Job responsibilities
Clinical Skills - Health and well-being
Assess, plan, develop, implement and evaluate programmes to promote health and wellbeing and prevent adverse effects on health and wellbeing
Implement and evaluate individual treatment plans for patients with a known long term condition
Identify and manage as appropriate treatment plans for patients at risk of developing a long term condition
Prioritise health problems and intervene appropriately to assist the patient in complex, urgent or emergency situations including initiation of effective emergency care
Deliver opportunistic health promotion
Provide information and advice on prescribed or OTC meds on medication regimens side effects and interactions
Work with patients in order to support adherence to prescribed treatments
Support and advise women requesting information relating to family planning needs
Support and manage health needs of women presenting for cytology
Implement and participate in vaccination and immunisation programmes for both adults and children
Advise, support and where appropriate administer vaccinations for patients travelling abroad
Promote use of PGDs
Promote and deliver evidence based care for patients presenting with aural conditions
Other tasks carried out by the practice nurse, which may include although this list is not exhaustive:
o Chronic Disease Management
o Venepuncture
o ECG
o 24 Hour BP/ECG
o Attend nurse forums
Communication
An understanding acceptance and adherence to the need for strict confidentiality
Communicate effectively with patients, carers, colleagues and stakeholders, recognising their needs for alternative methods of communication
Demonstrate sensitive communication styles to ensure patients are fully informed and consent to treatment
Utilise communication skills to support patients to adhere to prescribed treatment regimes
Act as an advocate when representing patients and colleagues
Communicate effectively with the primary health care team
Anticipate barriers to communication and take action to improve communication
Maintain confidentiality during communication consistent with legislation and employers policies
Personal and People Development
Take responsibility for own developmental learning and performance, ensuring that your revalidation is undertaken in a timely manner and up to date
Take responsibility for maintaining a record of own personal development.
Work with the practice to access appropriate training based on identified need
Understand own responsibilities and accountability in the delivery of GPN services to patients, ensuring that the needs of the patient are the priority
Actively promote the workplace as a learning environment, encouraging everyone to learn from each other and from external good practice
Support the development of others in order to maximise potential
Contribute and participate in the development of local guidelines protocols and standards
Participate in the engagement of external and internal commissioning initiatives
Participate in planning and implementing changes within the area of care and responsibility
Promote the role of the GPN in the provision of care
Ensure awareness of sources of support and guidance (eg PALS), and provide information in an acceptable format to all patients, recognising any difficulties and referring where appropriate.
Be familiar with the changing structures of health care provision relevant to general practice
Service Improvement
Utilise the audit cycle as a means of evaluating the quality of the work of self and the team, implementing improvements where required.
Contribute to the preparation of local guidelines, protocols and standards
Work with colleagues in the team on the development of current and new services and other initiatives
Deliver care according to guidelines and evidence based care
Collaborate with other members of the primary health care team to improve standards of care
Be aware of current approaches, including research, to the management of patient care within general practice
Quality
Recognise and work within own competence and professional code of conduct as regulated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
Participate in the maintenance of quality governance systems and processes across the practice
Participate in the review of significant events and identify learning points
Assess the impact of policy implementation on care delivery.
Practice in accordance with agreed standards of care
Enable patients to access appropriate professionals in the team
Produce accurate, contemporaneous and complete records of patient consultation, consistent with legislation, policies and procedures
Assess effectiveness of care delivery through self and peer review benchmarking and formal evaluation
Know the practices policies, especially the whistle-blowing policy, available in the practice staff handbook
Be able to manage your own time effectively so high quality care is promoted
Give and receive feedback professionally and defuse situations using problem resolution skills to reduce potential for formal complaints
Equality and Diversity
Act in ways that recognise the importance of peoples rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with procedures
Respect the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients and carers
Understand and apply legal policy that supports the identification of vulnerable and abused children and adults, substance abuse and addictive behaviour, follow local guidance and refer as appropriate.
Monitor and evaluate adherence to local chaperoning policies
Identify patterns of discrimination, take action to overcome this, and promote diversity and quality of opportunity.
Accept the rights of individuals to choose their care providers, participate in care and refuse care. Assist patients from marginalised groups to access quality care.
Information Processes
Familiarity with general practice computerised clinical system to enable post holder to record information and activities undertaken with patients and carers in an accurate and timely fashion
Input accurate Read Codes relating to patients to ensure accurate retrieval of information for monitoring and auditing processes
Maintain confidentiality or information relating to patients, relatives, staff and the practice
Take the necessary precautions when transmitting information
Understand the responsibility of self and others regarding the Freedom of Information Act /Data Protection Act
Manage information searches using the internet and local library databases, for example, the retrieval of relevant information for patients on their condition
Use technology as an aid to management in planning, implementation and monitoring, presenting and communicating information
Learning and Development
Assess own learning needs and undertake learning as appropriate
Disseminate learning and information gained from courses and conferences to share good practice
Act as a mentor for more junior staff, assessing competence against set standards as requested
Provide an educational role to patients, carers, families and colleagues in an environment that facilitates learning
Team Working
Understand own role and scope and how this may develop over time
Work as an effective and responsible team member, supporting others and exploring the mechanisms to develop new ways of working
Delegate clearly and appropriately, adopting the principals of safe practice and assessing competence
Prioritise own workload and ensure effective time management strategies are embedded within the culture of the team
Participate in team activities that create opportunities to improve patient care
