Practice Nurse

Job responsibilities

Accountability

To the Lead Practice Nurse for day to day issues

To Partners of the Practice for clinical and professional issues

To Practice Manager for employment issues

Overall purpose of role

To advise the partners on nursing matters and contribute to the wider development of the practice

To co-ordinate the care of patients with attached community nursing colleagues including the community matrons, district nurses, health visitors and specialist teams

To help develop and implement the recall system for those patients on the Chronic Disease Registers.

To assess patients with complex health needs or who may require specialist interventions

To develop plans, including those for specialist interventions, to meet the health needs of patients

To plan, implement and review programmes to improve health and wellbeing and meet the specific needs of individuals and groups

To contribute to analysing, interpreting and reporting factual data and information on the health and wellbeing needs of the practice population

To contribute to developing, implementing and monitoring policies, standards and guidelines within own sphere of practice

To have regard to the effective and efficient use of practice and NHS resources

To contribute to the development of students and staff

To promote the health, safety and security of colleagues and self

Key responsibilitiesClinical practice

• Assess, plan, develop, implement and evaluate treatment programmes that promote health and well-being
• Assess, plan, implement and evaluate individual treatment plans for patients with a known long-term condition
• Proactively identify, diagnose and manage treatment plans for patients at risk of developing a long-term condition
• Work with other health care professionals to diagnose, monitor, manage and treat long-term conditions, including using non-drug-based treatment methods, in line with national and local policies and practice needs
• Review medication for therapeutic effectiveness, appropriate to patient needs and in accordance with evidence based practice and national and practice protocols
• Work with patients in order to support adherence to prescribed treatments
• Provide information and advice on prescribed or over-the-counter medication on medication regimens, side-effects and interactions
• Prioritise health problems and intervene appropriately to assist the patient in complex, urgent or emergency situations, including initiation of effective emergency care
• Support patients to adopt health promotion strategies that promote them to live healthily, and apply principles of self-care
• Assess, identify and refer patients presenting with mental health needs in accordance with the NSF for Mental Health as required
• Promote and deliver evidence-based care for patients presenting with aural conditions
• Meet the needs of patients presenting for opportunistic wound care

Communication

• Demonstrate sensitive communication styles to ensure patients are fully informed and consent to treatment
• Communicate with and support patients who are receiving bad news
• Communicate effectively with patients and carers, recognising the need for alternative methods of communication to overcome different levels of understanding, cultural background and preferred ways of communicating
• Anticipate barriers to communication and take action to improve communication
• Estimate and maintain effective communication within the practice environment and with external stakeholders
• Act as an advocate when representing patients and colleagues
• Participate in practice team meetings, delivering the nursing agenda
• Produce written documents that evidence the contribution of the nursing team to the practice priorities
• Ensure awareness of sources of support and guidance and provide information in an acceptable format to all patients, recognising any difficulties and referring where appropriate

Delivering a quality service

• Recognise and work within own competence and professional code of conduct as regulated by the NMC
• Produce accurate, contemporaneous and complete records of patient consultation, consistent with legislation, policies and procedures
• Prioritise, organise and manage own and others workload in a manner that maintains and promotes quality
• Deliver care as an individual and team according to NSF, NICE guidelines and evidence-based care
• Assess effectiveness of care delivery for the nursing team through peer review, benchmarking and formal evaluation
• Implement and review the application of evidence-based practice in nursing
• Utilise the audit cycle as a means of evaluating the quality of the work of self and the team, implementing improvements where required
• Respond to local and national policies and initiatives as appropriate
• Evaluate patients response to health care provision and the effectiveness of care
• Participate in shared learning across the practice and wider organisation
• Review of patient complaints, and identify learning from clinical incidents and near-miss events utilising a structured framework (eg root-cause analysis)
• Assess the impact of policy implementation on care delivery
• Understand and apply legal policy that supports the identification of vulnerable and abused children and adults, being aware of statutory child/vulnerable adult health procedure and local guidance
• Work within policies regarding family violence, vulnerable adults, substance abuse and addictive behaviour, and refer as appropriate
• Leadership personal and people development

• Take responsibility for own development, learning and performance including participating in clinical supervision and acting as a positive role model
• Support the development of others in order to maximise staff potential
• Actively promote the workplace as a learning environment, encouraging everyone to learn from each other and from external good practice
• Make realistic self-assessment of their knowledge and skills, challenging any complacency and actions that are not in the interest of the public and/or users of service
• Act as a clinical leader in the delivery of GPN services to patients, ensuring that the needs of the patient are the priority
• Participate in the development of local guidelines, protocols and standards
• Promote the role of the nursing team in the provision of care

Team working

• Understand own role and scope in the practice and identify how this may develop over time
• Work as an effective and responsible team member, supporting others and exploring the mechanisms to develop new ways of working
• Delegate appropriately, adopting the principles of safe practice and assessment of competence of nurses
• Ensure clear referral mechanisms are in place to meet patient need
• Prioritise own and others workload and ensure effective time-management strategies are embedded within the culture of the team
• Work effectively with others to clearly define values, direction and policies impacting upon care delivery
• Participate in nursing team activities that create opportunities to improve patient care
• Participate in and support local projects as agreed with the practice management team
• Ensure the safe storage, rotation and disposal of vaccines and drugs. Oversee the monitoring, stock control and documentation of controlled drug usage according to legal requirements
• Act as a role model to support members of the nursing team to undertake mandatory and statutory training requirements
• Apply infection-control measures within the practice according to local and national guidelines
• Apply policies that reduce environmental health risks, are culturally sensitive and increase access to health care for all
• Participate in the local implementation strategies that are aligned to the values and culture of general practice Learning and development

• Act as mentor for more junior staff and students, assessing competence against set standards
• Disseminate learning and information to other team members in order to share good practice and inform others about current and future developments (eg courses and conferences)
• Assess own learning needs and undertake learning as appropriate

Qualifications

Essential

• Essential
• Registered General Nurse
• Member of the Royal College of Nursing
• Registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council
• Evidence of skills for assessing and interpreting patient conditions and following protocols in place for managing their illness
• Able to document contemporaneous accurate patient records
• Ability to problem solve

Desirable

• Relevant experience of working in a primary care setting
• Experience in audit and protocol development
• Skills, experience and qualifications in:
• Asthma and COPD
• Ischaemic heart disease
• Diabetes
• Child and travel immunisations
• Contraception
• Cytology
• Menopause
• Health promotion
• Care of the elderly
• Wound care
• DMARD monitoring
• Use of SystmOne clinical system

Experience

Essential

• Ability to work well within a multidisciplinary team
• Evidence of good communication and interpersonal skills
• Able to demonstrate empathy and sensitivity
• History of positive working relationships
• Sensitive to the impact of own behaviour on others
• Aware of own limitations and able to ask for help appropriately
• Able to reflect and learn from clinical and interpersonal issues

Desirable

• Requirement for necessary vaccinations relevant to occupational role
• High level of IT skills
• Flexible and reflective
• Prepared to share successes and challenges as well as to practice in an open way with both colleagues and patients
• Self-aware and able to manage stress

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).