Dietician - Palliative Care

Job description

Job responsibilities

Job responsibilities

To develop and maintain Nutrition and Dietetic services specific to the needs of patients registered with NHH, in line with the local and national policies and guidelines.

Provide therapeutic dietary treatment to clients in the inpatient unit.

To assist the units in meeting statutory requirements and best practice standards with regard to nutrition e.g. Health Inspector Wales (HIW) compliance.

To establish links with the Catering Departments to ensure the nutritional needs of all the patients are fully met.

To provide recommendations to the MDT on the appropriate prescribing of oral nutritional supplements and nutritional expertise on aspects of nutritional care.

To provide education and training to the multi-disciplinary team including housekeeping to facilitate continuous learning and development.

To lead in the development of standards, protocols and audit processes to ensure that a high-quality service is provided for patients under the post- holders care this includes discharge planning back into the community and following locally agreed pathways and guidance.

To participate in research, audit and quality improvement, with the support from nursing, therapy and departmental leads, making recommendations to changes in clinical practice and influencing implementation of new working practices.

Experience

Essential

Post-registration and previous experience in a range of clinical areas including nutrition support, food fortification, recommending the appropriate prescribing of oral nutrition supplements and enteral feeding, in a variety of settings.

Experience in training/teaching healthcare professionals.

Experience in using behaviour change techniques.

Experience in contributing to policy, procedures, guidelines and clinical standards development.

Desirable

Experience of working in the community setting (including nursing and residential homes and palliative care).

Skills & Knowledge

Essential

Advanced skills in the assessment and treatment of clients with nutrition related disease.

Advanced knowledge of up-to-date dietetic practice, including specialist nutrition support guidelines, evidence base and recommendations.

Ability to work autonomously.

Ability to work as a team member and promote collaborative multi-disciplinary and multi-agency working.

Ability to problem solve, apply professional curiosity, prioritise and demonstrate high level clinical reasoning.

Highly developed communication and report writing skills, in both verbal and written format.

Highly developed presentation skills and ability to present to professionals at all levels.

IT skills - including basic word processing skills.

Ability to work with clients from a diverse range of backgrounds.

Ability to manage time effectively, meet deadlines and deal with work pressures and demands.

Excellent interpersonal skills.

Knowledge of national policies and guidelines in the area of Nutrition Support, Elderly Care, Oncology, Rehabilitation and Palliative Care.

Key Attributes

Essential

Personal and professional accountability.

Ability to self-motivate.

Competence to carry out the duties of the post with or without adaptations.

Ability to be flexible, adaptable and reliable.

Education and Training

Degree in Dietetics.

Health and Care Professions Council Registration.

Membership of the British Dietetics Association.

Behaviour change training.

Desirable

Member of Special Interest Group - related to Nutrition Support/ Palliative Care/Adult Rehabilitation.

General Requirements All Staff

This post is subject to the Terms and Conditions of employment of the Hospice as specified in the Staff Handbook

Competence

You are responsible for limiting your actions to those that you feel competent to undertake. If you have any doubts about your competence during the course of your duties, you should immediately speak to your line manager / supervisor.

It is a standard element of the role and responsibility of all staff of the Hospice that they fulfil a proactive role towards the management of risk in all of their actions. This entails the risk assessment of all situations, the taking of appropriate actions and reporting of all incidents, near misses and hazards. It is a requirement that you adhere to Nightingale House Hospice Policies, Procedures, Protocols and guidelines always.

Health and Safety Requirements of the Hospice

All employees of the Hospice have a statutory duty of care for their own personal safety and that of others who may be affected by their acts or omissions. Employees are required to co-operate with management to enable the Hospice to meet its own legal duties including attendance at mandatory training updates and to report any hazardous situations or defective equipment.

Data Protection and Confidentiality

The post holder must treat all information, whether corporate, staff or patient information, in a discreet, secure and confidential manner in accordance with the provisions of the current data protection legislation and organisational policy. Any breach of such confidentiality is considered a serious disciplinary offence, which is liable to dismissal and / or prosecution under statutory legislation and the hospices disciplinary policy. This duty of confidence continues after the post holder leaves the organisation.

Records Management

As an employee of the hospice, the post holder is legally responsible for all records that they gather, create or use as part of their work within the organisation (including patient health, staff health or injury, financial, personal and administrative), whether paper based or on computer. The post holder should consult the IG Lead if they have any doubt as to the correct management of records with which they work.

Flexibility Statement

The content of this Job Description represents an outline of the post only and is therefore not a final list of duties and responsibilities. The Job Description is therefore intended to be flexible and is subject to review and amendment in the light of changing circumstances, following consultation with the post holder.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Post-registration and previous experience in a range of clinical areas.

Desirable

• Experience in teaching/training healthcare professionals
• Experience in using behaviour change techniques
• Experience in contributing to policy, procedures, guidelines, and clinical standards development.

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).

Employer details

Employer name

Nightingale House Hospice

Address

Chester Road

Wrexham

Clwyd

LL11 2SJ

Employer's website

https://www.nightingalehouse.co.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)