Deputy Sister/Charge Nurse

Job description

Job responsibilities

Work as a senior member of the Hospice@Home team to provide a high standard of skilled compassionate nursing care and symptom management, supporting patients to remain at home and placing them at the centre of all that we do. Provide clinical leadership, management and coordination of St Leonards Hospice@Home service and have the skills to support and manage change and development effectively.

Main duties and responsibilities

Professional

1. Develop and maintain expertise in palliative nursing within the community setting.

2. Maintain high standards of nursing care, putting quality evidenced based care at the heart of practice.

3. Demonstrate expertise in the clinical management of home-based patients with complex needs. Deliver hands on patient care as needed working as part of the nursing team.

4. Assess the holistic needs of the patient and their family considering their physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs.

5. Maintain accurate records with regard to the administration of drugs in the patients home. Implement all statutory and SLH policies relating to medications management.

6. Effectively prioritise and plan own workload and to be responsible for planning, delivering and evaluating the effectiveness of care given to patients, applying specialist judgement.

7. Maintain accurate written records of care, communicating all necessary information to other team members.

8. Participate fully in the setting, implementation and monitoring of formal standards of practice and to be involved, when required, in clinical governance and auditing for the service. Provide coaching and mentoring to the team.

9. Be responsible for maintaining a high level of knowledge, skill and competence to care for dying people especially in relation to current drugs/therapies in the treatment of pain and other symptoms and administer medication according to the prescription chart.

10. Work with the Hospice@Home team to develop a culture of reflective practice which can assist with learning and development from recent/past events.

11. Communicate appropriately with all patients and staff, liaise with other departments and agencies and attend departmental meetings as requested.

12. Maintain collaborative working relationships and effective communications between all members of the multi-disciplinary team, to ensure a high standard of co-ordinated patient care.

13. Participate in the development of Hospice standards, policies and research as required.

14. Ensure that patient care within the home follows the Infection Prevention and control national standards and policy, role modelling good hand hygiene and PPE compliance.

15. Participate in full rotation across all shifts including nights.

Managerial

1. Demonstrate leadership through clinical expertise, delivering high standards of person-centred care. Ensure that staff have a clear understanding of their duties and responsibilities and of the standards of performance expected. Assess the competency levels of the team as required through individualised objectives.

2. Coordinate the day to day service provision in the absence of, or in place of, the Senior Sister/Charge Nurse as required.

3. Assist with the rostering of staff to ensure a good skill mix, including the use of bank staff and flexing of shift patterns as required to maintain safe patient care.

4. Plan the delivery of patient care on a daily basis through appropriate delegation, responding to frequent changes in needs and/ or the environment.

5. Lead, support and supervise the team through the process of change, demonstrating tenacity, drive professional integrity, balance and perspective.

6. Report and investigate all accidents, incidents, complaints and untoward occurrences, keeping statutory and unit records as required. Be aware of responsibilities relating to the complaints procedure.

7. Manage incident reporting within the Hospice@Home service and work with the Director of Clinical Services and Senior Sister/Charge Nurse when there are identified areas for practice improvement.

8. Understand the serious incident policy and the responsibilities of prioritising safe patient care, attending and facilitating safety huddles.

9. Exercise care and economy in the use of property and equipment and to ensure equipment is clean, safe and maintained in good working order.

10. Be aware of allocated resources and contribute to effective budgetary control authorising supplies, invoices, rotas and absence forms as required.

11. Act as a resource to other professionals, both internally and externally, on specialist palliative care issues.

Education

1. Achieve and maintain clinical competencies specific to the role and organisation, facilitating the development and achievement of competence in others including the teaching of new staff so that they are able to function fully within the team.

2. Use evidence-based practice to develop and maintain a high quality of patient care and to ensure the continuous improvement of the service.

3. Participate in the allocation, teaching and guidance of visiting professionals eg Student Nurses on placements, Medical Students, Students Allied to Health and Post Graduate Students.

4. Be involved with education of patients and their families regarding the various aspects of their health and wellbeing.

Person Specification

Personal

Essential

• Work confidentially and with discretion
• Enthusiasm
• Awareness and ability to cope with pressure
• Ability to work in a challenging environment
• Flexible to the changing needs of the post often at short notice
• Be accurate and methodical
• Honest, trustworthy, reliable and punctual
• Approachable, team player
• Committed to providing a quality and measurable service
• Ability to accept support from other team members
• Respect for others ethnic or/and religious/spiritual beliefs
• Committed to own continuing professional development
• A commitment to Hospice care and to have a philosophy and concept of Hospice care

Qualifications

Essential

• Registered Nurse

Desirable

• Palliative Care Qualification
• Degree

Other requirements

Essential

• Vehicle owner with full UK driving licence
• Ability to work unsocial hours/ out of office hours
• Be prepared to assist with Hospice fundraising activities
• Enhanced DBS check

Desirable

• Knowledge of local area

Communication

Essential

• Proven interpersonal skills
• Ability to be sensitive and empathetic
• Able to work effectively in a multi-disciplinary team
• Ability to communicate at all levels within the Hospice

Desirable

• Advanced communication skills

Experience

Essential

• Clinical experience of working within the community
• Line management experience
• An understanding of palliative care
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Awareness of Department of Health End of Life Strategy
• Organisational skills

Desirable

• Experience of working within palliative care
• Audit and evaluation skills
• NMP

IT

Essential

• Digitally literate
• Knowledge of Microsoft applications (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook)

Desirable

• Knowledge and experience of CPD and SystmOne

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.

Employer details

Employer name

St Leonard's Hospice

Address

St Leonard's Hospice

185 Tadcaster Road

York

North Yorkshire

YO24 1GL

Employer's website

https://www.stleonardshospice.org.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)