Junior Social Workers

Join a supportive, talented and growing team of social workers who celebrate diversity and innovative practice!

The Department of Social Work and Psychology at North Canberra Hospital is looking for HP2 Social Workers to join a team of HP1-5 social workers, a social work assistant, psychologists and Aboriginal Liaison Officers 

What can we offer you: 

• City living without the traffic – click here to see why you should live in Canberra.
• Competitive pay rates and excellent working conditions.
• Salary Packaging with many options that provide full fringe benefits tax concessions.
• Flexible working conditions.
• 11.5% Superannuation. 

 About the Hospital:

North Canberra Hospital (formerly Calvary Public Hospital Bruce) and Clare Holland House are now run and operated by Canberra Health Services (CHS)

This is a significant milestone as the ACT Government moves towards delivering a new billion-dollar hospital on Canberra’s Northside.

The current North Canberra Hospital is a level 4 hospital that provides a range of acute and sub-acute services including community based care to the residents of the northside of Canberra and Southern NSW.  North Canberra Hospital (NCH) is a 270 public hospital located in Canberra’s expanding northside. North Canberra Hospital operates a 24 hour Emergency Department. Inpatient services include general medicine, surgery, maternity, mental health and critical care.

Other service modalities include day surgery, specialist outpatient clinics, Hospital in the Home and the Geriatric Rapid Acute Care Evaluation service that reaches into aged care facilities across the ACT.

The new Northside Hospital will be built on the existing Calvary Hospital campus in Bruce. It will be a modern, state-of-the-art hospital for patients, visitors and its workforce and will provide more beds and increased services. Until then, it’s business as usual at the NCH, and we’ll keep providing high-quality care to our patients and community.

About the role:

HP2 Social Workers at North Canberra Hospital are employed under generalist positions and are supported to develop expertise with a robust program of professional development, group and individual supervision and rotations to area of interest in the hospital and at Clare Holland House.

Social Work within Allied Health, North Canberra Hospital, provides services to a range of clients in the Emergency Department, acute inpatient and specialised outpatient settings. Our social workers work closely with patients, carers, referrers, other health professionals and multidisciplinary teams to achieve safe, high quality patient care.

Social workers play a key role in the multidisciplinary management of patients across the care continuum. This position works in collaboration with the social work and multidisciplinary team to deliver services, supporting patient flow and maximising patient outcomes. At North Canberra Hospital our staff have a strong sense of ‘Being for Others’ and you will play a key role in the support of patients, families and colleagues including members of the multidisciplinary team.

All social work staff have access to professional supervision as well as group supervision and education through workshops, interest groups, 1: 1 mentoring with a Senior Clinician and regular internal and external professional development opportunities. All social workers in the Department attend the Donate Life Introductory Donation Awareness Training (IDAT) Workshop, Palliative Care Education through PEPA and External Domestic and Family Violence Training as part of their orientation to hospital social work. We are committed to ensuring our staff receive the support they need to become confident and capable practitioners.

You will be required to participate in restricted on-call rosters.

A merit pool will be developed from this round and may be used to fill vacancies which occur over the next 12 months. 

Under limited direction of the HP3 Senior Social Workers and the Director of Social Work/ Social Work Team Leaders you will perform clinical social work duties at North Canberra Hospital. You will:

• Provide appropriate skilled clinical assessment and psychosocial interventions across a range of clinical areas, including individual and group work to consumers and carers.
• Exercise independent professional judgment on routine matters and perform novel and complex or critical tasks under professional supervision, decreasing as expertise increases.
• Liaise with patients, carers and service providers, to enhance and improve clinical outcomes and develop partnerships for health promotion and other service activities identified in the business plan.
• Actively contribute to the supervision and education of staff and students. Actively participate in supervision, continuing professional development and performance management.
• Actively contribute to the implementation of clinical governance activity, quality improvement projects, research programs and health promotion in areas relevant to service.
• Actively participate in team meetings, complete clinical and administrative data collection and case records to a consistent high standard.
• Practice in accordance with the professional body’s code of conduct, practice standards and organisational guidelines and legislative requirements.
• Undertake other duties appropriate to this level of classification which contribute to the operation of the organisation.

