Job summary
Working Part time: 23 hours per week
The Practice Development Nurse within a neonatal unit plays a key role in supporting safe, high-quality care by developing and maintaining staff competence. The role includes coordinating and delivering mandatory training to ensure nurses and other staff meet statutory, professional and organisational requirements. This helps maintain compliance with national guidelines and supports patient safety.The Practice Development Nurse also leads and facilitates neonatal simulation training, using realistic scenarios to develop clinical skills, decision-making, communication and teamwork in a safe learning environment. In addition, the role involves active participation in neonatal network meetings, where best practice, learning from incidents and education strategies are shared across units. Through this work, the Practice Development Nurse helps promote consistent standards of care, continuous professional development and service improvement within the neonatal network.
Main duties of the job
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Coordinate, deliver and monitor mandatory training to ensure staff compliance with statutory, professional and organisational requirements
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Identify learning needs and support staff to maintain and develop neonatal clinical competencies
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Design, facilitate and debrief neonatal simulation training to enhance clinical skills, teamwork and decision-making
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Maintain accurate training records and contribute to staff appraisal and revalidation processes
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Support implementation of evidence-based practice and updated neonatal guidelines
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Participate in neonatal network meetings to share best practice and learning from incidents
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Contribute to quality improvement initiatives, audits and service development within the neonatal unit
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Act as a resource and role model for clinical staff, promoting safe and effective neonatal care
About us
The Trust's services are provided from three locations:
o The Countess of Chester Hospital: providing 473 general and acute beds.o Ellesmere Port Hospital: providing 60 beds as a rehabilitation, intermediate and outpatient facility.o Tarporley War Memorial Hospital: a base for community services which serve the local rural population.
The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust employs 5,964 staff (headcount) to provide care and treatment to a population of over 400,000 people living in Chester and West Cheshire which includes Ellesmere Port and Neston as well as the Deeside area of Flintshire.
The Trust works collaboratively within the wider Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care System. Due to its location on the border with North Wales, the Trust also works closely with the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.
The Trust treats patients from England and some parts of Wales. During 2024/2025, there were approximately 643,000 patient attendances (inpatient, A&E, outpatient and diagnostic) ranging from a simple outpatient appointment to major cancer surgery
Job description
Job responsibilities
See Job Description for further details.
Recruitment selection processes are based on competence (see Person specification) and values. An applicant guide to help and support you through your recruitment journey can be accessed at the bottom of this page.
If you have a disability that meets the definition set out in the Equality Act 2010, and you can show that you meet the essential criteria described in the person specification for an available position, please answer YES to the question: Do you wish to be considered under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme?
Please inform the team if you have any special support needs to be considered as part of the interview and selection processes.
The trust offers a Guaranteed Interview Scheme to any armed forces community applicants who meet the essential criteria for the post.
If a DBS is required for your role, you are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee applies whcih is payable to the DBS Service.Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costswill be deducted from their salary over the first three months of employment.
New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above.
Applicants requiring sponsorship may wish to determine the likelihood of obtaining sponsorship for this position by assessing themselves against the criteria on the gov.uk website - https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa.
The Trust will not sponsor where the starting salary does not meet immigration rules
Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post, we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date.
Good luck with your application.
Job description
Job responsibilities
See Job Description for further details.
Recruitment selection processes are based on competence (see Person specification) and values. An applicant guide to help and support you through your recruitment journey can be accessed at the bottom of this page.
If you have a disability that meets the definition set out in the Equality Act 2010, and you can show that you meet the essential criteria described in the person specification for an available position, please answer YES to the question: Do you wish to be considered under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme?
Please inform the team if you have any special support needs to be considered as part of the interview and selection processes.
The trust offers a Guaranteed Interview Scheme to any armed forces community applicants who meet the essential criteria for the post.
If a DBS is required for your role, you are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee applies whcih is payable to the DBS Service.Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costswill be deducted from their salary over the first three months of employment.
New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above.
Applicants requiring sponsorship may wish to determine the likelihood of obtaining sponsorship for this position by assessing themselves against the criteria on the gov.uk website - https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa.
The Trust will not sponsor where the starting salary does not meet immigration rules
Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post, we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date.
Good luck with your application.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- NMC Registered Nurse Level 1
- Educated to Degree Level. equivalent diploma and experience
- Practice development experience R23 - Enhancing Neonatal Practice Leadership development
- Newborn Life Support Course
Desirable
- Post Graduate Certificate in Education or equivalent
- Service Improvement or project management qualification/course attendance
- Presentation skills
Experience
Essential
- A sound understanding of the NMC Code of Professional Conduc
- Post registration experience in speciality
- Obtained competency in a variety of clinical skills
Desirable
- Experience within a variety of clinical specialities
- Evidence of delivering teaching sessions
- Experience of action planning
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- NMC Registered Nurse Level 1
- Educated to Degree Level. equivalent diploma and experience
- Practice development experience R23 - Enhancing Neonatal Practice Leadership development
- Newborn Life Support Course
Desirable
- Post Graduate Certificate in Education or equivalent
- Service Improvement or project management qualification/course attendance
- Presentation skills
Experience
Essential
- A sound understanding of the NMC Code of Professional Conduc
- Post registration experience in speciality
- Obtained competency in a variety of clinical skills
Desirable
- Experience within a variety of clinical specialities
- Evidence of delivering teaching sessions
- Experience of action planning
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.
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).
Additional information
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.
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).
