Care Taker/ Counsellor Job in Blue Care, Australia

We’re looking for someone who wants to make the world a little better through small moments that leave big impacts. To build meaningful relationships and make a difference in the lives of others. An integral part of our team at The Wesley Hospital as a Counsellor – Palliative Care, you’ll be encouraged to grow, develop and feel empowered to make the everyday easier for the people we care so passionately about.

Your part in The Wesley Hospital team

This role is essential to ensure that comprehensive, co-ordinated care is provided to patients and their families in the palliative care setting. A diverse role, you will:

• Work closely with multidisciplinary teams to provide best care and support for the patient and family
• Work collaboratively with relevant professionals and refer to appropriate experts when required.
• Collaborate and communicate with mental health professionals to promote patients’ self-determination and well being
• Contribute to the development and implementation of team and organizational objectives in quality emotional care
• Attend weekly multidisciplinary palliative care meeting
• Assist palliative care patients to explore physical, psychosocial, or spiritual issues
• Provide safe, evidence-based counselling support to patients and relatives, who are distressed because of hospitalization, diagnosis, or treatment
• Provide information on social supports and resources to patients and families
• Advocate for patients and family’s needs by collaborating with other health professionals while respecting culture, values, beliefs & spirituality

What makes a difference for us

• Tertiary qualification in Social Work, Psychology, Nursing or Counselling
• Advanced knowledge, skills and experience in counselling and palliative care and/or cancer care which promotes optimal patient outcomes
• Effective use of knowledge of evidence based and counselling theories particularly regarding grief and loss, in empowering patients with a terminal illness, promoting their dignity at the end of life.
• Understanding VAD legislation, and ability to support and counsel patients and families
• Management of distress, poor coping, PTSD skills
• Experience effectively assessing patients’ needs and level of risk
• Advanced skills in therapeutic & assertive communication
• Experience effectively exchanging information regarding patient responses in counselling care
• Ability to exercise authority through appropriate decision making
• Experience with bereavement counselling

What makes a difference for you

The Wesley Hospital is one of Australia’s iconic and largest private not-for-profit hospitals, caring for you for life. From the heart of Brisbane more than 800 Visiting Medical Practitioners and 2,000 staff deliver personalized care through life’s journey for generations of Queenslanders.

• Flexible work arrangements to support work-life balance
• Save tax and increase your take home pay by salary packaging your everyday living expenses and bills (up to $15,900) and meal entertainment (up to $2,650) per annum
• Subsidised On-Site Parking
• A recognition and rewards platform, providing employee discounts at hundreds of retailers, including everyday expenses, holidays, health insurance, a wellbeing program and employee assistance program
• A positive and inclusive team based on respect, shared standards, strong values and a commitment to serving others
• 12 weeks paid parental leave and 2 weeks paid partner leave, available after 6 months service, in addition to the government scheme
• Diversity and inclusive leave, offering paid gender affirmation leave and cultural leave options (paid and unpaid) for those who may celebrate Lunar New Year, Diwali, Ramadan, NAIDOC weeks and other significant cultural events
• Professional development, through Graduate Certificates, skills development courses, bursaries, grants and partnerships with leading Universities (Hospitals).
• Career development opportunities to challenge yourself, grow and make a meaningful difference.
• The Wesley Hospital is proudly part of the UnitingCare family, we’d love you to be too.

At the Wesley Hospital, we offer comprehensive care across a wide range of acute tertiary-level medical and surgical services with a particular focus on cancer care, cardiac care, women’s and children’s care, and complex surgical care. This includes the busiest robotic surgery program and the first Robotic Surgery Centre of Excellence accredited in Australia.

Joining the Wesley Hospital, you’ll also be welcomed as part of the UnitingCare family. The second-largest Queensland employer, we’re a proud not-for-profit with more than 16,500 staff and 9,000 volunteers across our brands of BlueCare, Lifeline, ARRCS, The Wesley Hospital, Buderim Private Hospital, St Stephen’s Hospital, and St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital, and have been leading by example for more than 100 years. Our team are compassionate, inclusive and committed to the work we do, helping people live life in all its fullness.

Diversity & Inclusion

Our approach is simple –everybody is welcome here. At UnitingCare, diversity is at the core of our who we are, our mission and our values. We are committed to providing equal opportunities to all employees no matter their sex, race, culture, sexual orientation, disability or gender identity. Demonstrating our commitment to reconciliation and building long-term employment opportunities for First Nations peoples, UnitingCare strongly encourages Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants for this position. Learn more about Diversity & Inclusion at UnitingCare: https://www.unitingcareqld.com.au/about-us/who-we-are/diversity-and-inclusion

Safe workplace

We work hard to make our services welcoming and safe for every person. We are united in keeping children, young people and the elderly safe from harm, within our services, workplaces and the communities we support. We are committed to speaking up loudly for their safety.