Job summary
An exciting opportunity has arisen to recruit a DVT and Anticoagulant Nurse Specialist for our team at Southport Hospital.
The DVT and VTE service is provided by Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NS Trust. The Service is predominantly a nurse led service.
The Specialist Nurse will assess, plan, implement and evaluate the clinical pathways for patient's presenting with suspected DVT, confirmed DVT. The specialist Nurse will initiate anticoagulation for a variety of clinical conditions.
The Specialist Nurse will initiate treatment using non-medical prescribing following hospital guidelines.
Develop and implement trust policy for service-related conditions and treatment in line with best practice guidance.
The Specialist nurse will manage the DVT clinic.
This post may be offered under Annex 21 AfC Terms & Conditions, subject to experience, competency and suitability.
Main duties of the job
- The post holder will perform a specialised Anti Coagulation analysis, to ensure patients are managing their Anti Coagulation medication safely at home to prevent hospital admissions
- The post holder will undertake a highly specialised triage process, offering a range of options to facilitate care planning for complex patients
- Specialist nurse led telephone consultations will be performed, utilising history taking and interpretation ofdiagnostic testing to ensure appropriate Anti Coagulation concordance anddeveloping care plans over the phone for patients to follow to prevent hospital admission in line with national and local guidelines. This role involves inputting at a keyboard, with a visual display unit, whilst wearing a headset.
- Coordinate and manage nurse led clinics (within speciality)
- The post holder will have the specialised knowledge and skills to draw on a diverse range of experience in decision making to determine evidence-based practise interventions, treatment planning, reviewing medication and actively monitoring interventions to maintain patient safety, initiating new medication and monitoring side effects.
- The post holder has specialised knowledge and skills to perform an individualised Anti Coagulation assessment process, including taking a history of the presenting complaint, considering differential diagnosis and instigate treatment plans, duration of treatment times and medical reviews.
About us
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.
We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.
Our services:
Acute Care
Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.
Primary Care
Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.
Community Services
Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation, freeing up space for more unwell patients. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.
Specialist Regional Services
We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.
Achievements:
- Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
- Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
- National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme
Job description
Job responsibilities
Communication
- Treat patients, carers and staff with respect and dignity.
- Research and evaluates information to ensure that patients receive optimal best practice care.
- Ensure that confidentiality of information sharing with relevant agencies via Caldecott guardians.
- Demonstrate full understanding of freedom of information and process
- Demonstrate clear communication with patients who may have communication or understanding difficulties
- Provide clear written and verbal instruction, advice and guidance. Providing counselling to patients and carers to ensure the safe and effective delivery of anticoagulation therapy
- Communicate and explain highly complex and sensitive information to patients and careers, to deliver individualised care plans
- Demonstrate understanding of child and adult safeguarding
- Demonstrate thorough and contemporaneous record keeping in line with professional guidelines.
- Maintain and enhance communication within the emergency department to ensure continuity of care.
- Maintain effective communication with support services e.g. radiology and pathology to ensure seamless delivery of care.
- Provide verbal and written advice on discharge to primary care agency.
- Co-ordinate shared care across both hospital sites to provide patients with access to treatment and monitoring.
- Provide Drop-In, telephone and face-to-face support to patients and carers
- Determine the duration of treatment time for patients receiving anticoagulation therapy, autonomously discontinuing treatment after performing a risk assessment.
Professional Clinical
- Deliver high standards of care using advanced skills with a broad and in-depth clinical knowledge base
- Accurate history taking, clinical examination, interpretation and diagnostic skills to reach a working diagnosis and/or identify associated health care problems.
- Assess and investigate provide treatment and discharge or refer patients with proven and suspected DVT. Using agreed pathways and protocols.
- Interpret clinical findings and results of clinical investigations to ensure that best practice treatments are provided.
- Develop care plans that are based on individual patients care needs using agreed pathways and protocols.
- Provide evidence-based treatments using non-medical prescribing based on clinical findings.
- Ensure that patients and careers are given comprehensive information in relation to their condition and diagnosis. Proposed treatments and options and discussed utilising knowledge and best practice guidance.
- Identify reasons where patients may not safely be treated through this service and ensure effective referral to health care professional.
- Identify signs and symptoms that require urgent referral and possible in-patient admission and ensure effective prompt referral.
- Accept referrals from and refer to appropriate health care professionals utilising accepted pathways and protocols
- Autonomously adjust warfarin dosing and initiate bridging / switching treatments as appropriate.
- Adhere to trust policy, guidelines and local formularies when prescribing administering and delivering medications.
- Identify and manage significant clinical risk associated with sub-optimal anticoagulation therapy. E.g. patients with identified history of substance and/or alcohol misuse.
- Counsel patients on thrombophilia screening and arrange the necessary tests.
