Senior Staff Nurse, Hospice at Home Team

Job responsibilities

JOB TITLE

Senior Staff Nurse- Hospice at Home.

GRADE

5b - hospice payscales not Agenda for Change

HOURS OF DUTY

Full Time 37.5 hours across 7 day service (Part Time considered).

REPORTS TO

Hospice at Home Team Leader

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

Director of Quality, Care & Support services

Head of Community Services

Hospice at Home Co-ordinator

Hospice at Home Team

Primary Care Team/District Nurses

Saint Francis Hospice multi-professional team

Specialist Community & Crisis Support Team (Clinical Nurse Specialists)

Community Liaison

Marie Curie Service

RESPONSIBLE FOR

This role does not have line management responsibility however will support the junior members of team

JOB SUMMARY

To work as a member of the hospice at home team. To provide appropriate palliative nursing care and support to patients and their carers in their own homes across our catchment area of Barking and Dagenham, Havering, Brentwood and Redbridge. To liaise with other members of the multidisciplinary team Hospice at Home Lead, Hospice at Home Coordinator, Primary Health Care team, Clinical Nurse specialists, Social care providers.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

To provide appropriate physical, emotional and spiritual care in agreement with the patient and their family

To communicate effectively and appropriately with patients and carers and liaise with other professionals involved in their care on behalf of the Hospice at Home team

Have an understanding of the importance of multi-professional team-working and the ability to promote it within the organisation

Have an understanding and awareness of behaviours and interpersonal skills that are vital to effective team working and practice them at all times

Work proactively to maintain effective communication networks with all departments within the hospice to maintain a seamless delivery of educational services

Participate in the co-ordination of the Hospice at Home service on a seven day rota as required in the absence of the service coordinator and as directed by the Hospice at Home team Lead

To attend regular Hospice at Home meetings, reflective practice and multidisciplinary team meetings

To accurately document care given within NMC guidelines both written and electronically as appropriate.

To be competent in the use of iCare and other patient information systems used within the hospice setting.

To recognise and report changes in the patients condition and respond appropriately to maintain effective symptom control

Advocate for patient and family whilst care and symptom control taking place at home in instances of medication request follow up, monitoring and raising concerns with key workers and appropriately involved health professionals.

To provide physical care complying with manual handling policy and continually perform risk assessment in the patients home

To teach, empower and enable families to care for the patient

To support the primary care team with the setting up and maintaining the administration of medication via syringe drivers as directed.

To recognise the impact that a terminal disease can have on a patient and their family and to support them through this process, respecting the individuality and rights of the patient and promoting their independence

To care for the body after death and support family members/carers after death

To take forward training opportunities and skills to further develop senior staff nurse role with verification of death, clinical examination & diagnostics and non medical prescribing.

To participate and initiate teaching, audits, surveys or other clinical governance activities as required/requested

To practice in accordance with health and safety policies, lone working policy and adheres to fire regulations and maintains own personal safety accordingly

To participate in own personal development through all mandatory training and suitable internal/external study days

Participate and contribute to hospice Widening Access groups and Special Interest groups as appropriate

PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

To act within the legal and statutory rules relating to nursing practice as laid down by the Nursing & Midwifery Council.

To be responsible and ensure adherence to professional Revalidation expectations and process.

Adhere to the policies and conditions of service of Saint Francis Hospice relating to sickness and absence, conduct, Health and Safety, Data Protection and any others that are relevant.

Take responsibility for own professional and personal development which will be monitored in supervision sessions and in the annual appraisal system.

To be responsible for any equipment provided by the hospice for the role in the community and the safekeeping of such items when not in use.

ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Some information received or supplied during the course of duty will be of a confidential nature confidentiality is not to be breached and is a disciplinary matter.

Ensure that computerised data is managed within the requirements of the Data Protection Act.

Report accidents/incidents or potential hazards and to work in accordance with the Hospices Health and Safety at Work Policy.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

RGN - 3 years plus post registration experience

Palliative care experience

Ability to travel efficiently and effectively across various locations within the hospice catchment area.

ANNUAL LEAVE 27 inclusive of Bank Holidays

HOURS 37.5 hours per week

A weekly rota with flexible shift pattern consisting of early, flexi and late shifts.

A willingness to do an occasional night shift if service requires.

Service runs 7 days a week. 365 days a year.

