Practice Nurse

Job responsibilities

To be responsible for the delivery of evidence-based nursing services, working as part of the practice multidisciplinary team, delivering care within their scope of practice to the entitled patient population. Working autonomously, you will be responsible for a number of clinical areas such as health promotion, chronic disease management, health prevention, well women and well man clinics, as well as supporting the management team in the reviewing of clinical policy and procedure.

Primary Responsibilities:

The following are the core responsibilities. There may be on occasion, a requirement to carry out other tasks; this will be dependent upon factors such as workload and staffing levels:

a. Develop, implement and embed health promotion and well-being programmes

b. Develop, implement and evaluate individual treatment plans for acute, non-acute conditions

c. Support the clinical team in the development of individual treatment plans for chronic disease patients

d. Identify, manage and support patients at risk of developing long-term conditions, preventing adverse effects on the patients health

e. Provide routine nursing care to patients as required in accordance with clinical based evidence, NICE and the NSF

f. Prescribe medication in accordance with PGD and within own scope of practice (if a nurse prescriber qualification held).

g. Review medication for effectiveness in accordance with patient need and national guidance (if a nurse prescriber qualification held).

h. Provide information and advice on prescribed or over-the-counter medication on side effects, common interactions and dosage (if a nurse prescriber qualification held).

i. Support patients to ensure compliance with prescribed medications (if a nurse prescriber qualification held).

j. Provide wound care (ulcer /Doppler etc.) to patients

k. Provide travel medicine services

l. Request pathology services as necessary, processing and interpreting results as required

m. Refer patients directly to other services as appropriate

n. Provide chronic disease clinics, delivering patient care as necessary, referring patients to secondary / specialist care as required

o. Maintain accurate clinical records in conjunction with extant legislation

p. Ensure read codes are used effectively

q. Maintain chronic disease registers

r. Develop, implement and embed well woman clinics

s. Develop, implement and embed well man clinics

t. Chaperone patients where necessary

u. Assist GPs with minor surgery when required

v. Prioritise health issues and intervene appropriately

w. Support the team in dealing with clinical emergencies

x. Recognise, assess and refer patients presenting with mental health needs

y. Recognise, assess and refer patients with community health needs, developing strategies for effective care pathways

z. Implement vaccination programmes for adults and children

aa. Liaise with external services / agencies to ensure the patient is supported appropriately (vulnerable patients etc.)

bb. Support the clinical team with all safeguarding matters, in accordance with local and national policies

cc. Understand practice and local policies for substance abuse and addictive behaviour, referring patients appropriately.

Secondary Responsibilities:

In addition to the primary responsibilities, the post-holder may be requested to:

a. Participate in clinical audits, effectively utilising the audit cycle

b. Monitor and ensure the safe storage, rotation and disposal of medicaments

c. Contribute to the implementation of an effective training programme for staff and students within the practice

d. Participate in local initiatives to enhance service delivery and patient care

e. Support and participate in shared learning within the practice

f. Continually review clinical practices, responding to national policies and initiatives where appropriate

g. Be aware of and contribute to the planning and implementation of CCG patient pathway initiatives

h. Participate in the review of significant and near-miss events applying a structured approach i.e. root cause analysis (RCA).

i. Maintain professional registration and adhere to revalidation requirements

Qualifications

Essential

• Registered General Nurse (Registered with the Nursing & Midwifery Council)

Desirable

• Independent Nurse Prescriber Qualification
• Adult and Child Immunisation
• Accredited Qualification in Contraception and Sexual Health
• Accredited Qualification in Diabetes Care
• Accredited Qualification in Asthma / COPD
• Cervical Cytology (registered and updated within the last 3 years)

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working autonomously
• Experience of working within a nursing team
• Broad knowledge of clinical governance
• Knowledge of health promotion strategies
• Understands the requirement for PGDs and associated policy
• Ability to follow clinical policy and procedure
• Good understanding of and engagement in audit programmes
• Ability to contribute effectively to clinical risk management
• Commitment to ongoing professional development
• Effectively utilises resources
• Disclosure Barring Service check
• Maintains evidence of continuing professional development commensurate with the role and for ongoing Nurse revalidation

Desirable

• Working in Primary Care environment
• Working as Practice Nurse in primary care

Personal Attributes and Skills

Essential

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to work within own scope of practice including understanding of own limitations and when to seek advice or support
• Understands the importance of evidence-based practice
• Ability to record accurate clinical notes
• IT skills (incl the use of Office and Outlook)
• Clear, polite and confident manner
• Effective time management
• Problem solving & analytical skills
• Flexible and cooperative
• Motivated and forward thinker
• Problem solver with the ability to process information accurately and effectively
• High levels of integrity
• Sensitive and empathetic
• Ability to work under pressure

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).