Job responsibilities
Knowledge, Skills and Experience
Hold a Diploma/Degree in Professional Nursing.
Be a first level registered nurse with 2 years experience in an acute setting.
Possess relevant post basic education and experience, which should include a minimum of two years at Band 5.
Provide evidence of continuous personal and professional development.
Possess the aptitude and confidence for working within a rapidly changing environment.
Have excellent communication skills both verbal and written.
Have excellent interpersonal and organisational skills.
Key Responsibilities
To provide clinical and professional leadership and support to all non-medical staff in the ward, ensuring that nursing practice is based on current and best evidence.
Take responsibility for own personal and professional development, maintaining clinical credibility and competence at all times.
Keep an up to date personal portfolio, in line with requirements in maintaining NMC registration.
Ensure that the wards philosophy is in line with the principles of clinical governance and that all staff understands its significance to practice.
In conjunction with the Ward Manager ensure that KPIs, Nurse Care Indicators and Infection Prevention standards are maintained each month.
To participate in the setting and maintaining of high standards of evidence based nursing.
Accurately undertake full health assessments, interpreting clinical signs of patients, results and investigations and make recommendations for patient management.
To supervise and evaluate work of all nursing staff.
Promote patient and carers involvement in care planning, delivery and evaluation, ensuring junior staff develop the necessary skills to do this.
Implement a communication system to keep patients and their relatives/families informed of treatment and progress. Undertake audits at regular intervals to maintain standards of record keeping.
Supervises and monitors junior staff in developing the necessary skills to identify care priorities and address them in a pertinent and timely manner, seeking advice where appropriate.
Communicates and interacts with patients, carers and staff in a non-judgmental way, demonstrating mutual respect and trust utilising a variety of communication skills.
To ensure patients and relatives needs are met in a courteous, helpful and compassionate manner.
Act as a patient advocate to facilitate the process of shared decision making in respect to health, choice of treatment and care. Use interpersonal and communication skills where there may be significant barriers in order to build confidence. Ensure that patients individual needs are expressed and valued and individual care plans are understood.
To liase with other agencies and professionals to maintain good service provision.
Maintain effective relationships between the ward and the multi-disciplinary team.
To maintain accurate and comprehensive records of patients care in line with the NMC code for record keeping.
Co-ordinate clinical activities within the unit and have responsibility for shift management.
Act as clinical leader and role model, sharing expertise with colleagues.
To ensure safety and confidentiality of patient information.
Communications and Working Relationships
To work with the ward manager to ensure that all staff sickness is monitored and that the Trusts sickness and absence policy is adhered to.
Early informal management of complaints with the aim of a satisfactory resolution. Ensure appropriate escalation when this is not achieved.
Ensure that units equipment is serviced properly and timely to maintain continuity of services at all times.
Act as role model and mentor to student nurses including the setting of action plans as necessary.
Adheres to the systems for reporting clinical incidents ensuring accurate and timely completion of Trust incident forms. Monitors the practice of other staff.
Investigate complaints and untoward incidents in accordance with Trust policies and procedures. Provide statements accurately, timely and professionally. Support the ward manager in improving systems to prevent recurrence.
Ensure that the wards clinical procedures and protocols are understood and adhered to by all staff. These should represent best possible practice and reflect Trust and National strategy for the management of emergency and acute patients.
Contribute to the recruitment and selection of quality staff for the unit, identifying future job requirements for profiling to compliment the ward team and to participate in induction programmes, Mentorship/preceptorship and Trust recruitment open and assessment days.
In conjunction with the ward manager facilitate staff development by achieving ward objectives using the principles of IPR using the KSF and developing personal development plans for all staff. Monitor staff performance and report progress to the ward manager at regular intervals.
Contribute to the planning, organisation and evaluation of work, ensuring adequate induction of new staff including effective preceptorship for newly qualified nurses and nurses new to the speciality of emergency medicine.
Review the standard of ward documentation at regular intervals, benchmarking performance against NMC guidelines.
Support Clinical Governance within the ward by utilising: Risk Management; Education/training; Clinical Supervision; Clinical Audit and effective best practice.
Education
Develop clinical practice through education.
Participate in in-service training programmes where appropriate.
Share evidence based practice with colleagues.
Attend statutory training sessions annually.
Identify and use educational strategies to deliver information to patients and carers.
Participate in the development of patient focused education including training to support self-management and health promotion activities.
Assist in the development of other professionals by contributing to Trust wide specialist education and training.
Support the delivery of formal and informal teaching initiatives as part of the Trusts education strategy as agreed with the appropriate senior nurse to ensure practice development, staff empowerment and improved care for patients.
Act as a mentor/clinical supervisor as appropriate.
Take personal responsibility for life-long learning and personal development through clinical supervision and appraisal. Actively engages with learning and development opportunities needed to work as an advancing practitioner and take appropriate action to ensure these needs are met.
Manage Finance
Contribute to the planning, monitoring and control of the wards resources, by ensuring that the wards resources are optimised and that expenditure on pay and non-pay are kept within the allocated budget.
Assist the ward manager to optimise nursing resources by an even distribution of staff annual leave and matching skill mix to workload.
Identifies, reports and acts upon and evaluates discrepancies between skill mix and workload within the clinical area.
Ensure you adhere to the policy for booking bank and agency staff and supervise junior staff to ensure that they do the same.
Ensure all resources are used in a cost effective manner, identifying and assisting in the implementations of cost improvement initiatives.
