Job responsibilities
JOB TITLE: General Practice Nurse (GPN)
REPORTS TO: Practice nurse team Leader/Clinical services Manager
ACCOUNTABLE
TO: PARTNERS (Clinical)
PRACTICE MANAGER (Organisational / Administrative)
SUMMARY OF THE
POSITION
To provide clinical nursing service and
support to other professionals and to patients of the practice including
treatment, screening, chronic disease management and advice within the
professional competence of the post holder. Support and work effectively within
the clinical team.
All duties will be carried out in
accordance with the NMC Code of Professional Conduct and with regard to the
various practice protocols. The nurse is
part of a nursing team responsible for ensuring that the practice provides an
optimum service of nursing care relevant to the practice population.
Definition of a General Practice Nurse
General
Practice Nurses work as part of a multidisciplinary team (MDT) within GP
surgeries and assess, screen and treat patients across the lifespan. In
addition to providing traditional aspects of nursing care, such as childhood
immunisations, cervical cytology and administration of medicines, they run
clinics for patients with Long Term conditions such as asthma, heart disease
and diabetes. They also offer new patient health checks, NHS Health Checks and
well women/ men clinics. Health promotion advice is offered in areas such as
contraception, weight loss, smoking cessation and travel immunisations.
MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES OF POST
1. Meeting patients nursing care needs as
identified, or where care has been transferred to them by a GP. This will usually be in surgery but
occasional home visits will also be required.
2. Initiating and maintaining health
screening and promotion clinics for identified areas of the practice
population, recognising where modification of systems or referral is necessary.
3. Managing the nursing care of patients
with chronic disease, employing personal recall systems suitable to the
practice needs. This includes using the practice computer systems for input of
information for recall and screening purposes.
4. The following clinics are offered at Ash
Trees Surgeries:
Asthma / COPD
Diabetes
Hypertension
Cardiovascular Disease
Travel Vaccination Clinic
Cervical Smears
Family Planning and womens health
INR Monitoring
NHS health checks
Amending or adding to services as needs
are identified.
5. Maintaining efficient liaison with all
areas of the Primary Care Team and other agencies to assure continuity of care
where necessary.
6. Routine treatment in general clinics and
general Treatment Room skills, including:
Clinical
Nursing Practice
Wound
Management:
o
Undertake
dressings- includes post op and chronic wounds
o
Suture
and clip removal
Screening
o
Undertake
screening including: BP checks, height, and weight, BMI, Urinalysis, smoking status.
o
Undertake
venepuncture according to practice protocol
o
ECGs
Health
Promotion:
o
Make
basic assessment of needs of patients
o
Provide
nutritional advice for:
o
Weight/BMI
o
CHD/cholesterol
o
Diabetes
o
Understand
patients motivation to adapt their lifestyle, use motivational techniques to support patients with these changes.
o
Offer
lifestyle advice on smoking and exercise and refer as appropriate
Vaccinations
and Immunisations
o
Administer
injections under an individualised prescription or Patient Group Directive.
o
To
continually update your knowledge of the implications of immunisation and
contra indications
o
Ensure
safe storage, rotation and disposal of vaccines and drugs.
Infection
Control
o
Support
patients and colleagues in adopting sound infection control measures.
o
Apply
infection control measures within the practice according to local and national
guidelines.
o
This
includes:
o
Universal hygiene precautions
o
The collection and handling of laboratory
specimens
o
Segregation and disposal of waste materials
o
Decontamination of instruments and clinical
equipment
o
Reporting and treatment of sharps injuries
o
Dealing with blood and body fluid spillages
Emergency
Management
o
To
be competent in anaphylaxis and resuscitation techniques
o
attend updates when required
Womens
Health
o
Have
a working knowledge of the national and local Cervical Cytology and mammography
screening programmes
o
Can
discuss breast self awareness and provide supporting literature to patients
o
Provide
information on family planning and menopause
Clinical
Practice Leadership
o
Assist
in clinical audit and the setting up and monitoring of standards of care.
o
Assist
and teach others in clinical setting, including unqualified staff
o
Act
as assessor/mentor to other staff where necessary
o
Work
effectively in the team.
General
Duties
o
To
maintain accurate patient records on the computer
o
To
collect data and participate in regular practice audit and research projects
when required
o
To
log and dispatch specimens to the hospital
o
To
assist the Practice Nurses in the provision of Health Promotion and Chronic
Disease Management
Education
o
To
maintain continuous professional development in keeping with the requirements
of the practice.
o
To
participate in training of other personnel as appropriate, including
unqualified staff.
o
To
contribute to the preparation of the Practice and Professional Development
Plan.
Information
and I.T.
o
Facilitate
good communication systems within the practice with the use of computerised
messages.
o
Extrapolate
information received by outside agencies and bring to the notice of all
clinicians wherever necessary.
o
Undertake
all training and attend any computer data input and retrieval meetings deemed
necessary by the Practice Manager to manage the clinical system effectively.
Patient
Liaison
o
Be
available to deal with any patient query that may prove to beyond the ability
of the medical receptionist, and be aware of limit of own ability.
o
Ensure
that all formal complaints are passed onto the Practice Manager for immediate
action
Additional skills
required for the post
An
ability to prioritise and balance routine administrative tasks against
important management issues of the surgery
Organisational
skills required to run a clinic, managing own workload, prioritising resources.
Ability
to contribute to future practice policies and growth
Excellent
communication skills written/verbal
Use
available resources effectively
Make
balanced and appropriate decisions
Develop
and implement new ideas to improve performance
Communicate
effectively with the Doctors, Practice Manager, the team, colleagues and
outside agencies
Perform
in a cost-effective manner to eliminate waste and to help the organisation to
run economically
Working
knowledge of clinical software
Basic
knowledge of computer hardware
The
above is not a complete list of all tasks to be undertaken, but a sample of the
type of work you will be asked to undertake.
Professional
Registration
You
will be expected to maintain your own annual registration with the NMC.
You
will also be expected to be conversant with the NMC code of Professional
Conduct and understand the importance of professional accountability.
