Advanced Nurse/Clinical Practitioner

Job description

Job responsibilities

Job Title:Advanced Nurse/Clinical Practitioner

Salary: Competitive Rates,Dependent on experience

Hours of employment: Full + Part Time

Appointment:Permanent contract

Responsible to:The Partners (clinically)

Accountable to:The Strategic Manager (administratively)

1. Job Summary

The post holder is an experienced nurse, who acting within their professional boundaries, will provide care for the patient from initial history taking, clinical assessment, diagnosis, treatment and evaluation of their care. They will demonstrate safe, clinical decision-making and expert care for patients within general practice. There is a requirement to see extra or emergency patients. The Nurse Practitioner will need to prioritise and triage the needs of patients accordingly making any necessary referrals for investigations in the appropriate manner.

2. Organisational Structure

3. Job Responsibilities

Diagnosing and treating patients presenting with minor illness

• Triage and treat patients wishing to see a health care professional making any necessary referrals to other members of the primary health care team
• Ensure clinical practice is safe and effective and remains within boundaries of competence and to acknowledge limitations.
• Advise patients on general health care and minor ailments with referral to other members of the primary and secondary health care team as necessary

4. Primary Duties & Areas of Responsibility

Clinical Role

The post holder will:

• Make professionally autonomous decisions for which he/she is accountable
• Provide a first point of contact for advice regarding medical/nursing conditions of patients, making use of skills in history taking, physical examination, problem-solving and clinical decision-making, to establish a diagnosis and management plan
• Instigate necessary invasive and non-invasive diagnostic tests or investigations and interpret findings/reports
• Where the post holder is an independent prescriber: to prescribe safe, effective and appropriate medication as defined by current legislative framework
• Provide polypharmacy/drug reviews of medications.
• Provide safe, evidence-based, cost-effective, individualised patient care
• Offer a holistic service to patients and their families, developing where appropriate an on-going plan of care/support, with an emphasis on prevention and self-care
• Promote health and well-being through the use of health promotion, health education, screening and therapeutic communication skills
• Refer patients directly to other services/agencies as appropriate
• Work with nursing, medical and health care assistant colleagues to ensure that National Service Frameworks (e.g. Coronary Heart Disease/Older People/ Diabetes /Mental Health) are being delivered
• Work with multi-disciplinary team within the Locality, and across the wider Health team, to promote integrated and seamless pathways of care
• Sustain & maintain high standards of patient care and service delivery
• Participate in identification of community health needs and develop patient/family-centred strategies to address them
• Help develop and set up new patient services and participate in initiatives to improve existing patient services

Pathological specimens and investigatory procedures

• Undertake the collection of pathological specimens including intravenous blood samples, swabs etc. Perform investigatory procedures requested by the GPs

Administration and professional responsibilities

o Participate in the administrative and professional responsibilities of the practice team

o Ensure accurate and legible notes of all consultations and treatments are recorded in the patients notes

o Ensure the clinical computer system is kept up to date with accurate details recorded and amended

o Ensure accurate completion of all necessary documentation associated with patient health care and registration with the practice

o Ensure collection and maintenance of statistical information required for regular and ad hoc reports and audit

o Attend and participate in practice meetings as required

o Oversee restocking and maintenance of clinical areas and consulting rooms

Training and Personal Development

• Training requirements will be monitored by yearly appraisal and will be in accordance with practice requirements. Personal development will be encouraged and supported by the Practice. It is the individuals responsibility to remain up to date with recent developments.
• Participate in the education and training of students of all disciplines and the introduction of all members of the practice staff where appropriate
• Develop and maintain an in-house nurse-training programme reporting to the Strategic Manager.
• Maintain continued education by attendance at courses and study days as deemed useful or necessary for professional development ensuring PREP requirements are met.
• If it is necessary to expand the role to include additional responsibilities, full training will be given.
• Develop and maintain a Personal Learning Plan

Liaison

• As well as the nursing team there is a need to work closely with reception, office and dispensary staff to ensure the smooth running of the practice, reporting any problems encountered to the relevant person and ensuring everyone is aware of the different roles within the nursing team.
• There is also the need to establish and maintain good liaison with other surgeries and agencies including secondary care

Meetings

• It will be necessary to attend and contribute to various Practice meetings as requested. The only reason for not attending will be annual, study or sick leave.

