic violence; suicide	Occasionally

Specific hazards	Frequency
Working at heights	Never
Exposure to extreme temperatures	Never
Operation of heavy machinery e.g. forklift	Never
Confined spaces	Never
Excessive noise	Occasionally
Low lighting	Occasionally
Handling of dangerous goods/equipment e.g. gases; liquids; biological.	Occasionally
Slippery or uneven surfaces	Occasionally

Manual handling	Frequency
Lifting 0 – 9kg	Occasionally
Lifting 10 – 15kg	Never
Lifting 16kg+	Never
Climbing	Never
Running	Occasionally
Reaching	Occasionally
Kneeling	Never
Foot and leg movement	Occasionally
Hand, arm and grasping movements	Occasionally
Bending/squatting	Occasionally
Bend/Lean Forward from Waist/Trunk twisting	Occasionally
Push/pull	Occasionally
Sequential repetitive movements in a short amount of time	Never