Job responsibilities
Job Summary
The post holder is an experienced Nurse Practitioner, who acting within their professional boundaries, will provide care for the presenting patient from initial history taking, clinical assessment, diagnosis, treatment and evaluation of their care. They will demonstrate safe, clinical decision-making and expert care for patients within the general practice. They will work collaboratively with the multi-disciplinary general practice team to meet the needs of patients, supporting the delivery of policy and procedures, and providing nurse leadership as required. In order to work at this level, NMC requirements for advanced practice must be met.
SCOPE AND PURPOSE OF THE ROLE
- To deliver a high standard of patient care as Nurse Practitioner (NP) in general practice, using advanced autonomous clinical skills, and a broad and in-depth theoretical knowledge base
- To manage a clinical caseload, dealing with presenting patients needs in a primary care setting
- To lead the nursing team (where applicable) and ensure the highest standards of care are provided for the patients
- To develop the nursing services offered by the practice
- To provide clinical leadership within the practice.
JOB DIMENSIONS
- Manage own clinics to see patients with undifferentiated diagnosis or review patients from previous appointments
- Performing Telephone Consultations
- To manage own clinical workload in general practice responding effectively to patient need and ensuring patient choice and ease of access to services.
- The development and use of referral pathways to the local acute NHS Trust services and to Diagnostic and Treatment Centres
- To mentor and support other nurses, Nurse Practitioner Trainees and Paramedic Practitioners in developing and maintaining clinical skills
PRIMARY DUTIES & AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY
CLINICAL ROLE:
The post-holder will :
- Provide the choice of direct access to a NP, both in the Practice and over the telephone, for the general practice population
- Make professionally autonomous decisions for which he/she is accountable
- Provide a first point of contact within the Practice for patients presenting with undifferentiated, undiagnosed problems, making use of skills in history taking, physical examination, problem-solving and clinical decision-making, to establish a diagnosis and management plan
- Instigate necessary invasive and non-invasive diagnostic tests or investigations and interpret findings/reports
- Where the post holder is an independent prescriber : to prescribe safe, effective and appropriate medication as defined by current legislative framework
- Provide safe, evidence-based, cost-effective, individualised patient care
- Offer a holistic service to patients and their families, developing where appropriate an on-going plan of care/support, with an emphasis on prevention and self-care
- Promote health and well-being through the use of health promotion, health education, screening and therapeutic communication skills
- Refer patients directly to other services/agencies as appropriate
- Work with mutli-disciplinary team within the Practice, and across the wider CCG to promote integrated and seamless pathways of care
- Contribute to the practice achieving its quality targets to sustain the high standards of patient care and service delivery
Participate in identification of community health needs and develop patient/family-centred strategies to address them
Help develop and set up new patient services and participate in initiatives to improve existing patient services
- Be aware of and contribute to planning and delivery of practice-based commissioning
TEACHING AND MENTORING ROLE:
The post-holder will :
- Promote a learning environment for patients, nurses and other health professionals.
- Contribute to the planning and implementation of the teaching for existing staff, such as medical students, NP students, GP registrars, Health Care Assistants, within the Practice.
PROFESSIONAL ROLE :
The post-holder will :
- Promote evidence-based practice through the use of the latest research-based guidelines and the development of practice-based research.
- Monitor the effectiveness of their own clinical practice through the quality assurance strategies such as the use of audit and peer review
- Maintain their professional registration
- Participate in continuing professional development opportunities to ensure that up-to-date evidence-based knowledge and competence in all aspects of the role is maintained
- Work within the latest NMC Code of Professional Conduct
- Record accurate consultation data in patients records in accordance with the latest NMC guidance and other pertinent standards
- Keep up to date with pertinent health-related policy and work with the practice team to consider the impact and strategies for implementation
- Work collaboratively with colleagues within and external to the practice.
- Demonstrate leadership
- Pro-actively promote the role of the NP within the Practice, and externally to key stakeholders and agencies
MANAGERIAL ROLE:
The post-holder will :
Encourage and develop teamwork within the practice.
Identify appropriate opportunities to delegate both clinical and administrative tasks to more junior staff.
Help the practice operate in a cost-effective manner.
Identify and manage nursing care risks on a continuing basis.
Participate in practice meetings and practice management meetings, reporting progress as required.
Participate in audits and inspections as appropriate.
Work closely with the doctors and administrative managers in the setting up and/or improving of practice systems for monitoring/measuring performance against Clinical Governance and Quality Indicator targets.
Ensure that all Practice Policies are fully implemented
AREAS OF PRACTICE INCLUDED:
- All aspects of antenatal/obstetric care
- Babys under 3 months old
4. HEALTH AND SAFETY/RISK MANAGEMENT
- The post-holder must comply at all times with the Practices Health and Safety policies, in particular by following agreed safe working procedures and reporting incidents using the organisations Incident Reporting System.
- The post-holder will comply with the Data Protection Act (1984) and the Access to Health Records Act (1990).
EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY
The post-holder must co-operate with all policies and procedures designed to ensure equality of employment. Co-workers, patients and visitors must be treated equally irrespective of gender, ethnic origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion etc.
RESPECT FOR PATIENT CONFIDENTIALITY
The post-holder should respect patient confidentiality at all times and not divulge patient information unless sanctioned by the requirements of the role.
JOB DESCRIPTION AGREEMENT
This job description is intended to provide an outline of the key tasks and responsibilities only. There may be other duties required of the post-holder commensurate with the position. This description will be open to regular review and may be amended to take into account development within the Practice. All members of staff should be prepared to take on additional duties or relinquish existing duties in order to maintain the efficient running of the Practice.