Early 0900-1700

Flexi 1000-1800

Late 1300-2100

Nights 2200-0700

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS OF POSTHOLDER

SENSITIVITY AND PROFESSIONALISM: As an employee of Saint Francis Hospice you should expect that it is likely that you will come into contact with patients, their families and members of the public who are at the end of life or recently bereaved. All employees are expected to respond to people recounting and expressing their emotions about such events with sensitivity and understanding, and to know enough about the services that the Hospice provides to be able to signpost people who may benefit from our services to the relevant contacts.

CONFIDENTIALITY: The post holder must maintain confidentiality, security and integrity of information relating to patients, staff and other hospice matter during the course of duty. Any breach of Confidentiality may become a disciplinary issue.

DATA PROTECTION: It is the responsibility of all staff to be aware of their obligations in respect of the Data Protection Act 2018.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITES: The hospice is committed to the development of positive policies to promote equal opportunity in employment and has a clear commitment to equal opportunities. All employees have a responsibility to ensure that they understand the standards expected and that they promote and adhere to the equal opportunity measures adopted by the hospice.

HEALTH AND SAFETY: All staff must be familiar with section 2 of the Health & Safety Policy, Organisation of Health and Safety. This documents sets out the responsibilities of all staff for health and safety, whether in a supervisory capacity or not. Policy section 3 (arrangements for Health and Safety) provides an overview of training for competence in Health and Safety matters.

HOSPICE IDENTITY BADGES: Hospice ID badges must be worn at all times whilst on duty.

SMOKING: The hospice acknowledges its responsibility to provide a safe, smoke free environment, for its employees, service users and visitors. Smoking is therefore not permitted at any point whilst on duty, in accordance with the guidelines set down within the Hospice No Smoking Policy.

REGISTRATION COMPLIANCE/CODE OF CONDUCT:

All employees who are required to register with a professional body to enable them to practice within their profession are required to comply with their code of conduct and requirements of their professional registration.

WORKING TIME REGULATIONS: The Working Time Regulations 1998 require that you should not work more than an average of 48 hours in each week. For example, in a 26 week period you should work no more than 1248 hours.

Please note that this job description is not definitive or restrictive in any way. It is a guide to the responsibilities of the role. It may be reviewed, in consultation with the post holder, in light of changing circumstances and the changing needs of the Hospice.

The post holder will be expected to perform any other such duties as might reasonably be required by the Director and will work in accordance with all Hospice Policies and Procedures

Demonstrating the Hospice Values

Essential

• Supportive - The ability to listen to and value peoples experience and use them to give the personal support that is right for everyone.
• Compassionate - The ability to be kind and treat everyone we meet with care and compassion. The ability to be friendly and put people at the heart of our actions and words, supporting peoples choices and decisions, helping them to feel safe, secure and valued.
• Inclusive and Respectful - The ability to be open and transparent and value each persons individuality. To be able to show respect for everyone and value diversity. To be mindful that our different experiences and knowledge make us stronger and together we achieve more.
• Professional - The ability to do your best, in providing the appropriate care and expertise to those who need us and support us.
• Always Learning - The ability to be open and outward looking, always ready to adapt and change, looking for better ways of doing things, by learning from each other and from the ever changing world around us.

Other Requirements

Essential

• Compassionate, sensitive, non judgmental.
• Good personal support mechanism and awareness of own stressors.
• Ability to travel efficiently and effectively to a person's home across various locations within the hospice catchment area and must obtain insurance for business use.

Qualifications

Essential

• RGN significant post registration experience.
• Palliative care qualification or equivalent experience.

Desirable

• Teaching qualification or equivalent experience
• Counselling qualification or equivalent experience

Skills, Abilities, Knowledge

Essential

• Understanding the philosophy of hospice care and supportive of the ethos of hospice at home
• Ability to work without direct supervision in a patients home.
• A sensitive awareness of the needs of patients and their families in the community setting.
• Confident decision making skills regarding specialist palliative care symptom control.
• IT skills and ability to use clinical database remotely.
• Ability to use own initiative.
• Ability to work flexibly and have a flexible approach to working patterns.
• Motivated and enthusiastic.
• An effective communicator with excellent written and verbal communication skills

Experience

Essential

• Team player, committed to multidisciplinary working.
• Experience of working autonomously as well as part of a multi-professional team.
• Flexible approach to team working and an awareness of team dynamics.
• Demonstrable excellent interpersonal skills.

Desirable

• Experience of working in a community setting
• Experience of multi-agency working.

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).