About Phoebe House

Phoebe House would like to acknowledge that we work on the lands of Gweagal, Bidjigal and Gadigal people of the Dharawal and Eora Nations, and would like to extend our respect to the elder’s past and present for their care of the land and the waterways from which our service operates.

Phoebe House is a not-for-profit organisation that provides a safe and supportive residential drug rehabilitation service specialising in pregnant and post-natal women. It was established in 1984 in recognition that women with young children, who are on an opioid treatment program, require specialised support and assistance to stabilise and maintain their treatment and ongoing recovery. During its history, Phoebe House has led the way in introducing a total life-style approach to reducing the harm associated with drug use. 

Today, our focus is on the self-determination of residents while embracing a holistic vision that includes their cultural identity, understanding parenting capacity, improving positive community and family engagement and addressing mental health needs. The program provides individual counselling and case management for up to nine women within our Safety Management or ‘harm reduction’ framework.  In addition, we offer day-to-day care for up to six children that centres on age-appropriate play and development.  Phoebe House has an in-house, evidence-based group therapy program among other specialised life skill and psychoeducation programs.   

About our team

We are a small, highly committed team who value social justice principles and work within a feminist framework for practice. We provided a specialised service and do this with best practice outcomes for the women and children that we support.

About you

We are looking for people who are passionate about empowering and supporting women who have been impacted by substance use, and who are open-minded & empathetic towards women aspiring to long term recovery. We are also seeking someone who is willing to work with highly vulnerable families and children who have diverse and significant needs. Do you want to work with a collaborative and supportive team who value a woman’s right to self-determination and autonomy and work with their wonderful families. Sound like you? Come join our team!

The Opportunity

As our dedicated nursing consultant you’ll work directly with women and children as they progress through their residential treatment by managing the women and children’s medication and health needs, providing direct care and treatment as well education to the residents and the wider team. You will have the opportunity to work within a dynamic team who flexibly yet, comprehensively support the individuals with their journey. The skills and experiences of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander will be particularly valued. Additionally, we are committed to providing opportunity for all and want to hear from people who have a lived experience and are willing and capable of supporting women and children.

Conditions of Employment

• Nurses Award
• Attractive and competitive salary (example: CNS Grade 2)
• $15,998 charity workers taxation concession available (inclusive of salary)
• 12-month Fixed Term Contract
• Hours negotiable and flexible, however, 0.4 FTE, 7.6hrs/day. Weekdays preferred. There may be a requirement to on occasion work evening and weekend work within a flexible arrangement for this to increase dependent on organisational need.
• Award allowances for on-call/ afternoon/ sleepover/ weekend/ public holiday shifts

Selection Criteria

• Current Nursing registration held as the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (AHPRA), and relevant postgraduate qualifications related to the specialty of women, children and families, with at least 3 years recent clinical experience working in this field or other qualifications or equivalent experience deemed appropriate,
• Experience working in Drug and Alcohol and/or Mental Health, with knowledge in Opioid pharmacotherapy, trauma informed and harm minimisation/safety management practice,
• Highly developed written and verbal communication skills with strong interpersonal and problem-solving capabilities and computer literacy skills,
• Ability to work independently and in a multi-disciplinary team,
• Current unrestricted driver’s licence,
• Clear Working with Children’s Check,
• Applicant to be compliant with DTPA vaccinations and primary course of a COVID-19 vaccination and provide evidence of vaccination.

Desirable:

• Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander applicants welcomed and preferred.
• Baby/Child Health Nurse or Midwife applicants welcomed and preferred.

Responsibilities

• Healthcare Support: You will be responsible for assessing and overseeing the holistic healthcare needs of residents and their children at Phoebe House. This includes (but is not limited to) addressing opiate medication needs, overseeing the prescribed and PRN medications for the health and wellness of our residents, and working closely with staff and residents and external stakeholders in the safe medical withdrawal of newborns who have been exposed to substances in pregnancy. You may also be required to provide clinical advice to residents and their families residing at Phoebe House on complex healthcare needs.
• Women and Children’s Support: In collaboration with your colleagues, you will ensure residents and children are the recipients of self-determined, appropriate, and collaborative care that focuses on emotional, mental, and physical support from trauma informed, safety management and recovery-oriented approaches, that incorporates a range of treatment models and that is needs based dependent on situation. Your responsibility will be to provide expert resident-centred consultancy surrounding their health needs. You may be required to conduct a variety of assessments relevant to the health needs of women and children in program, while exercising professional and ethical considerations.
• Teamwork: You will provide supported and holistic care and treatment (during intake, within-program, and post-program) alongside a multidisciplinary team from a trauma-informed and safety management perspective (harm minimisation approach) with effective communication for residents and children about complex clinical issues. You will also be required to participate in clinical meetings addressing concerns for residents and children while also acting as a resource or education point for the wider team within your nursing scope of practice.
• Cultural Safety: You will work in culturally appropriate ways to recognise the unique cultural needs of the women and children we support as well as liaise with and maintain significant, culturally appropriate, and relevant partnerships with external stakeholders. 
• Quality Improvement Project: You will be responsible for managing the projects relevant to the role, including but not limited to, facilitating improvements in our pregnancy program and evaluating the efficacy and longevity of this specific role of a nurse in our residential drug and alcohol setting. You will also be responsible for ensuring a commitment to continuous quality improvement as an organisation.
• External Stakeholder Liaison: You will be responsible for liaising and collaborating with external stakeholder s as relevant to the role but not limited to St George Drug and Alcohol Services, SUPPS services, Department of Communities and Justice, etc.
• Professional Development: You will have the opportunity to engage in professional development and relevant training opportunities while also maintaining the requirements of the relevant qualification/discipline and that legislation, principles, and guidelines are upheld (including but not limited to the Phoebe House HR Management, Code of Conduct and Confidentiality Agreement, mandatory certificates, WWCC, mandatory reporting, etc.). You will also be required to participate in clinical supervision (externally or internally).
• Administrative Duties:While much of the role is resident/child-facing, you will also be required to complete clinical documentation relevant to residents and their children as well as participating in team meetings, training days, auditing processes, among others, such as auditing and evaluation.
• WHS: You must take all reasonable care of yourself and others, while complying with reasonable instruction, policies, procedures and training relating to work, health and safety, including identifying any safety incidents, injury, hazards, risks, concerns or unsafe behaviour to the manager and reporting these in our internal incident management system as guided by our risk management processes.

Additions

• Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander applicants preferred
• Early Childhood experience preferred
• Alcohol and Other Drug experience preferred
• Female identified role
• Reporting to Manager and Clinical Director