Job summary
The Bone Health Service is a small countywide service, seeking to recruit a motivated nurse to join the team.
You will be required to have an understanding of osteoporosis and falls in order to provide advice and support for those at risk of osteoporosis following a fracture.
Through delivering outpatient clinics and in-reach to acute hospitals across the county, the Bone Health Nurse will help ensure that older people in Gloucestershire who sustain a fragility fracture are identified, assessed for future fracture risk, and receive appropriate evidence-based interventions to help prevent further fractures.
You will receive training and support to help you develop the skills, knowledge and confidence to provide high quality care.
Main duties of the job
The successful post holder will work alongside the established team. Responsibilities will include case-finding, assessing, requesting diagnostic investigations, and making recommendations, or prescribing treatment, for secondary prevention of osteoporotic fractures for their group of patients on an inpatient and outpatient basis. This can include referring for investigations such as bone density scans once competent to do so, and prescribing medication. Independent non-medical prescribing would be an advantage, but not essential, as appropriate training can be offered.
The qualification, training & experience requirements for the role are underlined in the Job Description/Person Specification.
About us
We have a skilled and dedicated workforce of over 5000 colleagues working in a diverse range of services over 55 sites and within people's homes. We strive to enable a welcoming workplace culture that builds and celebrates civility, inclusivity and diversity, while providing a sense of belonging and trust.
Annual staff surveys, regular Pulse surveys and other engagement opportunities provide our people with lots of opportunity to tell us about their experiences of working with us. In the latest staff survey, 61% of colleagues gave us their views. It was great to hear that:
- 72% of colleagues would recommend the Trust as a place to work, ranking us 1st for Provider Trusts in the South West region on this question.
- 76% would recommend the standard of care provided in our services if a friend or relative needed treatment, also ranking us 1st in the South West region.
- 81% said that care of patients and service users is the Trust's priority, compared with an average in comparable NHS Trusts in England of 64%.
This high-level overview shows we are in a healthy position, with higher scores than average for comparable organisations, alongside a great response rate, indicating good staff engagement. However, we also know we have plenty of room for improvement in many areas. To that end, we continue to prioritise and invest in our commitment to genuinely becoming a Great Place to Work with consistent top-quartile performance in the annual staff survey and Pulse surveys.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Responsible for case-finding, assessing, requesting diagnostic investigations within scope of practice, and making recommendations, or prescribing treatment, for secondary prevention of osteoporotic fractures. This can include prescribing medication and providing lifestyle advice.Be skilled in patient assessment and history taking to formulate a person-centred treatment and management plan.Review and discuss the results of investigations, including blood results and bone density scans, with the patient.Provide treatment and medication education and assess concordance with medications.Identify and coordinate treatment of patients requiring parenteral osteoporosis treatment. This can include the safe administration of subcutaneous injections for suitable patients.Act as an expert resource to other healthcare staff in the clinical management of patients.Be prepared to undertake additional learning to develop specialist knowledge.Demonstrate effective verbal and written communication and networking with multi-disciplinary and multi-agency teams to ensure seamless and integrated service delivery.Engage in effective communication with service users, relatives and carers, often delivering complex and sensitive information.Ensure the Bone Health Service is delivered in line with the local referral pathway for the service, and be guided by Local and National relevant guidance for osteoporosis and secondary fracture prevention.Evaluate risk factors for falling and identify the need for further assessment or interventions.Refer to relevant services as identified in clinical assessment, for example, Falls Assessment and Education Service, Consultant Osteoporosis clinics.Contribute to provision of educational support to patients and healthcare professionals.Work within an ethical framework and demonstrate sensitivity and responsiveness to the cultural and social backgrounds and expectations of service users.Be able to access and analyse up-to-date evidence to inform care.Contribute to the coordination, development and evaluation of the Bone Health Service with support from the Bone Health specialist nurse. Contribute to the development of an audit programme.Contribute to the development of action plans to address service areas for improvement.Responsible for inputting accurate information into patient electronic records in line with documentation and record keeping policies.Work closely with team secretary to ensure efficient running of the service and outpatient appointment system.Report any identified concerns or issues in line with agreed policies.Support Buddy/ Lone working policy for safety of self and team members.Take part in clinical supervision and work as a reflective practitioner.Engage in and attend service team meetings and Osteoporosis group meetings to maintain professional development, contribute to sharing good practice, and cooperate in peer support.Engage with wider Long Term Condition Services as required.Attend relevant national conferences as available and on agreement with Trust study leave processes to maintain specialist knowledge.Be responsible for effective use and management of resources, including supplies and maintenance of any equipment.Organise own time and be able to work autonomously within remit of agreed role.Be accountable for your practice in accordance with the NMC Code of Professional Conduct.Work to continue to demonstrate the importance of the clinical nurse specialist role to both patients and healthcare professionals.Support Bone Health specialist nurse in operational management of the service.