ABOUT YOU

North Canberra Hospital is committed to workforce diversity and to creating an inclusive workplace. As part of this commitment, we welcome applications from all diversity groups. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people with disability and people who identify as LGBTQIA+ are particularly encouraged to apply. 

Mandatory:

• Relevant tertiary qualifications and a minimum of 1 years’ experience working professionally in Social Work.
• Degree in Social Work (or equivalent).
• Professional membership or eligibility for professional membership of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW)
• The successful applicant will need to be available for weekend and after-hours work on a roster and will be required to work shutdown.
• CHS is leading the drive to digitally transform health service delivery in Australia through the implementation of a territory wide Digital Health Record. Computer literacy skills are required which are relevant to this role as you will be responsible for completing required documentation and becoming a proficient user of the Digital Health Record and/or other Information Technology systems; once proficient, you will need to remain current with changes, updates and contingencies.

Highly Desirable:

• Have an understanding of how the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) indicators align with this role.
• Drivers licence
• Fulfil the responsibilities of this role in alignment to the CHS Exceptional Care Framework, Clinical Governance Framework, Partnering With Consumers Framework and all other related frameworks.

 Please note prior to commencement successful candidates will be required to:

• Undergo a pre-employment National Police Check.
• Prior to commencing this role, a current registration issued under the Working with Vulnerable – People (Background Checking) Act 2011 is required.
• Comply with Canberra Health Services Occupational Assessment, Screening and Vaccination policy.
• Comply with CHS credentialing and scope of clinical practice requirements for allied health professionals.

How to apply

Applications must be submitted by clicking ‘Apply Now’;

• Applications must include a copy of a current CV and details for at least 2 professional referees. 1 of your referees must be a current or former line manager, AND
• A pitch (750 words) describing your areas of interest within the acute hospital setting and responding to the following 3 questions is required.  You should take into consideration the selection criteria (below) when drafting your response.
  • Describe a time where you needed to help someone to achieve a goal. (Maximum 250 words) (SC1, 2, 3, 5). In your answer, please ensure you address the following: What was the goal and what your role to the person? How did you overcome any difficulties or challenges? With the benefit of hindsight, would you have anything differently?
  • Describe the steps you have taken so far to develop your cultural competence to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and your plan for ongoing development (maximum 250 words) (SC 1, 2, 3, 5) In your answer, please ensure you address the following: What formal learning opportunities have you engaged with? How do you apply your knowledge in your practice? How do you evaluate the effectiveness of your practice?
  • Working in the Helping professions can impact us personally and professionally. What is your approach to managing the risks of burn out and compassion fatigue? (SC 2, 3, 4, 5)

To be eligible for permanent employment within the ACT Public Service you must be an Australian citizen or a permanent resident

WHAT YOU REQUIRE

These are the key selection criteria for how you will be assessed in conjunction with your resume and experience. 

• Proven knowledge of and ability to provide assessment, counselling and care planning interventions which are responsive to patient needs in a healthcare setting.
• Proven effective communication skills, both written and verbal, with an ability to communicate sensitively with patients and colleagues and work effectively with hospital and community-based stakeholders. 
• Demonstrated ability to work within multidisciplinary team/s and prioritise workload according to clinical indicators, risk management frameworks and organisational requirements.
• Demonstrated ability to participate in professional supervision, performance management, continuing professional development and assist in the education of students.
• Demonstrates understanding of, and adherence to, safety and quality standards, work, health and safety (WH&S) and the positive patient experience. Displays behaviour consistent with CHS’s values of reliable, progressive, respectful and kind.

If you would like further information regarding this opportunity, please contact Felicity Hamilton, [email protected] using the subject line: Junior Social Workers enquiry via EthicalJobs.

A merit pool will be established from this recruitment process and will be used for the next 12 months to fill various positions both on a temporary and permanent basis with full-time and part-time opportunities available.

If you are an Australian citizen or permanent resident and are interested in temporary roles please note this in your cover letter