Job responsibilities
To the assist medical personnel in the care of Practice patients to include treatment, preventative care, screening and patient education.
Job Responsibilities:
Provide nursing treatments to patients in participation with general practitioners or independently to agreed protocols.
Provide general and specific health screenings to the Practice patients, including those with long term conditions (within agreed protocols) with referral to Nurse Manager / general practitioners as necessary.
- Maintain skills and an interest in Diabetes, Asthma, COPD, Coronary Heart Disease, Hypertension, Stroke/TIA and Contraception.
- Assist in and perform routine tasks related to patient care as directed by Nurse Manager and GPs
- Basic wound care
- Peak Flow Readings / Spirometry
- Routine immunisations / Childhood immunisations according to British schedule.
- Undertake the collection of pathological specimens including intravenous blood samples, swabs, cervical smears etc and ensure cleanliness of any equipment used.
- Perform any investigatory procedures requested by the General Practitioners.
Other tasks will include:
- Maintaining and cleaning equipment used by the nurses and GPs
- Maintaining Nurses rooms, stocking and rotating items as required
- Maintain general tidiness and cleanliness of nurses and treatment rooms
- Assisting with the ordering of vaccinations to maintain stock levels
- Chaperoning and assisting patients where appropriate who are being examined by another clinician
- A duty to advise Nurse Manager of potential problems or errors within the range of assigned tasks
- Attend and participate in any Practice meetings when required.
- A requirement to undertake home visits
- Any other delegated duties appropriate to the post
Administrative and professional responsibilities
Participate in the administrative and professional responsibilities of the Practice team.
Ensure accurate notes of all consultations and treatments are recorded in the patients notes on the clinical computer system as appropriate.
Ensure accurate completion of all necessary documentation associated with patient health care and registration with the Practice.
Ensure the maintenance of statistical information required for regular and ad hoc reports is accurate.
Assist in the Practice target work for the achievement of QoF, DESs and IIF indicators.
Attend and participate in Practice meetings as required.
Assist in the formulation of Practice philosophy, strategy and policy and develop appropriate protocols.
Student/staff education and training
Participate in the education and training of students of all disciplines and the induction of all members of Practice staff.
Research projects
Co-operate and participate as required in any research projects within the Practice.
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 date
Child & Adult Protection
To be aware of Child and Adult Protection Procedures, understand the importance of recognition, observation, documentation and communication of child and adult abuse and understand the basic legal issues around child and adult abuse.
Health & safety
The post-holder will implement and lead on a full range of promotion and management their own and others health and safety and infection control as defined in the practice Health & Safety policy, the practice Health & Safety manual, and the practice Infection Control policy and published procedures. This will include (but will not be limited to):
- Using personal security systems within the workplace according to practice guidelines
- Awareness of national standards of infection control and cleanliness and regulatory / contractual / professional requirements, and good practice guidelines
- Responsible for the correct and safe management of the specimens process including collection, labelling, handling, use of correct and clean containers, storage and transport arrangements
- Management and maintenance of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for the practice including provision, ordering, availability and ongoing correct usage by staff
- Responsible for hand hygiene across the practice
- Ownership of infection control and clinically based patient care protocols, and implementation of those protocols across the practice
- Active observation of current working practices across the practice in relation to infection control, cleanliness and related activities, ensuring that procedures are followed and weaknesses / training needs are identified, escalating issues as appropriate
- 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
- Monitoring practice facilities and equipment in relation to infection control, ensuring that provision of hand cleansing facilities, wipes etc are sufficient to ensure a good clinical working environment. Lack of facilities to be escalated as appropriate.
- Safe management of sharps procedures including training, use, storage and disposal
- 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
- Actively identifying, reporting, and correction of health and safety hazards and infection hazards immediately when recognised
- 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 (minimum twice annually)
- Routine management of own team / team areas, and maintenance of work space 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
- Maintenance of sterile environments
- Demonstrate due regard for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.
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 recognizes 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.
Personal/Professional development
The post-holder will participate in any training programme implemented by the practice as part of this employment, 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
Quality
The post-holder will strive to maintain quality within the practice, and will:
- Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk
- Assess own performance and take accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision
- Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the teams performance
- Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patients needs
- Effectively manage own time, workload and resources
Work effectively as part of a multi-disciplinary team
Communication
The post-holder should recognize the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to:
- Communicate effectively with other team members
- Communicate effectively with patients and carers
- Recognize peoples needs for alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly
Contribution to the implementation of services
The post-holder will:
- Apply practice policies, standards and guidance
- Discuss with other members of the team how the policies, standards and guidelines will affect own work
- Participate in audit where appropriate
Special Requirements of the Post
- Registered General Nurse
- Membership of a professional body
- To work in accordance with the UKCC Code of Conduct
- Full valid driving licence
