SENIOR STAFF NURSE

Job responsibilities

HOURS OF DUTY:Full Time 37.5 hours across 7-day service. Part time considered.

REPORTS TO:Enhanced Hospice at Home Team Leader

KEY RELATIONSHIPS: Director of Care & Community Services, Head of Community Services, Enhanced Hospice at Home Co-Ordinator, Enhanced Hospice at Home Team, Primary Care Team/District Nurses, Saint Francis Hospice multi-professional team, Hospice Community Team, (Clinical Nurse Specialists), Community Liaison Marie Curie Service

JOB SUMMARY: To work as a member of the Enhanced Hospice at Home team. To provide appropriate palliative nursing care & support to individuals & those they love, in their own homes across our catchment area of Barking & Dagenham, Havering, Brentwood & Redbridge. To liaise with other members of the multidisciplinary team Enhanced Hospice at Home Lead, Enhanced Hospice at Home Coordinator, Primary Health Care team, Clinical Nurse specialists, social care providers.

MAIN DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES: To provide appropriate physical, emotional & spiritual care in agreement with the individual & their loved ones.

To communicate effectively & appropriately with the individual & 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 & the ability to promote it within the organisation.

Have an understanding & awareness of behaviours & interpersonal skills that are vital to effective team working & 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 Enhanced Hospice at Home service on a seven-day rota as required in the absence of the service coordinator & as directed by the Enhanced Hospice at Home team Lead.

To attend regular Enhanced Hospice at Home meetings, reflective practice & multidisciplinary team meetings.

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

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

To provide physical care complying with manual handling policy & continually perform risk assessment in the persons home.

To provide appropriate physical, emotional & spiritual care in agreement with the individual & their family/friends.

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

To recognise & report changes in the persons condition & respond appropriately to maintain effective symptom control.

To teach, empower & enable families to care for the individual.

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

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

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

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

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

To practice in accordance with health & safety policies, lone working policy & adhere to fire regulations &maintains own personal safety accordingly.

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

Participate & contribute to hospice Widening Access groups & Special Interest groups as appropriate.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS OF POSTHOLDER:To act within the legal & statutory rules relating to nursing practice as laid down by the Nursing & Midwifery Council.

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

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

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

To be responsible for any equipment provided by the hospice for the role in the community & 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 & 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.

SENSITIVITY AND PROFESSIONALISM: As an employee of Saint Francis Hospice you should expect that it is likely that you will come into contact with individuals in our care, their loved ones & members of the public who are at the end of life or recently bereaved. All employees are expected to respond to people recounting & expressing their emotions about such events with sensitivity & understanding & 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 & integrity of information relating to individuals in our care & their loved ones, staff & other hospice matters 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 & has a clear commitment to equal opportunities. All employees have a responsibility to ensure that they understand the standards expected & that they promote & 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.

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.

In an emergency, all staff may be required to work different hours or carry out different tasks to those set out in their contracts of employment. This will be done in consultation with individuals and taking into account any special circumstances that may exist.

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.

Skills, Abilities, Knowledge

Essential

• Palliative care qualification or equivalent experience.
• IT skills and ability to use clinical database remotely.
• Understanding the philosophy of hospice care and supportive of the ethos of enhanced 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.
• Ability to use own initiative, respond effectively in a crisis.
• 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.

Desirable

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

Saint Francis Hospice Values

Essential

• Compassionate - We are a caring team, kind to each other and put the needs of individuals and their loved ones at the heart of what we do.
• Collaborative - We value working in partnership across our communities and are pro-active about nurturing relationships with our stakeholders.
• Creative - We are forward-thinking, adaptable in our changing world and embrace change and innovative ways of working.

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.
• Significant care experience.

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).