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 on 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 at risk of developing long-term conditions, preventing
adverse effects on 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 advice to signpost to relevant pharmacies and websites
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 that 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
z.
Deliver
opportunistic health promotion where appropriate
aa. Accessing the wound care formulary and
leg ulcer pathway via tissue viability
Secondary
responsibilities
In addition
to the primary responsibilities, the practice nurse may be requested to:
a.
Act
as the audit lead, effectively utilising the audit cycle for cervical
cytology self audits
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
g. Participate in the review of
significant and near-miss events applying a structured approach, i.e. root
cause analysis (RCA).