We are looking for social pedagogues for the new acute forensic-psychiatric inpatient ward R2 at Aarhus University Hospital in Skejby

On April 1, 2027, we open the Forensic Psychiatric Sleep Unit R2 – a completely new acute forensic psychiatric Sleep Unit.

Therefore we are looking for social educators who not only want a new job but also want to help create a new workplace.

As one of the first employees at R2 you will have the opportunity to influence the unit's culture, workflows and pedagogical practice. Together we shall build a highly specialized treatment environment where pedagogy, relationships, structure, development and safety go hand in hand.

As a social educator you contribute an independent professional perspective. You do not need to be health care trained – you must be strong in your pedagogical professional skills and able to translate it into work with people with complex psychological, social and functional issues.

You do not need to have experience from forensic psychiatry. The most important is that you are professionally curious, can build professional relationships and want to work in an environment where pedagogical professionalism is an important part of the overall treatment.

A new acute forensic psychiatric unit

R2 will be one of the two acute assessment and treatment units in the Forensic Psychiatric Department and will be located in Building L in Skejby on the same floor as the existing acute Sleep Unit R1.

The unit will among other things

• Assess and treat detainee surrogate patients
• Patients in detention who are not covered by letter and visiting controls
• Treatment and stabilization of particularly challenging and complex patients after agreement with general psychiatry

In R2 you will become part of a highly specialized multidisciplinary environment.

As a social educator you will have a central role in working with patients' daily lives, structure, relationships, activities, coping and development.

You will help create R2

When opening a new ward, not everything is given in advance.

We see this as an opportunity.

As an employee at R2 you will have a real opportunity to contribute to the development of the unit's culture, workflows and pedagogical approach.

We want to create a workplace characterized by high professionalism, clarity, curiosity, reflection and a strong interdisciplinary community.

Here different professionalities should not resemble each other.

On the contrary.

We want nurses, social and health care assistants, social educators and other professional groups to contribute with their own professional perspectives.

As a social educator you should therefore be able to stand clearly in your own professional field while also being curious about how it is brought into play together with other professions.

Your pedagogical role at R2

As a social educator you will among other things

• Be the contact person for 2-3 patients and participate in a fixed multidisciplinary team around the patient
• Plan, implement and evaluate pedagogical and milieu-therapeutic interventions based on the patient’s resources, needs and goals
• Work purposefully with structure, predictability and coherence in the patients' daily life
• Build and maintain professional relationships that support development, coping and recovery
• Use activities, social interaction and everyday situations as active pedagogical tools
• Work with motivation, participation and the patient’s ability to gradually take more responsibility for their own daily life
• Contribute with systematic observations of the patient’s well-being, behavior, social functioning and level of functioning
• Document your observations and pedagogical interventions and contribute to treatment plans in close collaboration with the multidisciplinary team
• Reflect on, adjust and evaluate the pedagogical and milieu-therapeutic interventions
• Actively contribute to the development of R2’s pedagogical practice, culture and interdisciplinary collaboration
• Participate in the department’s safety readiness and take part in alarm runs to the other forensic psychiatric units
• Actively contribute to a positive educational environment and function as daily supervisor for, among other things, student social educators

Your pedagogical professionalism is especially important in the many situations that lie between the formal treatment activities.

It can be during meals, the walk, the activity, the conversation, the conflict or the quiet moment in the shared environment.

Here your ability to observe, create structure, form relationships, motivate and work developmentally is a significant part of the treatment environment.

Pedagogy in a forensic psychiatric context

Forensic psychiatry imposes particular requirements on pedagogical work. The relationship is important, but the relationship must always be professional.

You must be able to be present and at the same time clear. You must be able to work with motivation without taking over responsibility. And you must be able to create structure and predictability without losing sight of the individual person.

We work with patients where mental illness, social problems, cognitive difficulties and complex life courses can affect their ability to cope with everyday life.

Here your pedagogical professionalism can make a concrete difference.

It can for example be through

• relational pedagogy
• milieu-therapeutic work
• structure and visualization
• motivation work
• recovery-oriented practice
• rehabilitation
• social training
• activity and participation
• de-escalation
• professional boundary setting
• reflection on behavior, functioning and interaction

We do not emphasize that you already master all areas. We emphasize that you can actively bring your basic pedagogical knowledge into play and are eager to develop it in a forensic psychiatric context.

You do not need to know forensic psychiatry beforehand

Forensic psychiatry is a specialized area. Therefore we prioritize your introduction highly.

You will receive a thorough introduction program and competence development including, among other things, forensic psychiatry, de-escalation and Fundamentals of Care.

Fundamentals of Care is the department’s common frame of reference for care and treatment. As a social educator you are not expected to be health care trained, but you will be introduced to the framework and how your pedagogical professionalism enters into the overall multidisciplinary effort.

