Disability Support Worker

Complex Care Support Worker / Enrolled Nurse (24/7 Roster)

Provider: Able Together Australia

Location: Calwell, ACT (2905)

Position Type: Casual / Part-Time (24/7 Shift Coverage)

Gender Requirement: Female only (Specified under section 34 of the ACT Discrimination Act 1991 for personal care and dignity)

About Able Together Australia

At Able Together Australia, we specialize in delivering high-quality, participant-centered disability support services. We work with individuals facing complex clinical and behavioral challenges to ensure they receive safe, compassionate, and dignified care in their homes.

About the Role

We are seeking resilient, highly clinically experienced Support Workers or Enrolled Nurses to join a dedicated 24/7 care team for a client in Calwell living with complex clinical and behavioral needs. The client is a former registered nurse.

The participant lives with severe Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) requiring continuous oxygen therapy, experiences recurrent respiratory infections, and attends a twice-weekly community methadone program. Due to severe physical pain and cognitive/behavioral impacts associated with her condition, she experiences intense persecutory delusions, high anxiety, and active resistance to care.

This role requires a high level of professional boundary-setting, clinical vigilance, and deep emotional resilience. The client is not physically violent or cruel, but her pain and illness manifest as severe verbal volatility, distress, and accusations toward care staff.

Key Responsibilities

• Personal Care & Daily Living: Assist with showering, hygiene, dressing, and routine domestic tasks/cleaning while maintaining client dignity and independence.
• Clinical Monitoring & Oxygen Support: Oversee and monitor continuous oxygen therapy setup, recognize signs of respiratory distress or exacerbations, and adhere to strict hygiene practices to reduce infection risk.
• Behavioral Management: Manage intense persecutory delusions and verbal resistance using trauma-informed de-escalation, professional detachment, and calm validation techniques.
• Community Transport & Dosing Clinics: Drive the client to medical appointments, local community outings, and scheduled methadone program dosing visits.
• Clinical Reporting: Maintain accurate shift notes, medication records, and escalation reports in accordance with Able Together Australia protocols.

Essential Criteria

• Clinical Background: Nursing qualification (EN/RN) or Certificate IV in Disability/Aged Care with extensive complex clinical and palliative/COPD experience.
• Thick-Skinned & Resilient: Proven track record of managing severe behavioral volatility, distress-driven verbal aggression, and paranoia without personalizing or abandoning shifts.
• Oxygen & Respiratory Care Experience: Competency in managing oxygen concentrators, cylinders, nasal cannulas, and monitoring oxygen saturation.
• Substance / Program Familiarity: Experience or comfort working alongside clients on community pharmacotherapy programs (e.g., methadone).
• Driver’s License & Vehicle: Full Australian Driver's License with a clean driving record.
• Clearances: Current NDIS Worker Screening Check, Working with Vulnerable People (WWVP) ACT Card, and Police Check.

Desirable Attributes

• Strong understanding of professional care boundaries.
• Prior experience in acute respiratory care, palliative care, or forensic/mental health settings.
• Exceptional patience, composure under pressure, and an empathetic understanding of chronic pain behaviors.

Pay: $40.00 – $60.00 per hour

Expected hours: 10.0 – 60.0 per week

Work Location: In person