Job responsibilities
Job summary
To provide and maintain a high standard of nursing care for patients, as well as providing nursing assistance to the doctors and other members of the primary healthcare team. The duties will include all tasks normally undertaken by an experienced RGN.
Job responsibilities
Professional
- Offer advice about childhood and adult vaccinations and ensure vaccines are administered in accordance to Patient Group Direction (PGD)
- Support Patients in making lifestyle modifications to improve their health outcomes and prevent disease progression. Provide health education and health promotion
- Assessing problems presented opportunistically by patients, dealing with minor illness
- Maintain accurate documentation in conjunction with guidelines
- Ensure awareness of statutory and local clinical protection procedures, including systems of referral. Ability to recognise signs and symptoms of child abuse
- Perform a holistic assessment of patients attending for cervical cytology smear tests
- Perform venepuncture according to local guidelines and request and manage pathology services as required
- Provide a holistic approach to wound management and implement wound care in line with current evidence, based on national and local guidelines
- Suture removal
- Take ECGs
- Support the team in dealing with acute clinical requests and clinical emergencies
- Assist in the provision of minor surgery
- To deliver opportunistic health promotion where appropriate including vaccinations, NHS Health Checks and Cervical Screening
- Support in the provision of Travel Health according to national guidelines and practice protocols. To include administration of NHS vaccines
- Perform a holistic assessment of patients attending for ear irrigation.
- Ability to obtain and document informed consent (either verbal or written)
- Ability to monitor and manage maintenance of stock and equipment to include refrigeration and emergency equipment
- Confidentially of information gained in the workplace must be preserved at all times
- Contribute to the assessment of service needs
- Assist patients to identify their health needs
- Contribute a nursing perspective to the practice development plan
- Manage and organise individual patient consultations
- Aware of identification and reporting procedures related to professional standards
- To attend staff meetings
- Support the Practice clinical governance agenda
- Provide support to the IPC Lead and to work to the IPC requirements by providing audits, training, support and evidence of compliance
- Actively support the practice management team in reviewing and delivery of clinical policy and procedures
Educational
- To be responsible for identifying and managing own professional development in conjunction with clinical lead and Practice Manager.
- Participate in clinical supervision
- Support others with their training and development needs
- To participate in continuing education and maintain a contemporary level of professional knowledge and skills
Personnel
- Work as an effective and responsible Nurse, supporting others and exploring the mechanisms to develop new ways of working
- Take reasonable care of his/her own safety and that of other persons who may be affected by his/her act or omission
- Co-operation with the practice to ensure you adhere to statutory regulations/policies and codes of practice and departments safety rules
- Offer innovative ways of working and opportunities to facilitate learning
- Facilitate a learning environment within the team
- Maintain a caring environment through the support of colleagues
The role of the Practice Nurse is continually evolving, and it is expected that the post holder will demonstrate responsibility and reasonable flexibility in interpreting and fulfilling the duties outlined in this job description.