Staff Nurse

Job description

Job responsibilities

Clinical/Professional

• Promote and set high standards of nursing care and maintain the delivery of quality care within the trust policies, protocols and guidelines.
• Provide and deliver a high standard of evidence based nursing care through the assessment, planning, and evaluating of individual patients needs based on evidence. Initiate and co-ordinate care in the clinical area for a specified groups of patients.
• Recognise and respond to a change in patient status undertaking first line interventions within scope of practice and refer on to the appropriate clinician as required.
• Actively promote safe and effective working practices to prevent harm to the patients within your care and take part in safety audits to maintain high quality standards.
• Communicating and working with the multidisciplinary team to improve quality of care, and informed clinical decisions. Promote innovation and share any new ideas to improve patient care.
• Participate in the allocation of workload and ensure efficient bed management and effective patient flow.
• Coordinate care for a clinical area once deemed competent to do so.
• Liaise, report and document any relevant nursing/patient needs with other health care professionals with on-going responsibility for patient care, communicating changes as they occur.
• Ensuring that accurate and timely patient records are maintained.
• Implement the trust values and beliefs ensuring they are embedded into everyday practice and evaluate their impact on the patients experience.
• Engage and interact with carers/family encouraging them to be actively involved in patients care planning care as outlined in the ward/unit philosophy.
• Ensure concerns raised by patients and their families are escalated and dealt with in an open, honest and transparent way, in line with trust policies, procedures and Duty of Candour legislation.
• Maintain and continually develop in-depth specialist knowledge of nursing practice relevant to the individual clinical area.
• Achieve competence in the use of medical devices/equipment by accessing training and maintain these.
• Promote health education within the clinical area and advise patient, family, and others in health promotion issues, making every contact count. Promote the health and well-being of staff, patients and their carers.

Management/Leadership

• Report, escalate and manage patient safety events and clinical emergencies as detailed in Trust-wide and local protocols and procedures.
• Be proactive in the prevention and management of complaints (formal and those via Patient Advice and Liaison Service) and when they occur investigate and respond in a timely manner.
• In conjunction with other team members, participate in quality monitoring and improvements via involvement in the Portsmouth Bundle.
• Manage the discharge and transfer of patients by using the SAFER discharge bundle and other discharge policies to ensure a seamless transition from hospital to home or other community care services.
• Comply and promote compliance with Trust policies and guidelines e.g. Health and Safety, Clinical Risk and Infection Control.
• Take appropriate action to address unexpected changes and situations, informing the Senior Sister/Charge Nurse or other if unable to resolve.
• Contribute to the clinical area non-pay budgets to ensuring good housekeeping and economic use of resources.
• Delegate duties and tasks to un-registered staff, students/trainees and other staff as appropriate. Bands 1 to 4 as appropriate.
• Demonstrate an awareness of and compliance with health and safety regulations/procedures that apply to staff, patients, and visitors within Trust premises.
• Work closely with partners i.e. Engie, resolving any issues regarding cleanliness, provision of food and maintenance of the environment. Ensure staff are aware how to escalate when issues cannot be resolved.

Research and Education

• Contribute to a research culture within the nursing team to identify current knowledge and deliver evidence based care.
• Support local research teams, contribute to local department multidisciplinary audits.
• Liaise with the relevant research nurse to ensure patients are identified to take part in clinical research studies and research is delivered safely on the ward.
• Embed in the team culture the concept of recruitment to clinical trials which is a national performance indicator.
• Ensure staff under the post holders leadership has an annual personal development review and set achievable objectives. Feed agreed development opportunities into the department training plan.
• Create a culture for learning and development that will sustain person-centred safe and effective care. Encourage team openness so that an evidence based approach is utilised and applied to nursing care.
• Supervise, assess, mentor student nurses and support all Health Care Professionals, junior staff including bank and agency staff in an associate/buddy role until undertaking a qualified mentor role following recognised training.
• Encourage a culture where students receive quality placements supported by mentorship and teaching from the multi-professional team.
• With the Senior Sister/Charge Nurse ensure student mentors and sign off mentors within the clinical area are up-to-date with NMC standards, including annual updates and undertaking triennial reviews.
• Responsible for ensuring that ward/department staff undertake essential training.
• Ensure there are processes in place for the orientation of new/temp staff and preceptorship for junior nurses.

Communication and Working Relations

• Communicate highly sensitive and complex information with empathy ensuring that information is understood.
• Communicating and co-operating with other wards and departments, promoting and maintaining good working relationships within own clinical area and across the organisation, giving accurate information as required and keeping everyone informed of any untoward incidents.
• Deal with interpersonal conflict and escalate to senior nurse to assist with resolution of any adverse situation/incidents. Comply and promote compliance to Trust policies e.g. Harassment and Bullying.
• Work collaboratively within a multi-disciplinary team and participate in the induction of temporary staff to ward policies and routine.
• Communicate complex/sensitive information with empathy and respect ensuring understanding.

• May be frequently exposed to distressing circumstances e.g. if working with patients who are terminally ill and their families and/or exposed to other conditions.
• Occasional/frequent exposure to unpleasant or highly unpleasant working conditions e.g. bodily fluids, smell, etc.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Current RN +/- RN, registration with NMC and any other relevant post registration qualifications.
• BSc Degree in relevant field.

Skills and Knowledge

Essential

• Clinically competent at Band 5.
• Good communication and interpersonal skills.
• Teaching and mentoring skills.
• Team building skills.
• Ability to prioritise workload, instruct and direct others.
• Organisational skills and able to work as part of a team.
• Able to support development of others.
• Articulate and knowledgeable of current professional nursing issues.
• Health promotion.
• Advocacy skills.
• Strong customer service skills.
• IV Administration.
• Ability to Cannulate.
• An awareness of research and evidence based practice relevant to clinical area.

Desirable

• Ability to adapt to change within working situation.
• Mentors Course.

Experience

Essential

• Evidence of recent CPD.
• Managing resources and contributing to departmental budget.
• Evidence of developing policy, guidelines and managing resources.
• An awareness of research and evidence based practice relevant to clinical area.

Desirable

• Experience in Oncology/ Haematology or an acute care setting.

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust

Address

Queen Alexandra Hospital

Southwick Hill Road

Cosham

Portsmouth

PO6 3LY

Employer's website

https://www.porthosp.nhs.uk/work-for-us/ (Opens in a new tab)