Practice Nurse

Job responsibilities

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 infection prevention and control, health promotion, chronic disease management, health prevention, well women and well man clinics, as well as supporting the management team in the reviewing of clinical policy and procedure.

Generic responsibilities

All staff at Carrington House Surgery have a duty to conform to the following:

HEALTH & SAFETY

• The post-holder will manage their own and others health & safety and infection control as defined in the Practices Health & Safety Policy, the Practice Health & Safety Manual, and the Practices Infection Control Policy and published procedures.
• Comply with Practice health and safety policies by following agreed safe working procedures
• Awareness and compliance with national standards of infection control, hygiene, regulatory / contractual / professional requirements, and good practice guidelines.
• Correct personal use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and ensuring correct use of PPE by others, advising on appropriate circumstances for use by clinicians, staff and patients.
• Reporting incidents using the organisations Incident Reporting System

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 recognises 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 that is welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelings priorities and rights

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 Senior Nurse and 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 Carrington House Surgery 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 Carrington House Surgery, staff are required to dress appropriately for their role. Administrative staff will be provided with a uniform code whilst clinical staff must dress in accordance with their role.

Professional Development

Maintain continued education by attendance at courses and study days as deemed useful or necessary for professional development.

Disseminate learning and information gained 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

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:

1. To act as the Infection Prevention Control (IPC) lead and to work to the IPC Policy providing audits, training, support and evidence of compliance to the practice manager
2. To produce the IPC annual statement in conjunction with the practice manager
3. To act as the Cytology Lead and to ensure the policy is kept up to date
4. To develop, implement and embed health promotion and well-being
5. To identify, manage and support patients at risk of developing long term conditions, preventing adverse effects to patients health
6. To provide routine nursing care to patients as required in accordance with clinical
7. based evidence, NICE and the NSF
8. To provide wound care (ulcer/Doppler etc.) to patients
9. To provide travel medicine services
10. To Support the HCA, providing guidance when necessary and required and support and training where required
11. To provide childhood immunisation services
12. To support the practice for all relevant aspects of CQC
13. To be responsible for and lead on the call and recall of cytology
14. To be responsible for recording, keeping records of claimable vaccines
15. Assisting Admin with claiming monthly PPA
16. To ensure the clinical safety requirements for CQC are maintained at the practice
17. To ensure all staff are aware of Infection control and lead to maintain this

To work the practice extended hours between the hours as and when required by the practice.

1. To maintain accurate clinical records in conjunction with extant legislation
2. To ensure read codes are used effectively and clinical system templates
3. To maintain Qof requirements
4. To develop, implement and embed well woman clinics
5. To develop, implement and embed well man clinics
6. To chaperone patients where necessary
7. To assist GPs with minor surgery when required
8. To prioritise health issues and intervene appropriately
9. To support the team in dealing with clinical emergencies
10. To recognise, assess and refer patients presenting with mental health needs
11. To implement vaccination programmes for adults and children
12. To support patients in the use of their prescribed medicines or over the counter medicines (within own scope of practice)
13. To liaise with external services/agencies to ensure the patient is supported appropriately (vulnerable patients etc.)
14. To delegate clinical responsibilities appropriately (ensuring safe practice and the task is within the scope of practice of the individual)
15. To support the clinical team with all safeguarding matters in accordance with local and national policies
16. To understand practice and local policies for substance abuse and addictive behaviour, referring patients appropriately
17. To deliver opportunistic health promotion where appropriate
18. Any other duties as requested by the practice

Secondary responsibilities

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

1. Act as the audit lead, effectively utilising the audit cycle
2. Monitor and ensure the safe storage, rotation and disposal of medicaments
3. Participate in local initiatives to enhance service delivery and patient care
4. Support and participate in shared learning within the practice on Infection Control
5. Continually review clinical practices, responding to national policies and initiatives where appropriate
6. Participate in the review of significant and near-miss events applying a structured approach, i.e. root cause analysis (RCA)

Qualifications

Essential

• Registered General Nurse Certificate Level 6
• or equivalent Recognised qualification to diploma level or above A demonstrable commitment to professional development Experience of working in a primary care environment Experience of chronic disease management

Desirable

• Experience of working in accordance with the NMC Code of Professional Conduct (2002) and The Scope of Professional Practice
• (1992) Post graduate diploma or degree (Primary Care) Experience of EMIS Web clinical system Experience of Microsoft Office software Experience of dealing with the public/patients Leadership and management experience

Experience

Essential

• Qualifications:
• Registered nurse
• Experience
• Experience of working in a primary care environment
• Experience of working as a practice nurse or community nurse
• Experience of infection prevention and control measures
• Clinical Knowledge and skills
• Wound care/removal of sutures and staples
• New patient medicals
• Chaperone procedure
• Travel medicine
• 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 health promotion strategies
• Understand the requirement for PGDs and associated policy
• Skills
• Excellent communication skills (written and oral)
• Strong IT skills
• Clear, polite telephone manner
• Competent in the use of Office and Outlook
• EMIS
• 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
• Personal Qualities
• 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 retirements
• Flexibility to work outside of core office hours
• Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check
• Occupational health clearance
• NMC registration

Desirable

• Qualifications
• Post graduate diploma or degree (Primary Care)
• Experience
• Experience of chronic disease management
• Clinical knowledge and skills
• ECGs
• Venepuncture
• Knowledge of public health issues in the local area
• Awareness of issues within the wider health arena
• Diabetes
• Hypertension
• Asthma
• Spirometry
• CHD
• Skills
• Experience with audit and able to lead audit programmes
• Experience with clinical risk management

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).