If you start before March 1, 2027, you will start in one of the Forensic Psychiatric Department’s existing wards. Here you will have the opportunity to learn the specialty, patient group, treatment, safety and daily life in the specialty.

From March 1, 2027, the introduction will be targeted to work in an acute forensic psychiatric ward before we collectively open the doors to R2 on April 1, 2027.

Who are you?

We are looking for you who

• Are educated as a social educator
• Have a clear pedagogical professional identity and can argue professionally for your observations and interventions
• Are interested in relational work, milieu therapy, recovery and rehabilitation
• Can work purposefully with structure, motivation and development in the patient’s daily life
• Are responsible, professionally curious and self-reflective
• Can work independently while thriving in a close interdisciplinary collaboration
• Can create professional relationships while setting clear and respectful boundaries
• Communicate clearly and constructively
• Have an interest in safety-oriented work
• Can maintain calm, overview and professional reflection in complex situations
• Wish for ongoing professional development
• Wish to actively contribute to the development of a completely new acute Sleep Unit

Remember to attach documentation of your social educator education when you apply.

Do you have special pedagogical competences?

When we establish a completely new unit, we also need to build a number of key professional functions and competence areas.

If you have particular experience with for example

• Milieu therapy
• Recovery and rehabilitation
• Neuropedagogy
• Cognitive or structuring pedagogical methods
• De-escalation
• Activity and occupation
• Substance abuse issues
• Social skills training
• Supervision of students
• Quality and professional development

we would very much like to hear about it in your application, but it is not a prerequisite for applying for the position.

We are interested in different pedagogical profiles and in what you can contribute to the upcoming R2.

If you would like to take on a particular professional function in the future, we would also like to hear about that.

What do we offer?

With us you get

• A unique opportunity to help establish a completely new acute forensic psychiatric Sleep Unit
• A real opportunity to influence the unit’s pedagogical practice, culture and workflows from the start
• A professional environment where your pedagogical education and your perspective have autonomous value
• Thorough introduction program and mentor system
• Competence development in forensic psychiatry, de-escalation and milieu therapy
• A highly specialized and multidisciplinary work environment
• Supervision and reflection forums
• Good opportunities for professional development
• 3-4 annual competence days
• Opportunity to influence your own shift schedule taking operational considerations into account

We work with safety in mind and view a high level of safety as a prerequisite for the pedagogical and therapeutic work to unfold in a safe environment for both patients and staff.

Practical about the position

The position is basically 37 hours per week or as agreed.

The position involves mixed shifts, with 2-shift coverage aimed for, and you have the opportunity to influence your own schedule considering operations.

Hiring no later than March 1, but there is an option to start as soon as possible.

If you take up the position before March 1, 2027 you will join one of the Forensic Psychiatric Department’s existing wards until March 1, 2027, where targeted introduction to work in the acute forensic psychiatric Sleep Unit begins. The R2 unit opens on April 1, 2027.

Interviews are conducted on an ongoing basis.

If you have questions about the position, you are very welcome to contact

Head Nurse of the current R2, Yasmine Hassan

[email protected] / +45 7847 2550

About the Forensic Psychiatric Department

Based on Region Midtjylland’s values, our ambition is to create an open and respectful dialogue with patients, relatives, collaborators and staff.

We strive for high professional quality and a culture that promotes development, learning and interdisciplinary collaboration.

At the Forensic Psychiatric Department we work from Fundamentals of Care as a common reference framework for care and treatment.

In the interdisciplinary collaboration, the individual professions contribute with different professional perspectives. For the social educator, it is especially the pedagogical understanding of relationships, daily life, functioning, structure, activity, coping and development that is brought into the overall treatment.

We believe that strong professional relationships, clear professional identities and close interdisciplinary collaboration create the best conditions for good patient trajectories – also in a forensic psychiatric context where safety is an integrated part of the treatment.

Would you like to be involved from the beginning?

Then we look forward to receiving your application and hearing what pedagogical professionalism you can bring into the upcoming R2.

In Psychiatry in the Central Denmark Region we prioritize both that our staff feel secure in their onboarding and continuously develop their competencies. Therefore we have tailored our own education universe – the Psychiatric Academy.

Here you can find introduction and onboarding programs for your professional group and be inspired for the next step in your career.

Read more about our many opportunities on the Psychiatric Academy’s website: Click here to view the website

The position is basically a full-time position.

As the Central Denmark Region continually implements savings and reorganizations, employees in redeployment who apply for the position will have priority.

Department: RET Forensic Psychiatric Sleep Unit 2

Application deadline: November 15, 2026

Location: Tyge Søndergaards Vej 26, 8200 Aarhus N