Advanced Nurse Practitioner

Job responsibilities

Over Wyre Medical Centre

Job Description

Job Title: Advanced Nurse Practitioner

Accountable To: The Partners

Reports To: The Partners & Practice Manager

Band: Agenda for Change Band 8a

Location: Over Wyre Medical Centre

Job Summary:

We are searching for a highly motivated, enthusiastic Advanced Nurse Practitioner with a passion for high standards of patient care to complement our busy team. The clinical team comprises of five dynamic and approachable GP partners, GP registrars and a Nurse Practitioner. Other allied health professionals include two clinical pharmacists, a pharmacy technician, chronic disease nurses, treatment room nurses and health care assistants.

We are entirely flexible in terms of working hours and would be willing to negotiate a full time or part time job plan with the right candidate. This could include working half days, shifts around the school day or home working. There would be a clinical need for one or two home visits most days, however the administrative burden (script signing, processing of clinical letters) in this role will be negligible.

Clinical Responsibilities:

• The majority of the workload will be focussed on telephone triage, booked face to face consultations, telephone consultations and home visits. There will be minimal requirement for duties relating to prescription queries, repeat prescription signing or secondary care correspondence as these tasks are predominantly undertaken by the GP partners, the two clinical pharmacists and the medicine management team.
• The successful candidate would be expected to make professional and autonomous decisions in relation to patient’s presenting problems to reach a differential diagnosis. We are a supportive team with a strong emphasis on learning and development and therefore, seeking advice from colleagues in difficult clinical scenarios is encouraged.
• Review patients under your care to ensure current treatments and diagnosis remain current.
• Undertake age appropriate physical examinations not usually undertaken by general nurses.
• Screen patients for disease risk factors and early signs of illness.
• Demonstrate critical thinking and diagnostic reasoning skills in their clinical decision making.
• Manage emergency situations including life threatening illness, ensuring urgent transport via 999 ambulance is arranged for patients whose condition requires swift transfer to hospital.
• When required ensure patients are referred on to other members of the Primary Health Care Team or Secondary Care specialities. This may involve Fast Track referrals for suspected cancers, Urgent and routine referrals to hospital specialities, or referrals to Social services for safeguarding concerns.
• Arrange appropriate investigations including bloods and radiology requests.
• Review pathology and radiology results for your patients and act on the findings.
• We expect the successful candidate to prescribe medication for patients in line with Practice, Local and National Guidelines ensuring efficacy and safety. They will provide detailed information to patients on drug treatments and raise awareness of the potential side effects of the medications prescribed.
• They will promote Public Health by undertaking screening procedures and offering immunisations, raising health awareness at every opportunity i.e. smoking cessation advice and advising on safe drinking limits.
• Work collaboratively with other health professionals and agencies to provide a seamless primary care service. We work closely with district nurses, podiatrists, community matrons and the community heart failure team, all of whom utilise our building as a base or to run clinics.
• Act on all concerns regarding Safeguarding in both adults and children, referring onto the appropriate agencies.
• To manage daily surgeries initially comprising 10 minute face-to-face consultations.
• Provide home visits as required with an expectation of two to three lunch-time visits per working day
• Sign paper scripts & operate EPS.

Other Responsibilities within the Organisation:

• To maintain professional registration
• To work within the current NMC Code of Professional Conduct
• To maintain good lines of communication with both the Partners and Practice Management team
• Effectively manage own time, workload and resources
• To promote effective communications with peers
• To promote good communications within the multidisciplinary team
• To participate in performance appraisal
• To participate in educational programmes within the practice
• To maintain and update professional knowledge across all service area, monitoring own clinical practice through quality assurance strategies such as the use of clinical audit and reflection
• To keep clear and contemporaneous notes of all consultations and treatments
• To ensure data collection requirements are maintained
• To attend and contribute to Practice meetings as required
• To maintain confidentiality in all areas at all times
• To train, develop and support junior colleagues including the mentoring of current and any future employees who may be trainee Nurse Practitioners, trainee Non-medical Prescribers, Pre -registration student Nurses, FY2 Dr’s, Medical Students and Health Care Assistants
• Support administration and reception staff in their daily activities, offering advice when required
• To build and develop good working relationships with other service providers across partner organisations
• This job description is not exhaustive and may need to be amended over time. A Flexible attitude and close liaison with other members of the practice is an integral part of this post.

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 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.

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 people’s 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.

Knowledge and Understanding

Desirable

• Understanding the role of medical
• services in a wider public health agenda
• Knowledge of the demographic
• characteristics that affect health and
• health care in the area
• Understanding current NHS policies

Qualifications

Essential

• RGN Qualification
• Current NMC registration
• Honours degree in advanced nursing
• Accredited training in chronic disease management
• Prescribing qualification

Knowledge

Essential

• Knowledge of clinical governance
• Knowledge relating to current primary care policy and national legislation

Other

Essential

• Committed to working as part of a multi-disciplinary, multi-agency primary care
• team
• Openness to explore alternative working practices

Experience

Essential

• Experience in triage
• Experience of dealing with patients with undifferentiated and undiagnosed conditions
• Worked in General Practice for minimum of 4 years
• Evidence of professional development
• Experience in audit

Desirable

• Evidence of service development

Personal Skills & Qualities

Essential

• IT skills (MS Office, Internet etc)
• Interpersonal skills
• Time Management
• Smart, polite and confident
• Planning and organising
• Performing under pressure
• Adaptability
• Using initiative
• Team working
• Self motivated
• Flexibility
• Confidentiality

Desirable

• Presentation skills
• Problem solving skills
• Report writing skills

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).