Band 6 Charge Nurse - Bristol

Job overview Elizabeth Casson House (ECH) is an 8‑bed female Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit, and we’re looking for a compassionate and confident Band 6 Nurse to join our experienced and supportive team. Our staff bring strong clinical skills, good judgement and a genuine commitment to providing safe, trauma‑informed care to women during periods of crisis. You will also have the opportunity to develop knowledge in women’s mental health and understanding the gender specific factors that influence presentation, risk and recovery. You will be part of a team that values openness, reflection and shared learning. Staff wellbeing is really important to us! We work closely together, support each other day‑to‑day, and make sure people feel appreciated and equipped to do their best work. You’ll have opportunities to develop your leadership skills, contribute to service development and build confidence in areas such as de-escalation, relational security and culturally informed practice. We’re committed to developing both our staff and our practice, and to continually improving the experience we offer to the women in our care. ECH is a bright, calm and therapeutic environment. We are one of the few wards with a dedicated sensory room! A space to support emotional regulation, reduce distress and promote wellbeing. If you’re looking to join a welcoming, skilled team who are passionate about delivering excellent care and supporting one another, we’d be very happy to hear from you. Advert As a Band 6 Nurse on ECH, you will take a key leadership role in the day‑to‑day running of the ward. This includes clinically leading shifts, supervising junior staff, and helping to maintain high standards of safe, compassionate care. You will also support the Ward Manager with operational duties and may provide cover in their absence to ensure continuity for the team. You will support staff to recognise and respond to rising levels of distress, using relational approaches and de‑escalation skills to maintain a calm and therapeutic environment. The role includes participation in the Duty Nurse rota, offering support and guidance to other wards across the Callington Road Hospital site outside of core hours. This provides valuable experience in site‑wide coordination and leadership. You will be an experienced RMN or RNLD with a strong commitment to clinical excellence, emotional resilience and service development. Professional growth is important to us, and you will be supported to take responsibility for your own learning through training, supervision, reflective practice and involvement in ward‑based quality improvement projects. Rotational posts can be considered for those wishing to broaden their experience. ECH is based within Callington Road Hospital, which hosts a range of mental health units. Wards work closely together and support one another when needed, creating a collaborative and responsive environment. Working for our organisation We are the lead provider of healthcare for people with serious mental illness, learning disabilities and autism across Bath and North East Somerset (BaNES), Swindon and Wiltshire, and Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. We aim to provide High Quality, Compassionate Care everywhere, every day. This means our services will be safe, clinically effective and provide a positive all round experience for our patients, families and carers. And we believe passionately in treating everyone with kindness, respect and empathy. Key to this is providing a supportive and safe environment for our 4,000 staff where we all feel welcome and able to do the best we can for those we support. Our staff and teams work incredibly hard delivering services across more than 90 locations, covering 2,200miles, to more than 1.8million people. At AWP we actively encourage applicants from all backgrounds; we are particularly keen to encourage applications from people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities and from the LGBTQ+ community. We want people to bring their unique blend of experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and knowledge to AWP, as diversity makes us stronger. Detailed job description and main responsibilities 1. Clinical Nursing Practice To carry out clinical nursing practice within designated areas, working to provide high quality, evidence-based nursing assessment, care planning, intervention and evaluation. This will include: • Utilising excellent communication skills to develop a rapport to be able to provide and receive complex sensitive confidential information including distressing or emotional circumstances. • Recognising the potential barriers to communication and practicing with empathy, reassurance and understanding. • Undertaking complex comprehensive nursing assessments using analytical and judgement skills on a range of problems requiring investigation. • Collaboratively undertaking clinical risk assessments and developing and supporting personal safety plans and crisis and contingency planning with the service user, and where appropriate carers and families. • Using professional, clinical knowledge acquired through training to degree/diploma level, supplemented by specialist clinical training and current practice-based evidence to plan and organise provision of care. • Planning appropriate care and treatment interventions alongside colleagues, service users and where appropriate carers and families. • Providing specialist advice in relation to care to service users and where appropriate carers and families. • Delivering a range of psychosocially informed nursing therapies in accordance with service user’s care plans, needs and preferences. • Organising complex interventions requiring formulation of need and risk. • Demonstrating highly developed nursing skills obtained through practice, understanding the importance of accuracy and a narrow margin for error. • Demonstrating a commitment to reducing restrictive practice whilst supporting challenging behaviour and verbal aggression. • Delivery of restrictive interventions within Trust and legislative guidance, requiring a varying level of physical effort. • Administering appropriate medication within relevant Trust and legislative guidance, by different routes including injectable medicines. • Ensuring the ordering, storing and disposal of medication complies with relevant Trust and legislative guidance. • Demonstrate a working knowledge of the key elements of the relevant Mental Health Legislation. • Collaboratively evaluating the impact and effectiveness of care and working to improve these outcomes. • Supervising the practice of less experienced and newly qualified practitioners, student nurses or support worker colleagues. • Leading clinical meetings to support the service users journey through the care pathway, proactively identifying and overcoming barriers to discharge. 2. Continuing Professional Development To maintain and develop professional knowledge, skills and expertise to ensure that practice reflects best practice, remains evidence based, is current and responsive to the changing service user and NHS service needs. This will include: • Taking responsibility for post-registration education and for continuing professional development as outlined in NMC standards. • Participating in education and training opportunities. • Undertaking a thorough revalidation process in line with NMC and AWP policy. • Maintaining up to date knowledge of the relevant medicines, related medication management issues and act in accordance with the appropriate NMC standards and Trust guidance. • Abiding by the legal rules, statutory regulations and professional responsibilities relation to practice as outlined in the NMC code of conduct. • Receiving restorative clinical supervision on a regular basis in line with the Trust clinical supervision policy. • Engaging in management supervision from an identifi