- Ensure safe use and storage of medical equipment
- Work in partnership with GP and system partners.
- Adhere to agreed pathways for the safe and appropriate discharge and transfer of patients.
- Organise and deliver follow-up appointments for monitoring and adjustment of treatments, utilising agreed pathways and best practice advice.
- Update and provide evidence-based information literature to patient and or carers.
- Ensure collaborative working with heath care professionals to ensure un-necessary hospital admission.
Managerial and Leadership
- Liaise with and develop working relationships with consultant physicians, nurse consultants and haematologists.
- Supervise and support staff as required.
- Provide clinical support and education to staff
- Provide clinical expertise to enable service redesign and development.
- Provide mentorship to students and staff.
- Ensure that relevant equipment in maintained, celebrated and in working order and ensure that all relevant staff are educated in its safe and correct use.
- Maintain stock of patient consumable and ensure cost effective delivery.
- Ensure that staff are compliant and adhere to effective record keeping
- Ensure collaborative relationships with service leads to ensure that service delivery is in line with approved best practice service and evidence-based care.
- Ensure that hospital policy and standard operating policy are up to date and reflect accurately best practice evidence-based guidance.
- Provide evidence based accurate clinical knowledge to colleagues, patients and carers.
- Demonstrate leadership skills of influencing, negotiating and collaborative working.
Education and Development
- Provide education and training support in the management of DVT and VTE.
- Develop and maintain own personal skills and knowledge in specialist field of expertise
- Use and develop best evidence-based practice
- Actively develop and participate in training and educational development of trust employees
- Undertake audit that demonstrate effective delivery of service against and national and regional measures.
Clinical Governance
- Ensure compliance against policy and procedure and clinical pathways
- Continually monitor standards of service delivery. Undertaking audit and research.
- Share findings of above through approved trust forums
Job description
Job responsibilities
Communication
- Treat patients, carers and staff with respect and dignity.
- Research and evaluates information to ensure that patients receive optimal best practice care.
- Ensure that confidentiality of information sharing with relevant agencies via Caldecott guardians.
- Demonstrate full understanding of freedom of information and process
- Demonstrate clear communication with patients who may have communication or understanding difficulties
- Provide clear written and verbal instruction, advice and guidance. Providing counselling to patients and carers to ensure the safe and effective delivery of anticoagulation therapy
- Communicate and explain highly complex and sensitive information to patients and careers, to deliver individualised care plans
- Demonstrate understanding of child and adult safeguarding
- Demonstrate thorough and contemporaneous record keeping in line with professional guidelines.
- Maintain and enhance communication within the emergency department to ensure continuity of care.
- Maintain effective communication with support services e.g. radiology and pathology to ensure seamless delivery of care.
- Provide verbal and written advice on discharge to primary care agency.
- Co-ordinate shared care across both hospital sites to provide patients with access to treatment and monitoring.
- Provide Drop-In, telephone and face-to-face support to patients and carers
- Determine the duration of treatment time for patients receiving anticoagulation therapy, autonomously discontinuing treatment after performing a risk assessment.
Professional Clinical
- Deliver high standards of care using advanced skills with a broad and in-depth clinical knowledge base
- Accurate history taking, clinical examination, interpretation and diagnostic skills to reach a working diagnosis and/or identify associated health care problems.
- Assess and investigate provide treatment and discharge or refer patients with proven and suspected DVT. Using agreed pathways and protocols.
- Interpret clinical findings and results of clinical investigations to ensure that best practice treatments are provided.
- Develop care plans that are based on individual patients care needs using agreed pathways and protocols.
- Provide evidence-based treatments using non-medical prescribing based on clinical findings.
- Ensure that patients and careers are given comprehensive information in relation to their condition and diagnosis. Proposed treatments and options and discussed utilising knowledge and best practice guidance.
- Identify reasons where patients may not safely be treated through this service and ensure effective referral to health care professional.
- Identify signs and symptoms that require urgent referral and possible in-patient admission and ensure effective prompt referral.
- Accept referrals from and refer to appropriate health care professionals utilising accepted pathways and protocols
- Autonomously adjust warfarin dosing and initiate bridging / switching treatments as appropriate.
- Adhere to trust policy, guidelines and local formularies when prescribing administering and delivering medications.
- Identify and manage significant clinical risk associated with sub-optimal anticoagulation therapy. E.g. patients with identified history of substance and/or alcohol misuse.
- Counsel patients on thrombophilia screening and arrange the necessary tests.
- Ensure safe use and storage of medical equipment
- Work in partnership with GP and system partners.
- Adhere to agreed pathways for the safe and appropriate discharge and transfer of patients.
- Organise and deliver follow-up appointments for monitoring and adjustment of treatments, utilising agreed pathways and best practice advice.
- Update and provide evidence-based information literature to patient and or carers.
