Advanced Nurse/ Clinical Practitioner- 24 hours p/wk

Job responsibilities

The post holder is an experienced nurse 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/Advanced Clinical Practitioner 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 patient needs in a primary care setting.
• To ensure the highest standards of care are provided for the patients
• To develop the services offered by the practice.

Job Dimensions

• 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 health care professionals in developing and maintaining clinical skills.

Primary duties & areas of responsibility

CLINICAL ROLE:

The post holder will:

• Work alongside the on-call GPs.
• Provide telephone triage service and face ot face appointments for patients who request an on-the-day appointment, deciding on the most appropriate course of action for the patient.
• 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.

• Provide the choice of direct access to a NP/ACP, both in the practice and over the telephone for the general practice population.
• Make professionally autonomous decisions for which he/she is accountable.
• Instigate necessary appropriate invasive and non-invasive diagnostic tests or investigations and interpret findings/reports.
• To prescribe safe, effective and appropriate medication as defined by current legislative framework.
• Provide safe evidence-based, cost effective, individualised patient care.
• Offer effective 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 nursing, medical and health care assistant colleagues to ensure that National Service Frameworks (e.g. coronary heart disease, diabetes, mental health) are being delivered.
• Work with multi-disciplinary teams both within the practice and external services 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 GP 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, foundation doctors, 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 acute consultation data in patients records in accordance with the latest guidelines 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.
• Demonstrate leadership.
• Pro-actively promote the role of the NP/ACP within the practice and externally to key stakeholders and agencies.

MANAGERIAL ROLE:

The post holder will:

• Act as a nurse advisor to other members of the Primary Healthcare team
• Encourage and develop teamwork within the practice
• Participate in multi-disciplinary protocol and Patient Group Directions development
• Identify appropriate opportunities to delegate both clinical and administrative tasks to a 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, reporting progress as required
• Participate in audits and inspections as appropriate
• Work alongside other members of the Practice team 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 Policys are fully implemented

HEALTH & SAFETY/RISK MANAGEMENT:

• The post-holder must comply at all times with the Practices Health & 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) the Access to health Records Act (1990) and Practice I M & T Policies.

EQUALITY & 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 ofage, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.

RESPECT OF 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.

COMMUNICATION & WORKING RELATIONSHIPS:

• The post-holder will establish and maintain effective communication pathways within the practice team, wider health services and agencies as appropriate.

SPECIAL WORKING CONDITIONS:

• The post-holder may be required to travel independently and attend meetings etc
• The post-holder will have contact with body fluids i.e. wound exudates, urine etc while in the practice.

REHABILITATION OF OFFENDERS ACT 1994:

Because of the nature of the work, this post is exempt from the provisions of Section 4(2) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1994 (Exceptions) Order 1995. Applicants for posts are not entitled to withhold information about convictions which for other purposes are spent under the provision of the Act and in the event of employment any failure to disclose such convictions could result in disciplinary action or dismissal by the Practice. Any information given will be completely confidential and will be considered only in relation to an applicant of a position to which the order applies.

Knowledge and Skills

Essential

• Knowledge:
• - Understanding and knowledge of policy developments related to the delivery of Primary Care services including General Practice, the GMS contract, Clinical Governance, Quality Outcomes Framework
• - Understanding of systems to gain an understanding of the health needs of the Practice population as they relate to Primary Care.
• - Understanding of evidence based practice
• - Knowledge of national standards that inform practice (e.g. National Service Frameworks, NICE guidelines etc)
• - Understanding of their accountability arising from the NMC Code of Professional Conduct (2004) and medico-legal aspects of the Nurse Practitioner role
• - Understanding of equal opportunity and diversity issues
• Skills:
• - Ability to assess and manage patient risk effectively and safely
• - Well developed word processing/data collection/IT skills
• - Excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills
• - Reflective practitioner
• - Time management and ability to prioritise workload
• - Able to analyse data and information, drawing out implications for the individual patient/impact on care plan
• - Able to establish and maintain effective communication pathways within the organisation and other health care services

Desirable

• - Experience of use of SystmOne medical software package
• - Proven record of effective use of networking and influencing skills

Qualifications

Essential

• Registered General Nurse
• (Currently registered with the Nursing & Midwifery Council)
• Recognised NP/ACP qualification at minimum of degree level or equivalent
• Independent Nurse Prescriber

Desirable

• -

Experience

Essential

• Minimum of 5 years post registration experience
• Evidence of appropriate continuing professional development activity to maintain up-to-date knowledge and on-going competence in all aspects
• of the NP/ACP role
• Evidence of working autonomously and as part of a team
• Proven ability to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of their own clinical practice

Desirable

• -

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).