Practice Nurse - Respiratory

Job responsibilities

Job responsibilities

Professional:

Management of the practice Respiratory Disease Patient Register

Assess, plan, develop, implement and evaluate programmes to promote health and well-being, and prevent adverse effects on health and well-being

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

Support patients to adopt health promotion strategies that encourage patients to live healthily, and apply principles of self-care

Provide information and advice on prescribed or over-the-counter medication on medication regimes, side effects and interactions

Support and advise women requesting information relating to family planning needs

Support and manage health needs of women presenting for cervical cytology consultations

Recognise, assess and refer patients presenting with mental health needs in accordance with National/ Local guidelines for Mental Health

Advise, support and, where appropriate, administer vaccinations for patients travelling abroad

Promote and deliver evidence-based care for patients presenting with aural conditions

Offer advice about childhood and adult vaccinations and ensure vaccines are administered under patient group directions

Assessing problems presented opportunistically by patients

Able to document consultations according to NMC guidelines

Ensures awareness of statutory and local clinical protection procedures, including systems of referral. Ability to recognize signs and symptoms of abuse

Provide a holistic approach to wound management and implement wound care in line with current evidence-based guidelines

Able to recognize and manage anaphylaxis according to current UK guidelines

Able to perform Cardio-pulmonary resusitation according to current UK guidelines

Assist in the provision of minor surgery

Ability to obtain and document informed consent (either verbal or written)

Ensure infection control guidelines are maintained

Ability to monitor and manage maintenance of stock and equipment

Confidentiality 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 organize individual patient consultations

Aware of identification and reporting procedures related to professional standards

To attend staff meetings

Ensure effective relationships and communications with all external agencies and professional bodies

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 Practice 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:

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 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 implement and promote their own and others health and safety and infection control as defined in the practice Health & Safety policy 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

Responsible for the correct and safe management of the specimens process including collection, labelling, handling, use of correct and clean containers, storage and transport arrangements

Awareness and use of and promotion of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for the practice including provision, ordering, availability and ongoing correct usage by staff

Promote hand hygiene across the practice

Identifying the risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks across clinical and patient process

Knowledge 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

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

Actively identifying, reporting, and correction of health and safety hazards

Keeping own work areas and general / patient areas generally clean, sterile, identifying issues and hazards / risks in relation to other work areas within the practice

Undertaking periodic infection control training

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 & 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

Personal/Professional development: The post-holder will participate in any raining 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

Recognise peoples needs for alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly

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

Qualifications

Essential

• Registered Nurse
• Post graduate diploma or degree (Primary Care)

Desirable

• Diploma in Chronic Disease Management - Respiratory

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working in a primary care environment
• Experience of working as a practice nurse or community nurse
• Experience of chronic disease management
• Experience of infection prevention and control measures
• Clinical Knowledge & skills:
• Respiratory Disease Management
• Wound care / removal of sutures & staples
• ECGs
• Venepuncture
• Chaperone Procedure
• Requesting pathology tests
• Immunisations (routine, childhood & travel)
• Womens health (cervical cytology, contraception etc)
• Understanding the importance of evidence-based practice
• Broad knowledge of clinical governance
• Ability to record accurate clinical notes
• Ability to work within own scope of practice and understand when to refer to GPs
• Understanding of infection prevention and control measures
• Understand the requirement for PGDs and associated policy

Desirable

• Experience with audit and able to lead audit programmes
• Experience with clinical risk management
• Travel Medicine
• Diabetes
• Hypertension
• CHD
• Knowledge of public health issues in the local area
• Awareness of issues within the wider health arena
• Knowledge of health promotion strategies

Skills

Essential

• Excellent communication skills (written & oral)
• Strong IT skills
• Clear, polite telephone manner
• Competent in the use of Office & Outlook
• Vison / EMIS user skills
• Effective time management (planning & organisational)
• Ability to work as a team member & autonomously
• Good interpersonal skills
• Problem solving and analytical skills
• Ability to follow clinical policy and procedure

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).