CAMHS Nursing Careers

Nursing Careers in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)

As a CAMHS Nurse, you also have opportunities to develop specialist skills in many therapeutic modalities. CAMHS Nurses have a strong evidence base for achieving long-term positive outcomes. Specialist therapeutic approaches widely utilised in CAMHS include:

• Neuro developmental disorders
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
• Mental health disorders
• Violence and aggression
• Depression
• Eating difficulties and disorders
• Anxiety and phobias
• Self-esteem problems
• Difficulties arising from trauma
• Obsessions and compulsions
• Relationship problems
• Sleep problems
• Self-injury and suicidal thinking

The role of the CAMHS Nurse is to develop a meaningful therapeutic relationship based on trust, acceptance and understanding. CAMHS Nurses provide specialist care while empowering the young person to identify effective means of managing their own thoughts and feelings. In this role you would work closely with families and carers providing psychoeducation, ensuring that they are equipped with the correct tools to appropriately support and manage their young people when they are experiencing difficulties.

You also have opportunities to develop specialist skills in many therapeutic modalities, CAMHS Nurses have a strong evidence base for achieving long term positive outcomes, specialist therapeutic approaches that are widely utilised in CAMHS include:

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) — A therapy that supports a child or family to work on their difficulties by learning about the connections between thoughts, behaviours, physical body responses and the impact these can have on feelings.

Family therapy — When one member of a family has a difficulty, it tends to impact on everyone in the family. Often, solving a problem or difficulty for a child or young person requires support from family members. Family Therapy helps families work together to improve relationships and support each other in finding solutions to problems resulting from mental health difficulties.

Dialectical Behavioural Treatment (DBT) — A specific type of cognitive behavioural psychotherapy that utilises a cognitive behavioural therapy approach. DBT emphasises the psychological aspects of treatment.

There are many other therapeutic approaches used to treat children and young people and we in GMMH support training and development. The key focus has been to improve standards of care for children and young people who suffer with mental health problems. Frameworks such as the Department of Health 2012 ‘Improving Children’s and Young People’s Health Outcomes; a system wide response’ have placed renewed emphasis on ensuring that young people and their families are at the centre of decision making around their care.

Proposals to engage parents, carers and pupils through partnership working have been considered, where the focus would be to normalise mental health conditions, creating a shared common acceptance of all mental health conditions and developing an understanding that experiencing mental health is part of life for us all. Teaching young people and their family’s strategies to successfully manage their thoughts, feelings, and risks brings an incredible sense of achievement for the individual and their family/carers, providing them with the correct strategies to manage any future issues that may arise. 

Nurses have the opportunity to work with someone at the start of their journey, providing evidence-based treatment and witnessing recovery and improved outcomes - the most rewarding outcome for any healthcare professional. You have the opportunity to work with someone at the start of their journey, providing evidence based treatment and witnessing recovery and improved outcomes is the most rewarding outcome.

Read about our Preceptorship programme for newly-qualified Nurses