Community Cardiac Nurse

Job description

Job responsibilities

Management:

1. Responsible for the planning, development and day-to-day running of the community cardiac rehabilitation and heart failure service in their locality.
2. Responsible for clinical governance including satisfaction questionnaire, patient notes audit, clinical audits as deemed necessary
3. Produce and update cardiac rehabilitation evidence within care quality commission framework.
4. Responsible for the recruitment and selection of new staff including induction and supervision of other staff
5. Deputise for the service manager as required
6. Manage clinical risk within own caseload and perform risk assessments.
7. Make recommendations on changes to clinical practice within community cardiac rehabilitation and heart failure
8. Alongside team manager, Develop and update standards and protocols for community cardiac rehabilitation and heart failure service in line with national guidelines.
9. Supervise the work of exercise instructors employed by the leisure industry assisting with phase 3 exercise program and the heart failure exercise program.
10. Work within the framework of patient group directives for the administration of emergency drugs.
11. Deputise for exercise physiologist in his or her absence at the phase 3 exercise program

Clinical:

1. Working within professional guidelines to make clinical decisions without supervision. Seeking advice as necessary from patients GP, consultant, GPSI in using evidence based research or peer support from another trust.
2. To reduce unnecessary hospital admissions and enable the individual patient to be managed in the community.
3. To provide clinical assessment, support and education patients, and their carers, enabling them to make informed decisions about the treatment, management and monitoring of their condition, with the aim of optimising their quality-of-life.
4. Deal effectively with arising clinical issues and emergency situations
5. Ability to perform and assess 12 lead ECG.
6. To interpret blood results and adjust medications as required through liaising with the patients GP or consultant as required.
7. Safely manage phase 3 exercise program and heart failure exercise program on a day-to-day basis.
8. Manage the titration of cardiac medications working in partnership with GPs and UHP.
9. To be professionally and legally accountable for all aspects of your work including management of patient care..
10. Evaluate progress, reassess and alter individual action plans with the patient and relatives where required
11. To provide expert advice and support in situations where the patient is able to actively participate in setting their own individual action plan.
12. Liaise closely with community teams to ensure palliative care needs are addressed utilising existing services.
13. Work as a loan practitioner within the community setting, with peer support as required.
14. Work within Livewell guidelines and have a good working knowledge of national standards, such as the National service framework for CHD and British Association of cardiac rehabilitation guidelines, nice guidelines, QOS framework and CQ C standards
15. To be responsible for maintaining accurate and comprehensive patient records in line with the nursing and midwifery Council and data protection guidelines

Education and Training:

1.Provide patients, families and carers with tailored education programmes, advice and support, that may precipitate symptoms of acute exacerbation of cardiac conditions and include lifestyle changes that would be advantageous to health.

2. Evaluate the impact of these training programmes, for patients and carers, to ensure that they provide the necessary knowledge and skills to gain independence, safely manage changing circumstances and plan for unavoidable progression of conditions.

3. Be responsible for providing and maintaining a learning environment and maximise opportunities for education and development in the clinical area to enhance individual development and performance in the delivery of high standards of care.

4. Act as expert resource and assist in teaching knowledge and clinical skills for other health care professionals.

5.Take part in the process of clinical supervision and support clinical supervision for team members.

6.Take responsibility for your own personal and professional development; maintain competence, knowledge and skills commensurate with role.

7. To develop, plan, implement and evaluate educational programmes

8. To undertake all required training to develop competencies required for the role

9. Integrate theory into practice by bringing new knowledge around Cardiac Nursing into the practice environment.

10. Act as mentor for students and fulfil requirements of a practice placement.

11. Maintain attendance at mandatory and statutory training as per organisation guidelines.

Communication:

1.Use a high level of communication/negotiation skills on a daily basis with patients, carers and relatives to encourage concordance with care planning and agreed outcomes.

2.Use a high level of communication/negotiation skills on a daily basis with other health and social care professionals. To inform each, as appropriate, of the highly complex and sensitive information related to the patients condition required to achieve the best outcomes and care pathways.

3.Show empathy and sensitivity when dealing with life threatening illnesses or other sensitive health related problems of patients, relatives and carers.

4. Ensure effective and timely information exchange is maintained, verbally, written or electronically.

5. Will be expected to liaise at local level with: people with Cardiac conditions, relatives and carers, members of the public, Consultants, GPs and any other medical nursing or therapy staff. Community and Acute providers, Intermediate Care service staff, Social Services, other specialist practitioner, statutory and voluntary organisations.

6. Provide and receive complex, sensitive or contentious information where motivational, empathetic and reassurance skills are required verbal and non- verbal, as well as written and electronic to communicate effectively with patients, carers and GPs. This will include patients who may have difficulty understanding or communicating e.g. patients may be dysphasic, depressed, deaf, and blind or may have difficulty accepting diagnoses.

7. Able to provide the interface between hospital and primary, community and social care settings. Maintain case manager responsibility in reaching to inpatient facilities to facilitate discharge to community.

8. Demonstrate highly developed communication skills required to take a lead role in case discussions/case conferences concerning service users in their caseload.

9. Act as patient advocate as required to ensure individual needs, preferences and choices are delivered.

10.Establish the dynamic process of understanding, reflecting, active listening and checking understanding, thus developing a therapeutic relationship with patients and carers.

Professional:

1.Work within the NMC Code of Conduct.

2.Remain updated and ensure that clinical practice is evidence based.

3.Have a personal development plan and professional portfolio.

Please see the attached Job Description for further information.

Person Specification

Skills

Essential

• Ability to assess, plan, implement and evaluate patients independently
• Ability to work independently and within a team, supporting colleagues to maintain equity of service for all

Desirable

• Coaching/ motivational interviewing skills

Additional requirements

Essential

• Able to travel across all Livewell Southwest service areas to attend courses and support colleagues

Experience

Essential

• Minimum 3 years post-registration experience
• At least 2 years working in a Cardiology setting

Desirable

• Previous Community Cardiac experience
• 2 years at senior level in a Cardiology setting
• Variety of Cardiology provision eg. Wards, community, cath labs, CCU
• Cardiac Rehabilitation experience

Qualifications

Essential

• Registered Nurse
• Relevant post registration qualification

Desirable

• Specific Cardiac course
• Mentorship/teaching qualification
• ILS/ALS trained
• Qualifications in education or health promotion

Knowledge

Essential

• Good knowledge of Cardiac Nursing; Cardiac Rehabilitation, Heart Failure, Secondary Prevention, Cardiac Surgery, Cardiac intervention etc.
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Evidence of being able to work independently without supervision, but liaise effectively with an MDT

Desirable

• Enhanced cardiac knowledge

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

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

Livewell Southwest

Address

Cumberland Centre

Damerel Close, Devonport

Plymouth

Devon

PL1 4JZ

Employer's website

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