Job responsibilities
In line with the Trust Vision to provide the Best Care for Everyone
- To act as an autonomous practitioner with guidance from the senior pain nurse specialist and consultant from the Inpatient Pain Service.
- To manage a caseload of patients within the defined clinical area.
- To act independently in the absence of the senior pain sisters.
- To ensure that a pain management plan is in place for patients with complex pain needs for out of hours care.
- To act as a resource for registered nurses who require specialist pain advice and support in order to deliver high quality nursing care
- To work effectively as a member of a multidisciplinary team, including close liaison with teams such as; palliative care team, Acute Care Response Team and the drugs and alcohol services
- Collaboration, and some cross working with the chronic pain service.
- To provide high quality patient care and to deliver/maintain high standards in accordance with UK law, the NMC, National and Trust guidelines.
- To maintain patient safety by adhering to national and local guidelines, responding appropriately to National Patient Safety Alerts and by identifying risks associated with specific pain management techniques
- To act as a Trust resource; planning and providing specialist knowledge and education in the field of pain management to the multi-disciplinary team.
- To undertake/contribute to audit, and implement change within the specialty.
- To provide specialist training for staff in the areas of acute and complex pain management including the use of specialist equipment e.g. Patient Controlled Analgesia (PCA), epidural infusions, local anaesthetic infusions, ketamine infusions and the entonox administration unit.
Professional values
- Adhere to the NMC Code of Practice at all times and operate within the NMC scope of professional practice.
- Ensure clinical practice is evidence based or peer reviewed best practice
- Work in a manner that promotes the Trust values and core objectives
- Maintain own professional development, mandatory training and NMC revalidation requirements
- Always seek advice and support when required, and encourage others to do the same. Recognise own limitations
- Maintain patient dignity and confidentiality at all times
- Keep abreast of information disseminated in the Trust
- Ensure patient safety is paramount
- Maintain accurate and contemporaneous records
Communication and interpersonal skills
- Possess excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- Effective influencing and negotiating skills, especially when managing challenging situations and people
- Communicate effectively with patients/family/carers in potentially complex, sensitive or distressing situations; in order to provide patient centred care. Adapting communication style for those who may have communication, perceptual or cognitive/understanding difficulties
- Communicate sensitively with ward staff and other members of the MDT, particularly when needing to led difficult conversations or manage poor practice
- Maintain clear, accurate and concise patient records in line with departmental and professional standards and include relevant outcome measures.
- Possess proficient presentation and training skills
Leadership, management and team working
- Demonstrate an ability to work cohesively and harmoniously within a small team and with other members of the MDT
- Role model high standards of patient care, communication, commitment and organisation for others to follow
- Comply with Trust and Departmental policies and procedures e.g. Health and Safety at Work Act (1974), Manual Handling, clinical equipment competency, risk management, Data Protection Acts and patient confidentiality at all times. This will include demonstrating compliance with the terms of all safeguarding policies and processes relevant to the safeguarding of adults and children in the care of GHNHSFT and to undergo regular mandatory training concerned with safeguarding matters
- Report near misses and untoward incidents, complaints, clinical emergencies, injury or medicine administration errors as detailed in the departmental and Trust protocols. Assist lead staff in investigating incidents as required.
- Maintain and contribute to the development of standards of practice, conduct or decision making in conjunction with lead staff.
- Ensure a smart, professional image that enhances the public perception of the Trust and the professionalism of its staff is portrayed.
Knowledge, Skills & Experience Required
- Registered Nurse: up to date and without any restrictions on the Nursing and Midwifery Council register (NMC)
- Have demonstrated a genuine interest in pain management
- Have substantial years surgical ward based experience or the equivalent
- Possess a working knowledge of currently used analgesic techniques
- Ability to manage an unpredictable workload, in challenging situations.
- Confident to work autonomously, undertaking nurse led patient assessment
- Have advanced communication skills; able to respond to situations with sensitivity and professionalism
- Completed a recognised teaching qualification or demonstrate evidence of teaching experience
- Confidence teaching all grades of clinical staff in both formal and informal settings
- Involvement with quality improvement and audit within their area of clinical practice
Education and training
- Maintain and continually develop specialist knowledge, competence and skills required to perform the role effectively.
- To work towards independent Non-Medical Prescribers course (NMP) and Pathophysiology and Diagnostic Reasoning in Clinical Practice, if not already attained.
- Undertake all mandatory training.
- Be actively involved in and support departmental education programmes.
- To consolidate and learn new skills and competencies to provide holistic care. To develop clinical reasoning and treatment techniques through the active participation in training and development. To consolidate knowledge and skills learned through this process. This will involve facilitating own learning opportunities, reflecting on practice and learning through this process.
- To identify gaps in pain knowledge and associated training requirements in clinical areas.
- To develop and deliver ad hoc training sessions for ward areas according to clinical need and provide pain education for other members of the multi-disciplinary team.
- Develop the skills to supervise, mentor, support and educate less experienced registered and non-registered staff in the clinical practice setting.
- Demonstrate a commitment to research based practice and clinical excellence and play an active part in the introduction of research based change to improve patient centred care.
- Participate in the development and maintenance of the pain link nurse role.
- Be competent in the use of all relevant Trust IT systems
Improving quality and developing practice
- Comply with requirements to register with the NMC and identify own learning needs and ensuring own professional development is maintained, by keeping up to date with practice developments.
- Work with senior staff undertaking audit and research projects. To be involved in making recommendations for changes to practice and procedures for the relevant clinical area, and the implementation of these changes.
- Contribute to the Clinical Governance and Quality agenda by active participation in service initiatives, health and safety and risk management.
- Develop and share own clinical knowledge with other members of the wider clinical team both locally and nationally.
- Engage in clinical supervision in order to gain an appreciation of its value in clinical practice
- Identify own development needs, aligning these to service requirements and personal aspirations. Proactively develop and improve own practice using all available resources
- Understand and contribute to the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies/ protocols/ guidelines relevant to the specialist area.
- Openly question and challenge practice in a constructive way so that standards of patient care are continually evaluated and improved.
Physical, Mental & Emotional Effort & Working Conditions
- Comply with Trust and Departmental policies and procedures: Health and Safety at work, manual handling, risk assessment, Data Protection Acts and patient confidentiality
- Implement and ensure best practice based on national and local guidelines / policies, with the potential need to challenge and overcome practitioners entrenched views and practices.
- Required to utilise recognised manual handling techniques and guidelines
- May be expected to manoeuvre patients / objects over 15kg using appropriate aids
- Will have regular exposure to distressing and emotionally demanding situations involving staff, patients and relatives.
- Will have exposure to patients displaying verbal and physical abuse
- Will have exposure to and will be required to follow policies and procedures pertaining to bodily fluids, infection control and substances hazardous to health.
- Will be required to work using computer based systems on a daily basis
- Will be expected to work on both sides of the Trust as a member of the Inpatient Pain Service.
- Ongoing requirement to maintain excellent standards of care whilst working under pressure in a challenging environment.
- Ability to be professional where the work pattern may be unpredictable and highly stressful
- Be willing to attend pain conferences and other pertinent seminars concerning pain management and keep up to date with the latest research in the field of inpatient pain management.
- Ensure a smart, professional image that enhances the public perception of the Trust.
