Job responsibilities
Primary Responsibilities
1. Infection Prevention Control (IPC) Leadership
- Serve as the Infection Prevention Control (IPC) lead, ensuring adherence to IPC policies.
- Conduct audits, provide training, and offer support to maintain IPC compliance.
- Collaborate with the practice manager to produce the annual IPC statement.
2. Chronic Disease Management
- Develop, implement, and establish an effective care management program for frail and housebound patients.
- Assess patient needs, ensuring healthcare provision aligns with evidence-based practices.
- Create, implement, and promote health promotion and wellbeing programs.
- Design and evaluate individual treatment plans for chronic disease patients, prioritizing health and wellbeing.
- Identify, manage, and support patients at risk of developing long-term conditions to prevent adverse health effects.
3. Clinical Care
- Provide routine nursing care based on clinical evidence, NICE guidelines, and local policy
- Diagnose and manage acute and chronic conditions.
- Prescribe medications within the scope of practice and PGDs.
- Review and optimize patient medication regimens.
- Offer guidance to patients on medication usage, including side effects and dosages.
- Co-coordinate travel medicine services.
- Request and process pathology services as needed.
- Undertake clinical triage on AskMyGP
4. Chronic Disease Clinics
- Oversee chronic disease clinics, providing patient care and making referrals to specialists as necessary.
- Maintain accurate clinical records, ensuring compliance with legal regulations.
- Ensure effective use of read codes and proper management of chronic disease registers.
5. Emergency Response and Mental Health
- Prioritize health issues and respond appropriately.
- Support the team in clinical emergencies.
- Recognize, assess, and refer patients with mental health needs.
6. Vaccination Programs
- Implement and manage vaccination programs for adults and children.
- Assist patients in using prescribed and over-the-counter medicines within your scope of practice.
- Liaise with external services/agencies for appropriate patient support.
7. Clinical Team Collaboration
- Delegate clinical responsibilities safely within individual scopes of practice.
- Support safeguarding matters and follow local and national policies.
- Understand and adhere to practice and local policies related to substance abuse and addiction.
8. Leadership and Management
- Manage rotas and clinic for the nursing team
- Co-ordinate leave and cover
- Undertake appraisal for the nursing team
Secondary Responsibilities:
In addition to the primary responsibilities, the Lead Practice Nurse may be requested to:
1. Develop and review audit protocols and processes, utilizing the audit cycle effectively.
2. Collaborate with partners to develop and implement nursing protocols.
3. Provide guidance, conduct appraisals, and perform training needs analyses for nursing team members.
4. Participate in local initiatives to enhance service delivery and patient care.
5. Foster shared learning within the practice to improve patient care.
6. Continuously review clinical practices, aligning with national policies and initiatives.
7. Contribute to the review of significant events and near-miss occurrences using structured approaches like root cause analysis (RCA).
8. Lead planning and implementation of changes within the nursing team to enhance patient services.
9. Support practice team in reviewing and implementing practice policies and protocols, ensuring compliance with relevant legislation.