Midwife - Diabetes

Job description

Job responsibilities

Responsibilities

To provide clinical advice and support to staff as required and acting as patients advocate at all times.

To support the DSM to monitor and evaluate clinical standards within the department ensuring that clinical practices are evidence based and benchmarked against best practice locally, regionally and nationally.

To ensure that all care programmes are accurately documented and that the standard of record keeping reflects the NMC and Trust guidelines for records and record keeping.

To liaise with the DSM and when required with the Continuity Matron, Head of Midwifery and department operational managers to ensure lessons learnt from complaints and feedback inform relevant governance processes

To act as an autonomous practitioner

In your role as an autonomous practitioner you will provide highly specialised advice and support to women with pre-existing diabetes, those who develop gestational diabetes their families and other health care professionals.

You will be expected to address the needs of women from different ethnic minority groups, their families and carers with respect to advice, support and educational materials provided in a variety of formats to meet their needs

To develop expert knowledge in the treatments used in pregnancy to advise and support women. This will be under the guidance of the DSM, diabetes specialist nurse (DSN) or endocrinologist

To provide education and support to women and their families regarding the safe practice of administration of insulin when prescribed by a doctor or an independent prescriber

To support diabetes clinics in line with Saving Babies Lives.

Perform ante natal checks and review ultrasound findings and discuss with the patient and obstetric/medical team as necessary.

To review antenatal and postnatal women in hospital and be available via telephone contact for the purpose of assessment, stabilisation and continuing care

To teach patients the skills necessary for home blood glucose monitoring and self-administration of insulin.

Ability to perform assessments of patient needs and liaise with other members of the multi-disciplinary team where necessary.

To ensure that midwifery practice is appropriate for each individual woman for whom care is provided

Working independently and with other health care professionals in primary and secondary care you will be expected to plan and co-ordinate specialised programmes of care.

You will be expected to plan and co-ordinate multi-disciplinary activities.

To supervise, support, guide, assist in the development of and assess the competency of midwives and junior medical staff.

To participate in the mentoring process with designated personnel as appropriate.

To attend meetings as appropriate in the absence of the DSM

Work with and support the DSM to represent the role and specialist knowledge of the Diabetes Specialist Midwife on the clinical pathway group in the development of an integrated care pathway for diabetes.

To assume responsibility for the safe custody and administration of drugs in accordance with the Trust Policies, Guidelines and Statutory Rules and Regulation

Management

To develop good working relationships with other ward / departments / agencies within and outside the Trust, ensuring that all stakeholders understand, respect and recognise the Trusts philosophy and operational policies.

To provide a visible, accessible and authoritative presence in the maternity unit to whom patients and their families can turn to for assistance, advice and support.

To effectively manage the diabetes caseload alongside the DSM

To provide effective direction and support to the midwives and clerical staff within the team by communication and role model example.

To co-ordinate patient activity in the Consultant diabetes antenatal clinic and midwife/nurse led clinics.

To maintain effective channels of communication both within and external to the Trust

To investigate complaints, incidents and accidents within the team and assist in their resolution and dissemination of learning outcomes.

To monitor and work within allocated resources.

To attend in the absence of the DSM relevant meetings as requested.

To allocate and manage own time for supporting clinical work and managerial work when required

To take responsibility for midwifery cover of the department.

Research and Service Development and Education

To understand new health care related developments ensuring that midwifery practice is evidence based, cost effective and regularly benchmarked against best practice.

To understand all national initiatives and assist in the implementation in order to influence patient care and service delivery.

To be aware of and support local research projects as applicable

To work with the DSM to assist in the design, implementation and evaluation of structured education programmes to meet the needs of health care professionals working both within and outside the Trust.

To ensure and facilitate in meeting training needs of student midwives by providing a suitable learning environment and by engaging in clinical teaching where appropriate.

Professional

To provide dynamic and visionary leadership, giving expert, professional advice, guidance and support to staff and service users.

To challenge traditional boundaries and introduce new ways of working if applicable

To maintain responsibility for personal and professional development of self, enhancing individual performance to deliver organisational objectives, maintain valid NMC registration and practise in accordance with NMC Guidance

To observe the Rules and Code of Conduct according to the NMC

To maintain effective communication and working relationships within the team and between the team and other Health Care Professionals

To actively foster strong links with other clinical areas and support agencies.

Work as an independent practitioner within the multi-disciplinary team to promote the highest possible standards of care.

To maintain clinical credibility and competence in midwifery care

Provide emergency cover and at short notice for unexpected absence / sickness across the maternity service

Clinical Governance

To ensure that midwifery practice specific to diabetes is in keeping with current research by the development of an evidence-based culture and the implementation of research and evidence-based protocols and guidelines

To support the DSM to maintain, monitor and evaluate standards of care within the midwifery team and to assist in the implementation of recommendations from Government or Professional bodies in relation to maternity care specific to diabetes.

To participate in department, local and national audits specific to diabetes in pregnancy

To take an active role in the achievement and monitoring of quality standards as stated within Essence of Care

To ensure clinical incident reporting takes place and work with the DSM to facilitate changes to reduce risk

To implement clinical benchmarks as appropriate to the service

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Registered Midwife
• Professional midwifery training to degree level equivalent
• Successful completion of preceptorship

Desirable

• Recognised Teaching and Assessor Qualification

Experience

Essential

• Significant post registration experience
• Experience of diabetes care within maternity

Skills

Essential

• Teaching/ assessment skills
• Effective communicator
• Leadership and motivation skills
• Computer literate
• Ability to motivate self and others
• Good time management and organisational skills

Personal Qualities

Essential

• Diplomatic
• Assertive and confident
• Personal and professional maturity
• Recognition of own limitations
• Demonstrates enthusiasm

Other

Essential

• Ability to work both on own initiative and within a team
• Flexibility to work days, nights, weekends, bank holiday and on calls.
• Ability to concentrate when dealing with unpredictable workloads
• Full driving licence/independent means of transport

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

South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Warwick Hospital

Lakin Road

Warwick

CV34 5BW

Employer's website

https://www.swft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)