Community Psychiatric Nurse
Company: Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust
Job ID: C9380-26-0841

The closing date is 28 October 2026

Job summary
When a service user experiences an acute mental health crisis, receiving prompt, compassionate care in their own home can transform their recovery. As a Community Psychiatric Nurse (CPN) within our North Kent Home Treatment and Rapid Response Teams, you will play a vital role in delivering recovery-focused nursing care to service users, families, and carers when they need it most.

This dynamic dual role combines hands-on crisis nursing, hospital gatekeeping, shift leadership, and student mentorship:

• Home Treatment: Deliver evidence-based, nurse-led care and psychosocial interventions directly in service users' homes, offering a safe, effective alternative to inpatient admission.
• Rapid Response: Screen new referrals via the Urgent Mental Health Helpline, conduct urgent 24/7 assessments, and carry out gatekeeping assessments across general hospital settings.
• Clinical Leadership and Mentorship: Lead shifts, co-ordinate multi-disciplinary team (MDT) workloads, maintain high documentation standards, and act as a Practice Educator to support and inspire the next generation of mental health nurses.

Please note we are unable to provide Visa sponsorship for this post.

Main duties of the job

• Assessment and Crisis Screening: Conduct holistic nursing assessments for newly referred service users in acute distress, delivering targeted, short-term interventions to help resolve crises safely.
• Shift Co-ordination and MDT Leadership: Act as shift co-ordinator, managing fast-changing priorities, delegating effectively across the multi-disciplinary team, and keeping clinical operations running smoothly.
• Hospital Gatekeeping and Liaison: Complete gatekeeping assessments in general hospital settings to ensure individuals are guided onto the most appropriate care pathway without delay.
• Quality and Clinical Documentation: Maintain clear, up-to-date care plans and risk assessments in line with Trust policies, Care Programme Approach (CPA) guidelines, and Quality Improvement standards.
• Practice Education and Mentorship: Supervise nursing students on placement as a Practice Educator, completing formal assessments and delivering welcoming team inductions.
• Service Development: Help design and deliver specialist in-service training packages to support continuous team learning and professional growth.

About us
We are Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust. We care for the mental health and wellbeing of people across Kent and Medway.

Our teams support children, young people and adults with a wide range of mental health needs. We also provide specialist services, including all-age eating disorder services and neurodevelopmental assessments for children and young people, such as autism and ADHD.

Because we work across the whole county and across hospital and community settings, we can make care more joined up and easier to access for the people we serve.

Our vision is simple: we are here to help communities not just live with mental illness, but live well. It is why we are passionate about working with communities to make mental health care better for everyone. Everything we do is guided by our values: caring, inclusive, curious and confident.

Join us if you share our passion for better mental health care and want to be part of a team that is working well together.

Details
Date posted: 14 October 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 6
Salary: £39,959 to £48,117 a year per annum
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 380-NK307
Job location: Medway Maritime Hospital, Windmill Rd, Gillingham, ME7 5NY, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities
Please see the attached Job description for further details for full detailed responsibilities of this role.

The post holder must hold a full, valid, UK driving licence and have access to a car/vehicle to use for business purposes, unless you have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010.

Person Specification
Training, Qualifications and Registration
Essential

• Registration with relevant regulatory body: The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
• The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) o Mentor (998 course or equivalent) / Practice Educator.

Desirable

• Further training relevant to the role

Experience
Essential

• Minimum of 2 years post registration experience.
• Experience of prioritising casework and allocation/delegation of tasks to others.
• Experience of liaising with a variety of stakeholders both internal and external to organisations.

Desirable

• Experience of clinical audit and research.
• Experience of leading service developments.

Knowledge and Skills
Essential

• Knowledge of and ability to apply relevant legislative frameworks and policies relating to care, e.g. Care programme approach, Mental Capacity Act, Safeguarding, Consent to Treatment.
• An understanding and ability to apply principles of risk assessment and risk management.
• Understanding of the impact of mental health crisis on lifestyle and function for clients, family and carers and common pharmacological and psychosocial treatments.
• Ability to maintain a high degree of professionalism at all times, especially in complex/challenging situations.
• Ability to work autonomously and cooperatively as part of an interprofessional team.

Desirable

• Training and presentation/facilitation skills.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.

Employer details
Employer name: Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust
Address: Medway Maritime Hospital, Windmill Rd, Gillingham, ME7 5NY, United Kingdom
Employer's website: https://www.kentmedwaymentalhealth.nhs.uk

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact: Clinical Manager, Andrew Fullagar, andrew.fullagar@nhs.net, 01227666188

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