About Menzies:
As one of Australia’s leading medical research institutes dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of Indigenous Australians, and a leader in global and tropical research into life-threatening illnesses, Menzies School of Health Research continues to translate its research into effective partnerships and programs in communities across Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.
About the position:
The NT Primary Healthcare Network has the highest prevalence of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in Australia at 1.86% but the second lowest proportion of people who have received treatment at 10.2%. The reasons for the low treatment uptake are multifactorial including: remoteness, high levels of both staff turnover and transiency of the patient population as well as a lack of human resources. By increasing the availability of specialized nurses and support workers in drop-in clinics and at GP services we envisage an uptake of services and treatment.
The Senior Clinical Community Nurse will provide expertise in clinical nursing care and consultancy to enable access to treatment without visiting the hospital. This will be done by expanding and building on the Northern Territory AIDS and hepatitis council Needle Syringe Program outreach clinic. Our goal is to include more regular clinics and dedicated peer support, commencement of community nurse assisted prescribing in GP practices and Aboriginal Medical Services in Darwin, Alice Springs and regional areas, and by complementing the current prison telehealth service with community nursing support. Evaluation and ongoing improvement of the program will be part of the role. This position is employed by Menzies however will also have an honorary contract with Top End Health Service and will work closely with the existing viral hepatitis clinical service team.
The Senior Clinical Community Nurse will complement current services with visits to enable face to face education to both staff and patients as well as enabling fibroscans® to occur when needed. The Nurse will also help improve transition of care to the community on release from prison, thereby reducing loss of follow-up for prisoners who have commenced treatment.
This position is based in Darwin and may require some travel (by light Aircraft or 4WD) to regional and remote locations throughout the NT on an as needs basis.
Does this sound like you?
The successful applicant will have:
For more information please contact Melita McKinnon on 08 8946 8659 or melita.mckinnon@menzies.edu.au
What we offer:
Closing date: 24 January 2021
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people are strongly encouraged to apply.
Applicants are required to address the selection criteria. For information on how to apply for this position and to obtain the Position Description and Selection Criteria please visit http://careers.menzies.edu.au/ or phone 08 8946 8626.