Practice Nurse

Job description

Job responsibilities

Working under the supervision of the Lead Nurse, the Practice Nurse will work as part of the Nursing & Healthcare team providing General Medical Services to the patients of Woodlands Family Medical Centre. Responsibilities are to:

Assess, plan, develop, implement and evaluate programmes to promote health and well-being, and prevent adverse effects on health and well-being

Implement and evaluate individual treatment plans for patients with a known long-term condition.

Identify, and manage as appropriate, treatment plans for patients at risk of developing a long-term condition

Advising patients with respect to their continuing nursing and medical needs

Triage (face to face and telephone) assessment and treat patients wishing to see health care professional making and necessary referrals to other members of the primary health care team.

Ensure clinical practice is safe and effective and remains within boundaries of competence and to acknowledge limitations to the team so that referrals can be appropriate.

Ensure all contacts with patients are recorded as accurately as possible

Prioritise health problems and intervene appropriately to assist the patient in complex, urgent or emergency situations, including initiation of effective emergency care.

Deliver opportunistic health promotion using opportunities such as new-patient medicals.

Provide information and advice on prescribed or over-the-counter medication on medication regimens, side effects and interactions.

Support patients to adopt health promotion strategies that promote patients to live healthily and encourage principles of self-care.

Assess and care for patients presenting with uncomplicated wounds.

Perform routine procedures like ear syringing, treating wounds and applying or removing dressings.

Taking urine and blood samples, other swabs and specimens.

Support and advise women requesting information relating to family planning needs.

Support and manage health needs of women presenting for cervical cytology consultations.

Recognise, assess and refer patients presenting with mental health needs in accordance with the National Framework (NSF) for Mental Health.

Implement and participate in vaccination and immunisation programmes for both adults and children.

Undertake community visits for house bound patients as identified individually and within own scope of practice.

Actively identifying, reporting, and correction of health and safety hazards and infection hazards immediately when recognised.

Advise, support and, where appropriate, administer vaccinations for patients travelling abroad.

Keeping own work areas and general / patient areas generally clean, sterile, identifying issues and hazards / risks in relation to other work areas within the business, and assuming responsibility in the maintenance of general standards of cleanliness across the business in consultation (where appropriate) with other sector managers.

Undertaking periodic infection control training.

Routine management of own team / team areas, and maintenance of workspace standards

Waste management, including collection, handling, segregation, container management, storage and collection.

Spillage control procedures, management and training.

Decontamination control procedures, management and training, and equipment maintenance.

Meetings

It will be necessary to attend and contribute to various Practice meetings.

Training and personal development

Training requirements will be monitored by appraisal initially after 6 months and then yearly and will be in accordance with Practice requirements. Personal development will be encouraged and supported by the practice, where appropriate. It is the individuals responsibility to remain up-to-date with recent developments.

Maintain continued education by attendance at courses and study days as deemed useful or necessary for professional development ensuring requirements are met.

Develop and maintain a Personal Learning Plan

If it is necessary to expand the role to include additional responsibilities, appropriate training will be given.

Liaison

As well as the nursing team there is a need to work closely with reception, office and clinical staff to ensure smooth running of the practice, reporting any problems encountered to the relevant person and ensuring everyone is aware of the different roles within the nursing team.

There is also the need to establish and maintain good liaison with other surgeries and agencies including secondary care.

Confidentiality

In the course of seeking treatment, patients entrust us with, or allow us to gather, sensitive information in relation to their health and other matters. They do so in confidence and have the right to expect that staff will respect their privacy and act appropriately.

In the performance of the duties outlined in this job description, the post-holder may have access to confidential information relating to patients and their carers, practice staff and other healthcare workers. They may also have access to information relating to the practice as a business organisation. All such information from any source is to be regarded as strictly confidential.

Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, other healthcare workers or the business of the practice may only be divulged to authorised persons in accordance with the practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data.

Health & Safety

The post holder will assist in promoting and maintaining their own and others health, safe and security as defined in the Practice Health and safety policy, to include:

Using personal security systems within the workplace according to practice guidelines

Identifying the risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks across clinical and patient process

Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills, and initiate and manage the training of others across the full range of infection control and patient processes

Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy, clean and sterile and safe way, free from hazards. Initiation of remedial / corrective action where needed or escalation to responsible management

Reporting potential risks identified

Equality and Diversity

The post-holder will support the equality, diversity and rights of patients, carers and colleagues, to include:

Acting in a way that recognises the importance of peoples rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with practice procedures and policies, and current legislation

Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues

Behaving in a manner which is welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelings priorities and rights.

Person/Professional Development

In addition to maintaining continued education through attendance at any courses and/or study days necessary to ensure that professional development requirements for PREP are met, the post-holder will participate in any training programme implemented by the practice as part of this employment, with such training to include:

Participation in an annual individual performance review, including taking responsibility for maintaining a record of own personal and/or professional development

Taking responsibility for own development, learning and performance and demonstrating skills and activities to others who are undertaking similar work.

Person Specification

Additional criteria

Desirable

• Knowledge of QOF
• Experience of Infection, Prevention and Control
• Knowledge of SystemOne
• Knowledge of waste management

Qualifications

Essential

• Registered Nurse (Nursing & Midwifery Council)
• Diplomas in Chronic Disease Management

Experience

Essential

• Experience with Chronic disease management.
• Experience working autonomously.
• Experience working in Primary Care/General Practice

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

Woodlands Family Medical Centre

Address

106 Yarm Lane

Stockton-on-tees

Cleveland

TS18 1YE

Employer's website

https://www.woodlandsmedical.co.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)