Community Registered Nurse

Job responsibilities

MAIN DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

Responsibility for People Management

To be responsible in the absence of the Clinical Nurse Specialist / Caseload Holder to manage own workload and delegate nursing care to appropriately skilled staff and ensure that these are supported.

To assume responsibility as delegated by a senior member of staff.

To act as a role model for all staff and students demonstrating specialist clinical skills and high standards of practice and professional conduct.

To share knowledge and information to promote a cohesive team.

To take responsibility for your own personal and professional development, maintain competence, knowledge and skills commensurate with the role.

To assess, teach, support, and supervise colleagues including Pre-registration students and medical students.

To participate in team activities to develop and consolidate a cohesive and supportive team ensuring openness within the team.

To facilitate and participate in the development of team members, monitoring of sickness, line management, appraisals, mandatory training, competencies, clinical supervision and staff performance as directed by the Service Lead.

To participate in the recruitment and selection of new staff.

To participate in coordinator/duty rota as required.

Responsibility for financial and/or physical resources

To exercise a duty of care in relation to the use of the organisations equipment and resources in a cost-effective manner.

To use Livewell Southwest resources responsibly.

To work in collaboration with the budget holder, you may be required to be an authorised signatory for ordering stores, equipment, and stationery.

To ensure that all loans of equipment are monitored and maintained in good working order as per operational policy.

To monitor stock levels and ensure the supply levels are sufficient to meet the demands of the service.

To have a working knowledge of statutory and non-statutory funding and the legislation/guidance that underpins these funding streams, ensuring service users meet the eligibility criteria when advocating for/ utilising services on the service users behalf (e.g. Care Act eligibility, Housing legislation etc)

Responsibility for administration

To maintain accurate records, which are confidential, contemporaneous, legible, and all care given to be documented. These records may be paper or IT based system and must be maintained as specified in the LWSW Policies, the relevant professional body guidelines and Government directives.

To oversee the standard of patients records by audit or peer review and have a regular open discussion with team members.

To complete on time and submit all necessary forms, documentation, including IT data and forward as required by the manager/organisation.

To support in the triage process accepting appropriate referrals directly from other disciplines, patients, carers and members of the public and/or refer to other agencies where appropriate.

To be responsible for organising own time management on a daily basis in line with caseload demands balancing patient needs with the administrative aspect of the role.

To be involved in all aspects of clinical governance including audits and research.

To preserve confidentiality and be aware of GDPR, Access to Health Records and consent to treatment.

Responsibility for people who use our services

Be responsible for contributing to the holistic assessment, planning delivery and evaluation of care to patients within their own homes. Implement, monitor and maintain high standards of care delivery at all times.

To act as a patient advocate as required ensuring individual needs, preferences and choices are delivered by the service.

Support CHC assessment and case management as part of the MDT for people at home where the community nurse is identified as the most appropriate community team member.

To be involved in all steps of a patient's journey from referral to discharge.

To undertake health promotion as requested to all age groups and contribute to planned health promotion activities e.g. NSFs, smoking cessation and long-term conditions. To act as a resource in providing advice and support for patients, relatives, carers, and other agencies.

To have a flexible approach to the working day in order to meet the needs of the patient/service.

To support the monitoring of patient satisfaction and promote appropriate service developments.

To signpost to appropriate services, statutory and voluntary bodies.

To have good communication skills which enable you to effectively communicate with patients, their relatives and carers about sensitive and accurate information about their condition.

To support the prevention of hospital admissions.

To undertake comprehensive risk assessments of all situations associated with the care of patients in order to ensure nurses and the carers safety. This might include the assessment and provision of equipment ensuring it is used safely.

To provide holistic evidence based / best practice care to patients in accordance with National and LWSW approved policies/procedures and individual care plans.

Responsibility for implementation of policy and/or service developments

To be aware of and abide by Livewell Southwest approved policies, patient group directives, standards and quality assurance initiatives.

To support development and review of policies, protocols, clinical guidelines, documentation systems and education materials to direct own and others practice in line with best practice, professional forums, ensuring the clinical practice reflects national and local drivers.

To preserve confidentiality and be aware of the GDPR, Data Protection Act, Access to Health Records and Consent for Treatment.

To report and record all incidents and near misses relating to health, safety, security, fire, physical violence, aggression, and verbal abuse.

To monitor and maintain the health, safety and security of self, others in the team and patients.

To integrate theory into practice by bringing new knowledge a from training into the practice environment.

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.

To act as a change agent, Organisation wide, initiating, facilitating, and supporting change initiatives, across professional boundaries.

Monitor the emergence of new evidence and implement and evaluate research-based recommendations that are expected to improve care.

Identify and undertake areas for research and evaluations within own specialty, facilitating the involvement of appropriate staff.

Other Responsibilities

To work within the scope of the NMC professional code of practice.