- Ensure collaborative working with heath care professionals to ensure un-necessary hospital admission.
Managerial and Leadership
- Liaise with and develop working relationships with consultant physicians, nurse consultants and haematologists.
- Supervise and support staff as required.
- Provide clinical support and education to staff
- Provide clinical expertise to enable service redesign and development.
- Provide mentorship to students and staff.
- Ensure that relevant equipment in maintained, celebrated and in working order and ensure that all relevant staff are educated in its safe and correct use.
- Maintain stock of patient consumable and ensure cost effective delivery.
- Ensure that staff are compliant and adhere to effective record keeping
- Ensure collaborative relationships with service leads to ensure that service delivery is in line with approved best practice service and evidence-based care.
- Ensure that hospital policy and standard operating policy are up to date and reflect accurately best practice evidence-based guidance.
- Provide evidence based accurate clinical knowledge to colleagues, patients and carers.
- Demonstrate leadership skills of influencing, negotiating and collaborative working.
Education and Development
- Provide education and training support in the management of DVT and VTE.
- Develop and maintain own personal skills and knowledge in specialist field of expertise
- Use and develop best evidence-based practice
- Actively develop and participate in training and educational development of trust employees
- Undertake audit that demonstrate effective delivery of service against and national and regional measures.
Clinical Governance
- Ensure compliance against policy and procedure and clinical pathways
- Continually monitor standards of service delivery. Undertaking audit and research.
- Share findings of above through approved trust forums
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- First Level Registered Nurse
- Mentorship qualification
Desirable
- Degree or working towards
- Non- Medical Prescribing level 6 or above or non- medical independent prescriber
Knowledge and Experience
Essential
- Evidence of experience working within DVT VTE service
- Evidence of ongoing CPD
- Evidence of interdisciplinary working
- Evidence of clinical examination
- Evidence of anticoagulation patient management
- Evidence of education in anti-coagulation therapy
Desirable
- Evidence of service development / design
Skills
Essential
- Post registration experience in the delivery of anticoagulation therapy
- Demonstrate specialist expertise underpinned by theory acquired through personal knowledge and skills profile
- Multi-disciplinary/multi-agency working
- Evidence of leadership
- Experience in the developments of pathways, protocols
- Demonstrable evidence of improving and developing service and Practice
- Able to work autonomously
- Demonstrate effective communication/negotiation skills
- Able to analyse data and provide written reports
- Able to present information as to a variety of professional groups
- Is in possession of computer literacy skills
- Ability to Perform advanced clinical skills
- Understanding of clinical governance framework and implications for Practice
Other
Essential
- Ability to communicate unpleasant / sensitive information to patients in a variety of settings
- Responsible for personal safety
- Ability to manage changing workload, taking autonomous decision relating to patient care
- Ability to deal with complex calculations. Complex diagnostic and care evaluations
- Ability to deal with complex ethical and sensitive care evaluations
- Ability to deal with multiple projects and deadlines
- Ability to deal sensitively with complex and challenging care assessments
- Ability to handle multiple projects and work to tight deadlines
- Working in hospital environment
- Working as part of a team and MDT
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- First Level Registered Nurse
- Mentorship qualification
Desirable
- Degree or working towards
- Non- Medical Prescribing level 6 or above or non- medical independent prescriber
Knowledge and Experience
Essential
- Evidence of experience working within DVT VTE service
- Evidence of ongoing CPD
- Evidence of interdisciplinary working
- Evidence of clinical examination
- Evidence of anticoagulation patient management
- Evidence of education in anti-coagulation therapy
Desirable
- Evidence of service development / design
Skills
Essential
- Post registration experience in the delivery of anticoagulation therapy
- Demonstrate specialist expertise underpinned by theory acquired through personal knowledge and skills profile
- Multi-disciplinary/multi-agency working
- Evidence of leadership
- Experience in the developments of pathways, protocols
- Demonstrable evidence of improving and developing service and Practice
- Able to work autonomously
- Demonstrate effective communication/negotiation skills
- Able to analyse data and provide written reports
- Able to present information as to a variety of professional groups
- Is in possession of computer literacy skills
- Ability to Perform advanced clinical skills
- Understanding of clinical governance framework and implications for Practice
Other
Essential
- Ability to communicate unpleasant / sensitive information to patients in a variety of settings
- Responsible for personal safety
- Ability to manage changing workload, taking autonomous decision relating to patient care
- Ability to deal with complex calculations. Complex diagnostic and care evaluations
- Ability to deal with complex ethical and sensitive care evaluations
- Ability to deal with multiple projects and deadlines
- Ability to deal sensitively with complex and challenging care assessments
- Ability to handle multiple projects and work to tight deadlines
- Working in hospital environment
- Working as part of a team and MDT
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.
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.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
