When our service users leave our sites to continue their recovery journey, it's vital that we offer support. Our Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Team help our users transition and provide support in treatment in a Community setting. We spoke to Jason Linskey, a Community Mental Health Nurse at the trust, about his role and the importance of taking notes.
Tell me a bit about your role.
I work as a community Mental health Nurse for the Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Team in Hastings and Rother. We work with people intensively, short term, to help stabilize people's mental health, plan care and also support certain service users leaving mental health hospitals on discharge if they require help with this transition.
What is a typical day in your Community Mental Health Nurse role?
I get into the office and make myself a cup of tea. Then, I join my team handover for approximately an hour, where we discuss our team caseload, referrals, risks and treatment plans. I'm allocated appointments for the day, which are often pre-planned and see service users in the community and, on occasion, at Woodlands, depending on risk and the preference of the service user. In this role as a band 6 nurse, I also operate one day a week as our shift co / Ordinator taking and screening new referrals and supporting our staff and clients remotely from our office.
What would you say makes your role different from any other at the trust?
We have to plan and respond to sometimes complex situations in a short space of time but are well supported in this. Our day can change quickly due to risk prioritizing, but we adapt well to this within the team. Our assessments and Discharges from CRHT are often Nurse/OT led (however, we do have access to a speciality doctor and consultant if advice is needed). There are also significant pay benefits with us at times working unsociable hours and weekends.
In your role, you work within the Hastings Community. Do you find that to give our service users the best chance of success, we need to provide a supportive community setting?
Absolutely. Rapport and trust with clients in the community is really important. Preparation and gathering knowledge about the persons' history and current needs are also very important. I have worked for the team for 7 years and the vast majority of our clients Recover & leave our service safer to continue their Recovery and this is very rewarding. It's why I still do the job and plan to hopefully continue working for the team long term.
Why is working at Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust different from any other place?
My managers are very knowledgeable and supportive. I work with some excellent doctors. We aim to work to a really high standard to keep people safe and improve people's mental health.
If you could go back in time and tell yourself one thing on your first day, what would it be?
Only one thing is difficult! But it would be to keep a list of things that help your working day and look at this before each shift (taking breaks, not rushing into situations, looking for positives in challenging situations, utilising your colleagues' skills and opinions, etc.)
To find out more about our Community Mental Health Nurse role click here