5. Confidentiality

• In the course of seeking treatment, patients entrust us with, or allow us to gather, sensitive information in relation to their health and other matters. They do so in confidence and have the right to expect that staff will respect their privacy and act appropriately
• In the performance of the duties outlined in this Job Description, the post-holder may have access to confidential information relating to patients and their carers, practice staff and other healthcare workers. They may also have access to information relating to the practice as a business organisation. All such information from any source is to be regarded as strictly confidential
• Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, other healthcare workers or the business of the practice may only be divulged to authorised persons in accordance with the practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data.

6. Health & Safety

The post-holder will assist in promoting and maintaining their own and others health, safety and security as defined in the practice Health & Safety Policy, to include:

• Using personal security systems within the workplace according to practice guidelines
• Identifying the risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks
• Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills
• Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy and safe way and free from hazards
• Reporting potential risks identified.

7. Equality and Diversity

The post-holder will support the equality, diversity and rights of patients, carers and colleagues, to include:

• Acting in a way that recognizes the importance of peoples rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with practice procedures and policies, and current legislation
• Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues
• Behaving in a manner which is welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelings priorities and rights.

8. Personal/Professional Development

The post-holder will participate in any training programme implemented by the practice as part of this employment, such training to include:

• Participation in an annual individual performance review, including taking responsibility for maintaining a record of own personal and/or professional development
• Taking responsibility for own development, learning and performance and demonstrating skills and activities to others who are undertaking similar work.

9. Quality

The post-holder will strive to maintain quality within the practice, and will:

• Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk
• Assess own performance and take accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision
• Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the teams performance
• Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patients needs
• Effectively manage own time, workload and resources.

10. Communication

The post-holder should recognize the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to:

• Communicate effectively with other team members
• Communicate effectively with patients and carers
• Recognize peoples needs for alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly.

11. Contribution to the Implementation of Services

The post-holder will:

• Apply practice policies, standards and guidance
• Discuss with other members of the team how the policies, standards and guidelines will affect own work
• Participate in audit where appropriate.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• oRegistered General Nurse (Currently registered with the Nursing & Midwifery Council)
• oRecognised NP qualification at minimum of degree level or equivalent
• oIndependent Nurse Prescriber

Desirable

• oTeaching / Mentoring experience and /or qualification

Experience

Essential

• oMinimum of 5 years post registration experience
• oExperience in management long term conditions e.g. asthma, COPD, diabetes, CHD
• oEvidence of appropriate continuing professional development activity to maintain up-to-date knowledge and on-going competence in all aspects of the NP role
• oProven ability to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of their own clinical practice

Desirable

• oInterpreting and implementing local and National policy agendas for health
• oEvidence of working autonomously and as part of a team

Knowledge + Skills

Essential

• oUnderstanding and knowledge of policy developments related to the delivery of primary care services including General Practice, the GMS/PMS contract, Clinical Governance, Quality & Outcomes Framework
• oUnderstanding of systems to gain an understanding of the health needs of the Practice population as they relate to primary care
• oUnderstanding of evidence based practice
• oKnowledge of national standards that inform practice (e.g. National Service Frameworks, NICE guidelines etc)
• oUnderstanding of their accountability arising from the NMC Code of Professional Conduct (2004) and medico-legal aspects of the Nurse Practitioner role
• oUnderstanding of equal opportunity and diversity issues
• oAbility to assess and manage patient risk effectively and safely
• oWell-developed word processing/data collection/IT skills
• oExcellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills
• oReflective practitioner
• oTime management and ability to prioritise workload
• oAble to analyse data and information, drawing out implications for the individual patient/impact on care plan
• oAble to establish and maintain effective communication pathways within the organisation, the local PCT and with key external stakeholders
• oSelf-motivated
• oOrganisational skills
• oEnthusiastic
• oCar driver/access to car

Desirable

• oExperience of use of a medical software package
• oProven record of effective use of networking and influencing skills
• oAbility to think strategically
• oExperience of presenting information to wider audience
• oAbility to work flexible hours when required
• oSickness level below 5%

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

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).

Employer details

Employer name

Irwell Medical Practice

Address

Irwell Mill

Rochdale Road

Bacup

Lancashire

OL13 9NR

Employer's website

https://irwellmedicalpractice.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)