Job 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:
a.
Develop,
implement and embed health promotion and well-being programmes
b.
Implement
and evaluate individual treatment plans for chronic disease patients
c.
Identify,
manage and support patients as risk of developing long-term conditions,
preventing adverse effects on the patients health
d.
Provide
routine nursing care to patients as required in accordance with clinical based
evidence, NICE and the NSF
e.
Provide
wound care (ulcer /Doppler etc.) to patients
f.
Provide
travel medicine services
g.
Request
pathology services as necessary
h.
Process
pathology results as required
i.
Provide
chronic disease clinics, delivering patient care as necessary, referring
patients to secondary / specialist care as required
j.
Maintain
accurate clinical records in conjunction with extant legislation
k.
Ensure
read codes are used effectively
l.
Maintain
chronic disease registers
m.
Develop,
implement and embed well woman clinics
n.
Develop,
implement and embed well man clinics
o.
Chaperone
patients where necessary
p.
Assist
GPs with minor surgery when required
q.
Prioritise
health issues and intervene appropriately
r.
Support
the team in dealing with clinical emergencies
s.
Recognise,
assess and refer patients presenting with mental health needs
t.
Implement
vaccination programmes for adults and children
u.
Support
patients in the use of their prescribed medicines or over the counter medicines
(within own scope of practice)
v.
Liaise
with external services / agencies to ensure the patient is supported
appropriately (vulnerable patients etc.)
w.
Delegate
clinical responsibilities appropriately (ensuring safe practice and the task is
within the scope of practice of the individual)
x.
Support
the clinical team with all safeguarding matters, in accordance with local and
national policies
y.
Understand
practice and local policies for substance abuse and addictive behaviour,
referring patients appropriately
Deliver opportunistic health promotion where
appropriate
In
addition to the primary responsibilities, the practice nurse may be requested
to:
a.
Act
as the audit lead, effectively utilising the audit cycle
b.
Monitor
and ensure the safe storage, rotation and disposal of medicaments
c.
Support
junior members of the nursing team, providing guidance when necessary
d.
Participate
in local initiatives to enhance service delivery and patient care
e.
Support
and participate in shared learning within the practice
f. Continually review
clinical practices, responding to national policies and initiatives where
appropriate
Participate in the review of significant and
near-miss events applying a structured approach i.e. root cause analysis (RCA)
