Practice Nurse

Job responsibilities

Primary Responsibilities

The following are the core responsibilities of the practice nurse. There may be on occasion, a requirement to carry out other tasks; this will be dependent upon factors such as workload and staffing levels:

1. Develop, implement and embed health promotion and well-being programmes

1. Implement and evaluate individual treatment plans for chronic disease patients

1. Identify, manage and support patients as risk of developing long-term conditions, preventing adverse effects on the patients health

1. Provide routine nursing care to patients as required in accordance with clinical based evidence, NICE and the NSF

1. Provide travel medicine services

1. Request pathology services as necessary

1. Process pathology results as required

1. Provide chronic disease clinics, delivering patient care as necessary, referring patients to secondary / specialist care as required

1. Maintain accurate clinical records in conjunction with extant legislation

1. Ensure read codes are used effectively

1. Maintain chronic disease registers

1. Develop, implement and embed well woman clinics

1. Develop, implement and embed well man clinics

1. Chaperone patients where necessary

1. Assist GPs with minor surgery when required

1. Prioritise health issues and intervene appropriately

1. Support the team in dealing with clinical emergencies

1. Recognise, assess and refer patients presenting with mental health needs

1. Implement vaccination programmes for adults and children

1. Support patients in the use of their prescribed medicines or over the counter medicines (within own scope of practice)

1. Liaise with external services / agencies to ensure the patient is supported appropriately (vulnerable patients etc.)

1. Delegate clinical responsibilities appropriately (ensuring safe practice and the task is within the scope of practice of the individual)

1. Support the clinical team with all safeguarding matters, in accordance with local and national policies

1. Understand practice and local policies for substance abuse and addictive behaviour, referring patients appropriately

1. Deliver opportunistic health promotion where appropriate

2. Secondary Responsibilities

   In addition to the primary responsibilities, the practice nurse may be requested to:

   1. Complete audits as instructed by the practice utilising the audit cycle

   1. Monitor and ensure the safe storage, rotation and disposal of medicaments

   1. Support junior members of the nursing team, providing guidance when necessary

   1. Participate in local initiatives to enhance service delivery and patient care

   1. Support and participate in shared learning within the practice

   1. Continually review clinical practices, responding to national policies and initiatives where appropriate

   1. Participate in the review of significant and near-miss events applying a structured approach i.e. root cause analysis (RCA)

Qualifications

Essential

• Essential:
• Registered Nurse

Desirable

• Desirable:
• Post graduate diploma or degree (Primary Care)

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working in a primary care environment as a Practice Nurse
• NMC registration
• Occupational Health Clearance
• Experience of delivering chronic disease management in areas such as
• COPD & Asthma (Spirometry and Feno testing()
• Diabetes
• Hypertension
• CHD
• Childhood Vaccinations
• New patient health checks
• Venepuncture
• Chaperone procedure
• ECG
• Requesting pathology tests and processing the results, advising patients accordingly
• IT Skills
• Competent in the use of Office and Outlook
• EMIS Web user skills
• Clinical Governance
• Understands the importance of evidence based practice
• Broad knowledge of clinical governance
• Ability to record accurate clinical notes
• Ability to work within own scope of practice and understanding when to refer to GPs
• Understands the requirement for PGDs and associated policy
• Experience with clinical risk management
• Personal Skills
• Excellent communication skills (written and oral)
• Clear, polite telephone manner
• Effective time management (Planning & Organising)
• Ability to work as a team member and autonomously
• Good interpersonal skills
• Problem solving & analytical skills
• Ability to follow clinical policy and procedure
• Polite and confident
• Flexible and cooperative
• Motivated, forward thinker
• Problem solver with the ability to process information accurately and effectively, interpreting data as required
• High levels of integrity and loyalty
• Sensitive and empathetic in distressing situations
• Ability to work under pressure / in stressful situations
• Effectively able to communicate and understand the needs of the patient
• Punctual and committed to supporting the team effort
• Personal Development
• Commitment to ongoing professional development
• Flexibility to work outside of core office hours
• Awareness of issues within the wider health arena
• Knowledge of health promotion strategies

Desirable

• Travel Vaccinations
• Cervical Smears
• Experience with audit and able to lead audit programmes

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).