Job responsibilities
Key Responsibilities
Clinical Practice
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 longterm condition and support health prevention programmes
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
Deliver opportunistic health promotion using opportunities such as new-patient, over-40s and well-person medicals
Provide sensible and up-to-date information and advice on prescribed or over-the-counter medication on medication regimens, side effects and interactions, seeking clinical support as appropriate
Assess and care for patients presenting with uncomplicated wounds, wound management and dressing
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 the National Framework (NSF) for Mental Health and the Mental Capacity Act (MCA)
Implement and participate in vaccination and immunisation programmes for both adults and children
Provide paediatric phlebotomy services where competent or to agree to train towards competency within six months of commencement of duties
Advise, support and, where appropriate, administer vaccinations for patients travelling abroad
Promote and deliver evidence-based care for patients presenting with aural conditions
Assist GP colleagues in providing minor-surgery sessions where required.
Communication
Utilise and demonstrate sensitive communication styles, to ensure patients are fully informed and consent to treatment
Communicate with and support patients who are receiving bad news
Communicate effectively with patients and carers, recognising the need for alternative methods of communication to overcome different levels of understanding, cultural background and preferred ways of communicating
Utilise communication skills to support patients to adhere to prescribed treatment regimens
Anticipate barriers to communication and take action to improve communication
Estimate and maintain effective communication with individuals and groups within the practice environment external stakeholders
Act as an advocate when representing the patients and colleagues viewpoints to others
Delivering a quality service
Recognise and work within own competence and professional code of conduct as regulated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
Produce accurate, contemporaneous and complete records of patient consultation, consistent with legislation, policies and procedures
Prioritise, organise and manage own workload in a manner that maintains and promotes quality
Deliver care according to the NSF and the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines and evidence-based care
Assess effectiveness of care delivery through self and peer review, benchmarking and formal evaluation
Participate in the maintenance of quality governance systems and processes across the organisation and its activities
Utilise the audit cycle as a pre-planned, annual programme of means of evaluating the quality of the work of yourself and the team, implementing improvements where required
In partnership with other clinical teams, collaborate on improving the quality of health care, responding to local and national policies and initiatives as appropriate
Evaluate the patients response to health care provision and the effectiveness of care through face to face discussion, friends and family test and annual surveys
Support and participate in shared learning across the practice and wider organisation
Participate in the management, review and identify learning from patient complaints, clinical incidents and near-miss events utilising a structured framework (e.g. root-cause analysis)
Participate in the performance monitoring review of the team, providing feedback as appropriate
Understand and apply legal policy that supports the identification of vulnerable and abused children and adults, being aware of statutory child/vulnerable adult health procedure and local guideline
Work within policies relating to domestic violence, vulnerable adults, FGM, substance abuse and addictive behaviour, and refer as appropriate
Team Working
Understand own role and scope in the practice and identify how this may develop over time
Work as an effective and responsible team member, supporting others and exploring the mechanisms to develop new ways of working
Ensure clear understanding and utilisation of referral mechanisms within the practice
Accept delegation from other nurses, prioritise own workload and ensure effective timemanagement strategies are embedded in own practice
Work effectively with others to clearly define values, direction and policies impacting upon care delivery
Participate in team activities that create opportunities to improve patient care
Participate in and support local projects as agreed with the practice management team
Management of risk
Manage and assess risk within the areas of responsibility, ensuring adequate measures are in place to protect staff and patients
Monitor work areas and practices to ensure they are safe and free from hazards and conform to health, safety and security legislation, policies, procedures and guidelines
Ensure safe storage, rotation and disposal of vaccines and drugs is undertaken. Where appropriate, oversee the monitoring, stock control and documentation of controlled drug usage according to legal requirements
Undertake mandatory and statutory training
Apply infection control measures within the practice according to local and national guidelines and provide support to the Infection Control Link Worker in the practice
Apply policies that reduce environmental health risks, are culturally sensitive and increase access to health care for all
Participate in the local implementation strategies that are aligned to the values and culture of general practice
Utilising information
Use technology as an aid to management in planning, implementation and monitoring, presenting and communicating information
Review and process data using accurate coding relating to patients health activities in order to ensure easy and accurate retrieval for monitoring and audit processes
Manage information searches using the internet and local library databases, for example, the Freedom of Information Act
Collate, analyse and present clinical data and information to the team using appropriate charts and/or graphs to enhance care
Learning and development
Act as mentor to students, assessing competence against set standards as requested and if appropriately qualified
Disseminate learning and information gained to other team members in order to share good practice and inform others about current and future developments
Assess own learning needs and undertake learning as appropriate
Make effective use of learning opportunities within and outside the workplace, evaluating their effectiveness and feeding back relevant information
Provide an educational role to patients, carers, families and colleagues in an environment that facilitates learning
Equality and diversity
Identify patterns of discrimination, take action to overcome this, and promote diversity and quality of opportunity
Enable others to promote equality and diversity in a non-discriminatory culture
Support people who need assistance in exercising their rights
Monitor and evaluate adherence to local chaperoning policies
Act as a role model in good practice relating to equality and diversity
Accept the rights of individuals to choose their care providers, participate in care and refuse care. Assist patients from marginalised groups to access quality care This job description may be reviewed in the light of changing organisational and service needs. Any changes will be fully discussed with the post holder. The post holder may also be required to carry out other work appropriate to the grade of the post
