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Be the Bridge Between Health and Safety - SAPOL Co-Responder Nurse!

Join SA Health's groundbreaking SAPOL Co-Responder Program as a RN3A Nurse Consultant, working directly with police to provide expert mental health crisis intervention in emergency situations. This unique role combines advanced nursing practice with immediate community response, offering unparalleled professional development in mental health emergency care. Make a real difference in critical moments while being part of an innovative team that's transforming how South Australia responds to mental health crises.

About the role: 

Reporting to the Nursing Director SALHN mental health Acute services, the Nurse Consultant will work with South Australia Police (SAPOL) as a secondary response team to respond to mental health related events within the community or police custodial facilities. The Nurse Consultant will conduct a mental health assessment of the consumer and triage service to inform the management and appropriate course of action to ensure the safety of the consumer and staff.

Duties for the role will include:

• Integrate contemporary information and evidence with personal experience to support the decision making, innovative thinking and objective analysis that is expected at this level e.g. Expert clinical knowledge underpins and informs their ability to support, lead and/or provide expert clinical care to improve and optimise nursing/midwifery care,
• Working alongside a SAPOL officer, perform advanced observation, assessment, and clinical decision-making skills,
• Continuous monitoring of mental state, risk and response, provide real-time acute clinical decisions in volatile situations, triage risk, make autonomous field judgements, and link consumers to community-based follow-up care,
• Use available information systems: to inform decision making, to implement and co-ordinate processes for quality improvement, to monitor and analyse incidents and accidents, to ensure quality and safety is not compromised, to evaluate outcomes and convey information to staff,
• Contribute to the development of, implementation of, and monitoring of corporate policies and processes and lead in their area of expertise,
• Provides leadership and direction, acts a role model, mentor, consultant and resource person,
• Be required in a multidisciplinary primary health care setting to apply nursing/midwifery expertise to assess clients, select and implement different therapeutic interventions and/or support programs and evaluate patient/client progress

About you:

• Registered as a Nurse by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia and who holds a current practicing certificate. Must be enrolled in an approved mental health course or hold a qualification in mental health practice,
• Effective leadership skills including highly developed skills in communication, problem solving, conflict resolution and negotiation skills,
• Demonstrated competence in the relevant area of nursing and/or midwifery practice in accordance with the relevant standards,
• Experience in the supervision of students, enrolled nurses and less experienced registered nurses and or midwives

Please see the attached Role Description for additional information.

Want To Know More? Contact: Susan McLean, Nursing Director, (08) 71175055, Susan.Mclean@sa.gov.au

Application Closing Date: 11.55 pm Monday 3rd November 2025

Attachments:

• RN3 Nurse Consultant Mental Health - SAPOL Co-Responder- Role Description
• Australian applicant guidelines
• International applicant guidelines

Applicant Information:

• We also offer salary sacrifice benefits which provide the opportunity to save money by paying for some of your everyday expenses from your salary before it is taxed. Click here to find out more about salary packaging.
• The South Australian public sector promotes diversity and flexible ways of working including part-time. Applicants are encouraged to discuss the flexible working arrangements for this role.
• Appointment will be subject to a satisfactory Criminal History Check and Immunisation compliance as indicated on the Role description.
• SA Health Services are required to implement the Addressing vaccine preventable disease: Occupational assessment, screening and vaccination policy in the workplace.
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants are encouraged to apply.  Job ref: 918679