The Trustis required towork in line with the Governments UK Visa and Immigration Rules and Regulations. For more information about sponsorship for certain roles, please visit -https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas
Job description
Job responsibilities
Responsible for case-finding, assessing, requesting diagnostic investigations within scope of practice, and making recommendations, or prescribing treatment, for secondary prevention of osteoporotic fractures. This can include prescribing medication and providing lifestyle advice.Be skilled in patient assessment and history taking to formulate a person-centred treatment and management plan.Review and discuss the results of investigations, including blood results and bone density scans, with the patient.Provide treatment and medication education and assess concordance with medications.Identify and coordinate treatment of patients requiring parenteral osteoporosis treatment. This can include the safe administration of subcutaneous injections for suitable patients.Act as an expert resource to other healthcare staff in the clinical management of patients.Be prepared to undertake additional learning to develop specialist knowledge.Demonstrate effective verbal and written communication and networking with multi-disciplinary and multi-agency teams to ensure seamless and integrated service delivery.Engage in effective communication with service users, relatives and carers, often delivering complex and sensitive information.Ensure the Bone Health Service is delivered in line with the local referral pathway for the service, and be guided by Local and National relevant guidance for osteoporosis and secondary fracture prevention.Evaluate risk factors for falling and identify the need for further assessment or interventions.Refer to relevant services as identified in clinical assessment, for example, Falls Assessment and Education Service, Consultant Osteoporosis clinics.Contribute to provision of educational support to patients and healthcare professionals.Work within an ethical framework and demonstrate sensitivity and responsiveness to the cultural and social backgrounds and expectations of service users.Be able to access and analyse up-to-date evidence to inform care.Contribute to the coordination, development and evaluation of the Bone Health Service with support from the Bone Health specialist nurse. Contribute to the development of an audit programme.Contribute to the development of action plans to address service areas for improvement.Responsible for inputting accurate information into patient electronic records in line with documentation and record keeping policies.Work closely with team secretary to ensure efficient running of the service and outpatient appointment system.Report any identified concerns or issues in line with agreed policies.Support Buddy/ Lone working policy for safety of self and team members.Take part in clinical supervision and work as a reflective practitioner.Engage in and attend service team meetings and Osteoporosis group meetings to maintain professional development, contribute to sharing good practice, and cooperate in peer support.Engage with wider Long Term Condition Services as required.Attend relevant national conferences as available and on agreement with Trust study leave processes to maintain specialist knowledge.Be responsible for effective use and management of resources, including supplies and maintenance of any equipment.Organise own time and be able to work autonomously within remit of agreed role.Be accountable for your practice in accordance with the NMC Code of Professional Conduct.Work to continue to demonstrate the importance of the clinical nurse specialist role to both patients and healthcare professionals.Support Bone Health specialist nurse in operational management of the service.
The Trustis required towork in line with the Governments UK Visa and Immigration Rules and Regulations. For more information about sponsorship for certain roles, please visit -https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Registered Nurse
- Appropriate nursing qualification educated to degree level, or equivalent
Desirable
- Teaching, Assessing or equivalent Support in Learning Course
- Independent Non Medical Prescribing (or willingness to undertake)
- Radiology Non- medical referral qualification (or willingness to undertake)
Experience
Essential
- Experience of working in adult nursing
- Experience in orthopaedic, care of the elderly, or frailty nursing
- Experience of multi-agency working, including primary, secondary and voluntary sectors
- IT literate- experience of using a variety of IT programmes including electronic patient records
Desirable
- Post-registration experience of caring for patients with osteoporosis and/or who have had a fragility fracture
- Experience in patient assessment, including the taking of patient history
- Experience of supervising/mentoring others
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Registered Nurse
- Appropriate nursing qualification educated to degree level, or equivalent
Desirable
- Teaching, Assessing or equivalent Support in Learning Course
- Independent Non Medical Prescribing (or willingness to undertake)
- Radiology Non- medical referral qualification (or willingness to undertake)
Experience
Essential
- Experience of working in adult nursing
- Experience in orthopaedic, care of the elderly, or frailty nursing
- Experience of multi-agency working, including primary, secondary and voluntary sectors
- IT literate- experience of using a variety of IT programmes including electronic patient records
Desirable
- Post-registration experience of caring for patients with osteoporosis and/or who have had a fragility fracture
- Experience in patient assessment, including the taking of patient history
- Experience of supervising/mentoring others
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).
