Clinical Nurse Specialist - Physical HealthNHS

Job summary

Make a visible difference across Crocus and Jasmines wards in this four-month fixed-term role. You will lead specialist physical healthcare, support the early recognition of deterioration, strengthen frailty care and help reduce avoidable hospital transfers and delays to discharge.

We are seeking an experienced registered nurse with strong assessment, clinical reasoning and leadership skills. Join a supportive, values-led Trust where you can improve patient outcomes, develop ward teams and deliver lasting service improvements. You will be compassionate, proactive and collaborative, with the confidence to provide expert advice, influence practice and lead meaningful improvement across two inpatient services.

Career Progression pathways and development opportunities:

We are committed to getting the very best out of our staff and support staff in their career aspirations. We have career pathways available, where you will be able to develop your skills and build on your experience to progress into other roles across different specialties.

Flexible working:

To be discussed at the interview.

We are proud to offer agile and flexible working opportunities as part of our new ways of working, and we are happy to talk flexible working at the interview stage. In this role you will be able to work.

Monday to Friday in the time frames from 09:00 to 17:00hrs, giving you the very best of good work life balance.

Main duties of the job

Provide specialist physical health assessment and care across Crocus and Jasmines wards.

Identify, manage and escalate physical deterioration using clinical assessment, NEWS2 and professional judgement.

Support frailty care, long-term condition management and prevention of falls, delirium and deconditioning.

Deliver clinical interventions, including ECGs, venepuncture, wound care and emergency response, within competence.

Work with multidisciplinary teams to reduce avoidable hospital transfers and physical health-related discharge delays.

Provide expert advice, training and clinical leadership to strengthen staff capability and practice.

Lead audits, monitor physical health standards and deliver quality improvement initiatives.

Maintain accurate records and practise in line with professional standards and Trust policies.

Job description

To undertake autonomous specialist assessment and treatment of patients physical health across 2 wards including service development.

To lead on the identification and management of physical deterioration through systematic use of NEWS2, clinical examination and professional judgement, ensuring timely escalation and intervention.

To support ward teams to manage physical health conditions safely within the mental health inpatient environment where clinically appropriate, reducing avoidable transfers to acute hospitals.

To promote best practice in frailty care including falls prevention, delirium management, polypharmacy awareness, nutrition and hydration, mobility promotion and prevention of deconditioning.

Undertake frailty screening of all patients

Contribute to multifactorial falls assessment and make recommendations for falls prevention.

Work closely with MDT including dietitian and SALT to optimise nutrition and hydration.

Work closely with Physiotherapists to promote decondition prevention

Including providing direct clinical care to patients using established clinical guidelines, including consulting with and referring patients to medical specialists and other health / social care professionals as indicated.

To confidently undertake medical histories, perform head-to-toe physical examinations, analyse and formulate differential diagnoses and/or evaluate treatment effectiveness.

To fully document all aspects of a patients, care and complete all required documentation for legal and administrative purposes.

Provide accurate clinical advice and instructions to nursing and other health professionals as required

To confer regularly with ward consultants and nursing staff, refer specific patients, plan and coordinate activities, exchange information, investigate and resolve problems.

In emergency situations, administer basic life support, ILS and medications pending availability of doctor.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in job applications

If you have used AI to support the preparation of your application, please briefly indicate how it was used within your supporting statement or application form.

Please remember, your application is your opportunity to tell us about your skills, experience and motivation for the role. We encourage applicants to complete their application and supporting statement in their own words wherever possible. We recognise that AI tools can be helpful in supporting accessibility, and for improving spelling, grammar and structure.

Applications that rely heavily on AI-generated content can become generic and fail to accurately reflect an applicant's individual experience. Applications that clearly demonstrate your own voice, reflections and experiences are often the most effective and help us better understand your suitability for the role.

Please be aware that information provided in your application and supporting statement may be explored further during the selection process. It is important that all applications accurately represent your own knowledge, skills and experience.

About us

We are Proud to Belong at South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust.

We have expert services, a rich history and a clear commitment to providing the best quality care for those with mental ill-health. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as 'good' - we aspire to be 'outstanding'.

This is a great time to join us. We are transforming the way we care for our communities to support our mission of Making Life Better Together. We have built two brand new mental health facilities at Springfield University Hospital, which are amongst the best in the world. More developments are planned across our sites and services as we invest a further £120m to upgrade and modernise our estate by 2027.

We are inclusive and diverse and strive to be actively anti racist. We want to attract people from all backgrounds and experiences to enrich the work we do together. We are proud to co-produce and involve our local communities in all that we do.

We offer flexible working, career development and a variety of benefits to enable a positive, welcoming environment in which our people and their careers can thrive.

Come and join our inclusive teams and help our patients on their recovery journey.

Unless expressly stated in the job advert the role is not subject to sponsorship, please be advised that all offers of employment are subject to evidence of right to work in the UK.