Practice Nurse

Job responsibilities

Job title

Practice nurse

Line manager

Lead Nurse

Accountable to

Practice manager administratively

Lead Nurse clinically

Hours per week

Full or part time,job share considered

Job summary

To be responsible for the delivery of practice nursing services, working as part of the practice multidisciplinary team, delivering care within their scope of practice to the entitled patient population. The practice nurse will be responsible for a number of clinical areas such as chronic disease management, infection prevention and control, health promotion, as well as supporting the management team in the reviewing of clinical policy and procedure.

Mission statement

To provide a primary care service that we would be happy for our loved ones to use.

Generic responsibilities

All staff at Greenview have a duty to conform to the following:

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

A good attitude and positive action towards ED&I creates an environment where all individuals are able to achieve their full potential. Creating such an environment is important for three reasons: it improves operational effectiveness, it is morally the right thing to do and it is required by law.

Patients and their families have the right to be treated fairly and be routinely involved in decisions about their treatment and care. They can expect to be treated with dignity and respect and will not be discriminated against on any grounds including age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. Patients have a responsibility to treat other patients and our staff with dignity and respect.

Staff have the right to be treated fairly in recruitment and career progression. Staff can expect to work in an environment where diversity is valued and equality of opportunity is promoted. Staff will not be discriminated against on any grounds including age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. Staff have a responsibility to ensure that they treat our patients and their colleagues with dignity and respect.

Safety, Health, Environment and Fire (SHEF)

This practice is committed to supporting and promoting opportunities for staff to maintain their health, well-being and safety. You have a duty to take reasonable care of health and safety at work for you, your team and others and to co-operate with employers to ensure compliance with health and safety requirements. All personnel are to comply with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, Environmental Protection Act 1990, Environment Act 1995, Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1999 and other statutory legislation.

Confidentiality

This practice is committed to maintaining an outstanding confidential service. Patients entrust and permit us to collect and retain sensitive information relating to their health and other matters pertaining to their care. They do so in confidence and have a right to expect all staff will respect their privacy and maintain confidentiality at all times. It is essential that, if the legal requirements are to be met and the trust of our patients is to be retained, all staff protect patient information and provide a confidential service.

Quality and Continuous Improvement (CI)

To preserve and improve the quality of our output, all personnel are required to think not only of what they do, but how they achieve it. By continually re-examining our processes, we will be able to develop and improve the overall effectiveness of the way we work. The responsibility for this rests with everyone working within the practice to look for opportunities to improve quality and share good practice.

This practice continually strives to improve work processes which deliver healthcare with improved results across all areas of our service provision. We promote a culture of continuous improvement where everyone counts and staff are permitted to make suggestions and contributions to improve our service delivery and enhance patient care.

Induction training

On arrival at the practice, all new personnel are to complete a practice induction programme. This is managed by the Lead Nurse/Practice Manager

Learning and development

The effective use of training and development is fundamental to ensuring that all staff are equipped with the appropriate skills, knowledge, attitude and competences to perform their role. All staff will be required to partake and complete mandatory training as directed by the training coordinator, as well as participating in the practice training programme. Staff will also be permitted (subject to approval) to undertake external training courses which will enhance their knowledge and skills, progress their career and ultimately enable them to improve processes and service delivery.

Collaborative working

All staff are to recognise the significance of collaborative working. Teamwork is essential in multidisciplinary environments. Effective communication is also essential and all staff must ensure they communicate in a manner which enables the sharing of information in an appropriate manner.

Service delivery

Staff at Greenview must adhere to the information contained within practice policies and regional directives, ensuring protocols are adhered to at all times. Staff will be given detailed information during the induction process regarding policy and procedure.

Security

The security of the practice is the responsibility of all personnel. Staff must ensure they remain vigilant at all times and report any suspicious activity immediately to their line manager. Under no circumstances are staff to share the codes for the door locks with anyone and they are to ensure that restricted areas remain effectively secured.

Professional conduct

At Greenview, staff are required to dress appropriately for their role. Administrative staff will be provided with a uniform whilst clinical staff must dress in accordance with their role.

Leave

All personnel are entitled to take leave. Line managers are to ensure all of their staff are afforded the opportunity to take all of their leave entitlement.

