Job responsibilities
1.1. Clinical
1.1.1. Empower patients and carers by providing health education enabling informed decisions about their care.
1.1.2. Enhancing compliance with preventative actions such as vaccinations and prophylactic medications
1.1.3. Provide guidance on self-management to prevent exacerbation of patients condition to reduce incidences of acute episodes requiring admission to secondary care.
1.1.4. Address social and lifestyle factors which impact on condition management and overall quality of life, directing to appropriate local support services and external agencies.
1.1.5. Act as a patient advocate through the application of ethical, legal, and professional knowledge and skills, considering the multicultural needs of the patient by identifying demographic factors that influence health care needs of this patient group.
1.1.6. Provide targeted support to high-intensity users of secondary care including directing patients into existing NCL programmes for frequent ED attenders.
1.1.7. Pre-contact with patients to reduce DNA rates to hospital.
1.1.8. Enable implementation of individual care plans for patients in all settings
1.1.9. Advise on appropriate drug management at home, including dosages and information on non-pharmacological management techniques. Follow up on a regular basis to monitor effectiveness of the regimen and compliance.
1.1.10. Where relevant, utilise advance prescribing skills within the guidance from NMC and Trust
1.1.11. Provide in-reach service to secondary care.
1.1.12. Implementation of a patient outreach health education group programme, and organisation of patient led education sessions.
1.1.13. Promote good clinical practice in line with evidence-based guidelines and policies.
1.1.14. Offer timely and appropriate community nursing interventions where appropriate seeking senior support when required.
1.1.15. Understand when a patients care is beyond own clinical limitation and to liaise with other senior members of the team, or other professionals for advice.
1.1.16. Initiate and contribute towards a multi-professional approach for the management of patients referred to the community service.
1.1.17. Work closely with haematologists, ward sisters and nurses to initiate timely early discharge planning and facilitate community services for early discharges.
1.1.18. Provide individualised advice, education and support to patients, and their relatives/carers to manage their treatments effectively in preparation for early discharge.
1.1.19. Support nurse led clinics, telephone, or face to face, interpreting results, taking appropriate action, and feeding back into MDT meetings and reviews.
1.1.20. Attend community MDT discussions within the department and with other specialities.
1.1.21. Deputise for senior colleagues as required.
1.1.22. Support Virtual Ward programmes providing specialist assessment and advice.
1.2. Education and Training
1.2.1. Identify training needs taking responsibility for maintaining own professional development, continuously reflecting on monitoring, evaluating, and improving own professional performance.
1.2.2. Contribute to training programme development for the service in the community.
1.2.3. Participate in addressing the training needs of other health professional involved in the service, and other relevant services.
1.2.4. Participate in all educational programmes the Haemoglobinopathy Services are committed to and contribute to the further development and delivery of educational initiatives.
1.2.5. Participate in activities to monitor and evaluate educational needs for patients and staff and implement any changes required.
1.2.6. Maintain accurate and contemporaneous records of attendance at training, for both self and other members of the specialist nursing team.
1.2.7. Support development and delivery of competency packages for each patient pathway.
1.3. Communication
1.3.1. Build trust with patients to enhance their overall healthcare experience.
1.3.2. Communicate effectively with patients ensuring an individualised and equitable approach to all, taking in to account the complex and sensitive nature of condition management needs for sickle cell disorder.
1.3.3. Maintain close links with multidisciplinary colleagues in primary, secondary, and social care to support early referral and enhance continuity of care for patients.
1.3.4. Ensure that appropriate, consistent written information is available for patients, relatives, staff, and visitors and that this is reviewed, updated, and promoted.
1.3.5. Utilise interpreting services for patients with a language barrier.
1.3.6. Maintain accurate records regarding all patient contacts, including telephone consultations.
1.3.7. Ensure the accuracy of results or information sent by letter to patients.
1.3.8. Ensure that confidentiality and adherence to the Data Protection Act in relation to own practice is maintained.
1.4. Time and People Management
1.4.1. Practice in an organised but flexible manner with the ability to respond to the unpredictable and challenging needs of the service including cross-site cover.
1.4.2. Effective time management with appropriate planning and prioritisation
1.4.3. The post holder may be required to act up into another senior nurse role within the haemoglobinopathies department.
1.5. Governance and Quality
1.5.1. Provide measurable standards of community practice in pain management and including psycho-social care.
1.5.2. Support data collection to enable service evaluation, including data quality entered on the National Haemoglobinopathy Register, ensuring it is accurate and submitted in a timely manner.
1.5.3. Ensure effective and efficient use of resources, assisting with review processes where necessary.
1.5.4. Attend local and regional meetings to share good practice and keep informed of changes to practice and national standards and targets.
