Practice Nurse

Job responsibilities

PRACTICE NURSE- JOB DESCRIPTION

JOB TITLE: General Practice Nurse

RESPONSIBLE TO: Clinical Nurse Lead

Practice Manager

ACCOUNTABLE TO: The Partners

PLACE OF WORK: Widcombe Surgery

HOLIDAY: Refer to your individual contract

HOURS OF DUTY: According to agreed shift patterns.

Level: Practice Nurse - Band 5 equivalent

Job summary:

The post holder is a registered nurse who is able to work independently and in conjunction with other healthcare professionals in the assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation and evaluation of patients care needs. They will work within their scope of competence, in the primary care setting.

Provide expert advice to patients and carers, ensuring the maintenance of clinical excellence and providing advice in respect of ongoing care needs. The nurse will need to prioritise care needs of the patients and be able to refer to other members of the multi-disciplinary primary care team.

The focus of the role is both on the delivery of evidence-based practice for patients with long-term conditions and the provision of preventative health care to the practice population.

Support the delivery of policy and procedure and participate in the improvement our service delivery.

The post holder will work within NMC Code of Conduct and will be accountable for their own professional actions within professional guidelines.

Main duties and responsibilities:

• Undertake clinical nursing practice, within scope of competence, to deliver holistic care to people accessing primary healthcare services.

• To operate practice nurse clinics specific to competencies and needs of the service. For example; immunisation clinics, travel clinic, wound care clinics, general practice nurse clinics
• To operate nurse led clinics to assess, plan, implement and evaluate treatment/interventions for patients presenting with Asthma or COPD
• Refer patients directly to colleagues and other services/agencies as appropriate
• Providing assessment, screening treatment services and health education advice.
• Undertake pathological specimens and investigatory procedures
• Support and mentor to other colleagues/ students within the practice
• Provide safe, evidence-based, cost-effective, individualised patient care
• Promote health and well-being through the use of health promotion screening
• Contribute to the practice achieving its quality targets to sustain the high standards of patient care and service delivery
• Participate in initiatives to improve existing patient services

Prioritise health problems and intervene appropriately to assist the patient in complex, urgent or emergency situations, including initiation of effective emergency care

Administration and professional responsibilities

Participate in the administrative and professional responsibilities of the practice team

To maintain comprehensive, accurate and contemporaneous computerised records of all consultations and contacts with patients and when appropriate written or printed records.

Ensure QOF and Ardens templates are completed accurately.

Ensure accurate completion of all necessary documentation associated with patient health care and registration with the practice

Ensure collection and maintenance of statistical information required for regular and ad hoc reports and audit

Restocking and maintenance of clinical areas and consulting rooms

Attend and participate in practice/nursing meetings as required

Work collaboratively with colleagues within and external to the practice.

Training and personal development:

• Training requirements will be monitored by yearly appraisal and will be in accordance with practice requirements. Personal development will be encouraged and supported by the Practice. It is the individuals responsibility to remain up to date with recent developments in line with NMC Revalidation.
• Participate in an annual appraisal as per the practices appraisals policy.
• Monitor the effectiveness of their own clinical practice through the quality assurance strategies such as the use of audit and peer review
• Keep up to date with pertinent health-related policy and work with the practice team to consider the impact and strategies for implementation
• Participate in the education and training of students of all disciplines and the induction of all members of the practice team where appropriate.
• If it is necessary to expand the role to include additional responsibilities, full training will be given.
• The post holder will undertake all mandatory training required for the role.

Confidentiality:

• Will work in line with the practice policy and NMC Code and Revalidation and is bound by the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1974 (Exemptions) Order 1975.

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.
• 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
• Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work area in a tidy, clean and sterile, and safe way, free from hazards.
• Actively identifying, reporting, and correction of health and safety hazards and infection hazards immediately when recognised

Equality and Diversity:

• The post-holder will support the equality, diversity and rights of patients, carers and colleagues:

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

Contribution to the Implementation of Services:

The post-holder will:

• Apply practice policies, standards and guidance
• Discuss with other members of the team how the policies, standards and guidelines will affect own work
• Participate in audit where appropriate.

Flexibility:

This job description is not intended to be exhaustive. The post holder will be expected to adopt a flexible attitude towards the duties outlined, which may be subject to adjustments at any time in consultation with the post holder and in line with the needs of the practice.

Experience

Essential

• Pre-registration experience in the clinical field or a closely related clinical area.
• Working as part of a wider multidisciplinary team.
• Experience of working in a primary environment

Desirable

• Experience and interest in Asthma or COPD
• Experience of facilitating clinical supervision.

Qualifications

Essential

• 1st Level Registered Nurse Applicants must be able to demonstrate through their application forms and the interview process that they are competent to undertake this role, irrespective of the branch of Nursing for which they originally trained.
• Professional degree or diploma in relevant field.
• Appropriate statutory professional body registration.
• Must be willing to participate in any relevant training identified to develop skills required to carry out duties.
• Maintains a portfolio of CPD in line with regulatory body standards.

Knowledge & Skills

Essential

• KNOWLEDGE & UNDERSTANDING
• Theoretical and clinical knowledge appropriate to service area and profession.
• Knowledge of relevant current issues in health and social care.
• Knowledge of Standards of Conduct.
• Demonstrates awareness of limits to knowledge base.
• PRACTICAL & INTELLECTUAL SKILLS
• Performs test/procedures/diagnostics relevant to clinical role proficiently.
• Analytical and creative problem-solving skills.
• Workload management including delegation of tasks.
• Competent IT skills e.g. word processing, email in order to maintain electronic patient records.
• Effective verbal, non-verbal and written communication skills including communicating complex or potentially distressing information to patients / carers.
• Risk assessment skills.
• Reflective practice skills.
• Able to research, understand and evaluate evidence in order to contribute to practice development.
• Basic understanding of clinical governance and quality measures.
• ATTITUDE & BEHAVIOUR
• Displays care, compassion, sensitivity and responsiveness to other peoples feelings and needs.
• Able to work as part of a team, co-operating to work together and in conjunction with others and willing to help and assist wherever possible and appropriate appreciating the value of diversity in the workplace.
• Able to develop, establish and maintain positive relationships with others both internal and external to the organisation and with patients and their carers.
• Able to work under pressure, dealing with peaks and troughs in workload.
• Positive and flexible attitude to dealing with change; able to respond to the changing needs of the patient in an appropriate and timely manner.
• Willing to change and accept change and to explore new ways of doing things and approaches.
• Highly motivated and reliable.
• Demonstrates values consistent with those of the Practice.
• Has a strong degree of personal integrity; able to adhere to standards of conduct based on a culture of equality and fairness.
• Reasonable adjustments can be considered in accordance to the Equality Act 2010.

Desirable

• We use SystmOne as our clinical system so experience of this would be helpful but full training will be given.

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).