Primary responsibilities

The following are the core responsibilities of the practice nurse. There may be, on occasion, a requirement to carry out other tasks. This will be dependent upon factors such as workload and staffing levels:

a. To support Lead Nurse as the Infection Prevention Control (IPC) deputy and to work to the IPC Policy providing audits, training, support and evidence of compliance to the practice manager

b. To develop, implement and embed health promotion and well-being programmes

c. To implement and evaluate individual treatment plans for chronic disease patients

d. To identify, manage and support patients at risk of developing long term conditions, preventing adverse effects to patients health

e. To provide routine nursing care to patients as required in accordance with clinical based evidence, NICE and the NSF

f. To provide wound care (ulcer/Doppler etc.) to patients

g. To provide travel medicine services

h. To request pathology services as necessary

i. To process pathology results as required

j. To provide chronic disease clinics, delivering patient care as necessary, referring patients to secondary/specialist care as required

k. To maintain accurate clinical records in conjunction with extant legislation

l. To ensure read codes are used effectively

m. To maintain chronic disease registers

n. To chaperone patients where necessary

o. To assist GPs with minor surgery when required

p. To prioritise health issues and intervene appropriately

q. To support the team in dealing with clinical emergencies

r. To recognise, assess and refer patients presenting with mental health needs

s. To implement vaccination programmes for adults and children

t. To support patients in the use of their prescribed medicines or over the counter medicines (within own scope of practice)

u. To liaise with external services/agencies to ensure the patient is supported appropriately (vulnerable patients etc.)

v. To delegate clinical responsibilities appropriately (ensuring safe practice and the task is within the scope of practice of the individual)

w. To support the clinical team with all safeguarding matters in accordance with local and national policies

x. To understand practice and local policies for substance abuse and addictive behaviour, referring patients appropriately

y. To deliver opportunistic health promotion where appropriate

Secondary responsibilities

In addition to the primary responsibilities, the practice nurse may be requested to:

a. Work with the team to monitor and ensure the safe storage, rotation and disposal of medicaments

b. Support junior members of the nursing team, providing guidance when necessary

c. Participate in local initiatives to enhance service delivery and patient care

d. Support and participate in shared learning within the practice

e. Continually review clinical practices, responding to national policies and initiatives where appropriate

f. Participate in the review of significant and near-miss events applying a structured approach, i.e. root cause analysis (RCA)

Qualifications

Essential

• Person specification Practice Nurse
• QualificationsEssentialDesirable
• Registered nurse
• Post graduate diploma or degree (Primary Care)
• ExperienceEssentialDesirable
• Experience of working in a primary care environment
• Experience of working as a practice nurse or community nurse
• Experience of chronic disease management
• Experience of infection prevention and control measures
• Clinical knowledge and skillsEssentialDesirable
• Wound care/removal of sutures and staples
• ECGs
• Venepuncture
• New patient medicals
• Chaperone procedure
• Requesting pathology tests and processing the results, advising patients accordingly
• Learning Disability reviews
• Compression Bandaging
• Ear Syringing
• Travel medicine
• Diabetes
• Hypertension
• Asthma
• Spirometry
• CHD
• Immunisations (routine, childhood and travel)
• Womens health (cervical cytology, contraception, etc.)
• Understanding the importance of evidence based practice
• Broad knowledge of clinical governance
• Ability to record accurate clinical notes
• Ability to work within own scope of practice and understand when to refer to GPs
• Understanding of infection prevention and control measures
• Knowledge of public health issues in the local area
• Awareness of issues within the wider health arena
• Knowledge of health promotion strategies
• Understand the requirement for PGDs and associated policy
• SkillsEssentialDesirable
• Excellent communication skills (written and oral)
• Strong IT skills
• Clear, polite telephone manner
• Competent in the use of Office and Outlook
• Systmone user skills
• Effective time management (planning and organising)
• Ability to work as a team member and autonomously
• Good interpersonal skills
• Problem solving and analytical skills
• Ability to follow clinical policy and procedure
• Experience with audit and able to lead audit programmes
• Experience with clinical risk management
• Personal qualitiesEssentialDesirable
• Polite and confident
• Flexible and co-operative
• Motivated, forward thinker
• Problem solver with the ability to process information accurately and effectively, interpreting data as required
• High levels of integrity and loyalty
• Sensitive and empathetic in distressing situations
• Ability to work under pressure/in stressful situations
• Effectively able to communicate and understand the needs of the patient
• Commitment to ongoing professional development
• Effectively utilises resources
• Punctual and committed to supporting the team effort
• Other requirementsEssentialDesirable
• Flexibility to work outside of core office hours
• Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check
• Occupational health clearance
• NMC registration

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).