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Work for us
Opportunities for nurses
We provide comprehensive community-based health and social care services for people with mental health problems living in Kingston, Merton, Richmond, Sutton and Wandsworth together with a range of specialist mental health services for people living in London, the South East of England and throughout the United Kingdom.
Our extensive range of services offer our nurses the opportunity to work in a wide range of specialties:
- Eating disorders
- Older people
- Child and adolescent mental health services
- Forensic nursing
- Psychiatric intensive care
- Cognitive behavioural psychotherapy
- Psychosocial interventions
- Addictions
- Liaison psychiatry
- Deaf services
- Personality disorders
- Learning disabilities
- Rehabilitation
- Psychotherapy
- Community teams:
- crisis intervention
- home treatment
- early intervention
- assertive outreach
Vacancies
For up-to-date information on job opportunities, please see our current vacancies (on the NHS Jobs website).
Job satisfaction
We have significantly improved our recruitment and retention position for nurses over the last three years and strive to offer a positive working environment where nurses can develop a rewarding and satisfying career.
We are also in the process of improving our inpatient accommodation on all sites and there is a significant capital development programme underway to provide the best possible environment for service users and staff.
Training opportunities
Staff training
The 2006 NHS staff survey showed that 90 per cent of our staff accessed educational training in the past year. As a Trust, we promote the development of our staff and aim to offer them multi-disciplinary skills.
We have close links with Kingston University and St George’s University of London Joint Faculty who offer our staff a continued professional development programme which allows individuals to reach their full potential while ensuring that staff are equipped with the skills to meet the demands of service users.
Undergraduate programme
- Top-up “degree” programme
Those who have obtained a diploma in nursing can gain a degree-level qualification if they complete 3 modules at level 3 - Diploma of higher education in mental health nursing
Healthcare assistants can take part in a 3-year programme so that they can become registered as a mental health nurse.
All the courses are taught in modules, allowing students to build credits towards an academic award or degree. For more information see the information about Continuing Professional Development on the Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences website.
Personal professional development programme
- Leadership at point of care
We offer a 3-day course training our nurses how to take on projects examining the provision of our services.
Pre-registration nursing programme
The Trust maintains strong links with local, national and international universities. Most of our student nurses study at Kingston University and the medical school at St George’s, University of London. We also have links with a wide range of other higher education institutions, for example South Bank University, City University in London, Brighton University, University of Ulster, University of Ontario in Western Australia, Royal College of Nursing Institute in Oxford and Belfast and Trinity College in Dublin. In addition, staff at the Trust contribute to the educational programme and teaching at the following international universities: the University of Turku in Finland, The University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa.
Masters’ degrees and PhDs
Local universities offer nurses the opportunity to gain an MSc or PhD while they are working. Trust employees may be able to apply for funding and time off to complete the course.
- MSc in Rehabilitation (part-time)
The Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences at St George's, University of London and Kingston University are offering a new modular MSc in Rehabilitation commencing in September 2003. This is a specialist interprofessional MSc programme aimed at advanced rehabilitation practitioners working in a variety of fields. Participants will be offered the opportunity to acquire the skills necessary for critical enquiry and appreciation of the underlying theory and research into health and social care practice.
Find out more on the Faculty website >>
Research opportunities
The Trust recognises the importance of research for a variety of reasons such as enhancing the user and carer experience and contributing to the wider academic and scientific community. We provide research training for all interested staff and are committed to developing multidisciplinary research. As well as organising regular research seminars, postgraduate research qualifications are also available to staff.
