Practice Nurse

Job responsibilities

Job responsibilities:

Professional:

• Carry out annual reviews for chronic diseases
• Diabetes
• CHD
• Asthma
• COPD
• Heart Failure
• Hypertension
• PAD
• CKD
• Mental Health reviews
• Learning Disabilities reviews
• Stroke
• Offer travel health advice and vaccinations by providing comprehensive advice to patients prior to travel including; vaccinations and medicines, safe sex, food hygiene, sun protection.
• Offer advice about childhood and adult vaccinations and ensure vaccines are administered under patient group directions.
• Running well person clinics and health promotion programmes by providing assessment and lifestyle advice on diet, smoking, alcohol intake and exercise. Facilitates change.
• Able to document Consultations according to NMC guidelines
• Ensures awareness of statutory and local clinical protection procedures, including systems of referral. Ability to recognise signs and symptoms of child abuse.
• Perform assessment of patients attending for cervical cytology smear tests.
• Perform venepuncture when required according to local guidelines
• Able to recognize and manage anaphylaxis according to current UK guidelines.
• Able to perform Cardio-pulmonary resuscitation according to current UK guidelines.
• Ability to obtain and document informed consent (either verbal or written).
• Be the lead for, and ensure infection control guidelines are maintained.
• Ability to monitor and manage maintenance of stock and equipment to include refrigeration, sterilizer and emergency equipment.
• Confidentially of information gained at work must be preserved at all times.

Managerial:

• 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.
• Ensure effective relationships and communications with the practice team and other agencies.
• Support the Practice clinical governance agenda.
• Identify changes to clinical practice that are required to implement evidence-based guidelines.

Educational:

• Identify personal development and training needs in conjunction with the 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:

• Maintain good relations with the practice team.
• 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 all members of the team adheres to statutory regulations/policies and codes of practice and safety rules.
• Offer innovative ways of working and opportunities to facilitate learning.
• Facilitates a learning environment within the team.
• Maintains a caring environment through the support of colleagues.

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

Health & safety:

The post-holder will be involved in a full range of promotion and management their own and others health and safety and infection control as defined in the practice Health & Safety policy, the practice Health & Safety manual, and the practice Infection Control policy and published procedures. This will include (but will not be limited to):

• Using personal security systems within the workplace according to practice guidelines
• Awareness of national standards of infection control and cleanliness and regulatory / contractual / professional requirements, and good practice guidelines
• Shared responsibility for the correct and safe management of the specimens process including collection, labelling, handling, use of correct and clean containers, storage and transport arrangements
• Assist the Infection Control Lead in the maintenance of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for the practice including provision, ordering, availability and ongoing correct usage by staff
• Assist the Infection Control Lead in responsibility for hand hygiene across the practice
• Assist the Infection Control Lead in theinfection control and clinically based patient care protocols, and implementation of those protocols across the practice
• Active observation of current working practices across the practice in relation to infection control, cleanliness and related activities, ensuring that procedures are followed and weaknesses / training needs are identified, escalating issues as appropriate
• Identifying the risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks across clinical and patient process
• Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills, and initiate and manage the training of others across the full range of infection control and patient processes
• Assist the Infection Control Lead in the monitoring of practice facilities and equipment in relation to infection control, ensuring that provision of hand cleansing facilities, wipes etc are sufficient to ensure a good clinical working environment. Lack of facilities to be escalated as appropriate.
• Safe management of sharps procedures including training, use, storage and disposal
• Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy, clean and sterile, and safe way, free from hazards. Initiation of remedial / corrective action where needed or escalation to responsible management
• Actively identifying, reporting, and correction of health and safety hazards and infection hazards immediately when recognised
• Keeping own work areas and general / patient areas generally clean, sterile, identifying issues and hazards / risks in relation to other work areas within the business, and assuming responsibility in the maintenance of general standards of cleanliness across the business in consultation (where appropriate) with other sector managers
• Undertaking periodic infection control training (minimum annually)
• Routine management of own team / team areas, and maintenance of work space standards
• Waste management including collection, handling, segregation, container management, storage and collection
• Spillage control procedures, management and training
• Decontamination control procedures, management and training, and equipment maintenance
• Maintenance of sterile environments

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.

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

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

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

Contribution to the implementation of services:

Qualifications

Essential

• Registered General Nurse

Experience

Essential

• 2. Experience
• Experience of working in accordance with the NMC Professional standards of practice and behaviour for nurses
• Ideally experience of Emis clinical system, although training can be given
• Experience of Microsoft Office software
• Experience of dealing with the public/patients
• Leadership and management experience
• -
• 3. Knowledge/Skills
• Competent in basic nursing duties required for the post
• Specific nursing skills / qualifications
• oCytology
• oChronic disease reviews
• oDepot injections
• oMedication reviews
• oPhlebotomy
• oTravel clinic advice
• oChildhood vaccinations
• Excellent communication skills
• -
• 4. Qualities/Attributes
• Able to demonstrate enthusiasm to developing nursing skills
• An understanding, acceptance and adherence to the need for strict confidentiality
• Ability to use own judgement, resourcefulness and common sense
• Ability to work without direct supervision and determine own workload priorities
• Ability to work as part of an integrated multi-skilled team
• Pleasant and articulate
• Able to work under pressure
• Able to work in a changing environment
• Able to use own initiative
• -
• 5. Other
• Flexibility of working hours/ able to work at the desired times
• Experience of Primary Care
• Car driver/clean licence

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).