Ability to use a computer, being responsible for timely recording of patient activities for IT, data collection, dealing with e-mail queries, stock and equipment ordering.

To have an up-to-date personal development plan and professional portfolio.

To participate in an annual appraisal of their work in line with the Knowledge and Skills Framework (KSF) where the job description will be reviewed and objectives set. In line with the annual development plan the postholder will be expected to undertake any training or development required to fulfill their role.

To monitor own performance against agreed objectives through personal development plans, NMC regulations and maintain professional expertise by arranging and attending meetings, study days and in service training to support their own role and that of others.

To complete specific clinical competencies relevant to role and ensure these are updated.

Problem-solve and liaise as soon as possible with the Clinical Nurse / Caseload Holder issues that may arise.

Continually re-prioritising workload due to the unpredictability and demands for urgent visits.

COMMUNICATIONS AND RELATIONSHIPS

Links across & liaises with; primary care, secondary care, mental health, voluntary & statutory organisations, SWAST, 111, Users & Carers, Members of the public, Integrated Localities, Specialist Services and Urgent and Intermediate Care (and all stakeholders as required).

To provide and receive complex, sensitive, and confidential information and overcome potential barriers to communication, such as language, disability as well as dealing with concordance and barriers from patients to the prescribed treatment.

To maintain and foster good relationships with professionals and non-professional colleagues concerned with the provision or development of healthcare services.

Have good communication skills to effectively communicate with patients, their relatives and carers about sensitive and accurate information about their condition.

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

To be aware of pressures facing your work colleagues and offer support and ensure they are aware of LWSW support services available to them.

To act as a clinical advisor on health promotions within their areas of expertise and act as a Link Nurse.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS OF THE JOB

Ability to frequently travel independently and in a timely manner between Livewell Southwest sites and community locations including areas not served by public transport.

Required to transport bags and equipment on each visit.

Daily there is likelihood to exert moderate physical effort for several long periods during a shift e.g. wound dressings and diagnostics in patients homes, which require nurses to kneel, bending, sit on knees, bending or lifting of limbs or buckets of water (up to 40 60 minutes per limb); this involves manual handling and equipment.

Please see supporting information for full Job Description and Person Specification.

Qualifications

Essential

• 1st Level Nurse Registration (degree or diploma) NMC Registration
• Willingness to undertake further education around management of longterm conditions.
• Evidence of continuing professional development

Desirable

• Previous community nursing experience.

Experience

Essential

• Experience of a variety of healthcare settings
• Knowledge of recent developments within health and social care
• Keeps up to date with evidence - based practice and research related to nursing and health care in the community
• Ability to operate community equipment
• Ability to identify and pass on urgent client information to the senior staff

Desirable

• Experience of working in field as described in job purpose.

Additional requirements

Essential

• Ability to frequently travel independently and in a timely manner between Livewell Southwest sites and community locations including areas not served by public transport.
• The role may require a variety of shift patterns and ability to work flexibly.
• Creates and fosters a culture of openness, honesty, integrity and inclusiveness.
• Demonstrate commitment to and focus on quality, promotes high standards to consistently improve patient outcomes.
• Dexterity to enable clinical skills to be performed, i.e., removal of sutures, venepuncture & IV therapy

Skills

Essential

• Ability to use initiative and work autonomously.
• Ability to decision make and problem solve.
• Good time management and delegation skills.
• Ability to assess patients and make appropriate referrals and recommendations using evidence-based practice.
• Strong analytical and judgement skills, with the ability to interpret complex situations and make appropriate decisions.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to build and maintain relationships with other health and social care professionals, patients, carers and the public.
• Ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure.
• Ability to adapt to the demands of a constantly changing environment
• Ability to undertake nursing skills and to prioritise visits in accordance with patient need.
• Ability to organise own workload without direct supervision.
• Ability to input data manually and electronically according to organisational policies.
• Work within agreed Policies and procedures.
• Effective communication and interactive skills including oral, written and IT
• Ability to act as a champion for patients/carers and their interests, ensuring the patients voice has an impact on service developments.

Desirable

• Advanced knowledge and competence in Tissue Viability
• Advanced knowledge and competence Bladder & Bowel
• Advanced knowledge and competence End Of Life
• Advanced knowledge and competence IV drug administration
• Advanced knowledge and competence Diagnostic skills
• Experience of managing a caseload.

Knowledge

Essential

• Team worker and ability to work alone
• Ability to listen to and communicate with patients and carers in a compassionate and caring manner
• Presentation skills or teaching to individuals e.g., patients and to small groups for example students
• Up to date knowledge of current practice within the area specified in job purpose.
• Understanding of Clinical Supervision and continued professional development.

Desirable

• Relevant post registration courses/knowledge base relevant to post.
• Evidence of up to date mandatory training and completion of competency frameworks.
• Understanding of Community Nursing service and local issue

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).