Band 5 Senior Dental Nurse

Job responsibilities

Clinical Duties:

1. Maintain a high standard of patient care and confidentiality within Specialised Dental Clinics throughout the service and manage patients with complex social and medical histories. This includes Special Schools, Acute Hospitals and Mobile Dental Unit Facilities.

1. Liaise with the Dental Nurse Manager and other Senior Dental Nurses to ensure correct training needs are met for staff within the service.
2. Maintain adequate levels of stock and equipment across clinical localities.
3. Prepare and maintain specialist dental equipment and dispose of clinical waste including bodily fluids.
4. Be professionally responsible for ensuring high standards of Infection Prevention Control and Decontamination processes within the service and monitoring undergraduate performance, including risk management and reporting to academic staff.
5. Maintain patient confidentiality; deal with complaints and audit outcomes.
6. Report, liaise and prioritise defective equipment to the Estates Department.
7. Prepare clinical notes including x-rays, models and allocation of chairs.
8. Communicate by telephone, email or fax with patients, GDPs and other hospitals to ensure specialist care is arranged for patients individual needs.
9. Carry out departmental inductions for all new staff of varying grades. This may include specific roles and responsibilities in relation to Paediatric Dentistry.
10. Ensure that all daily mandatory checks are carried out and recorded.
11. Sharpen specialised instruments if required.
12. Carry out any other relevant duties specified by professional staff and the Dental Nurse Manager.

Management and Leadership Responsibilities:

1. Supervise and identify staff who require additional training within Paediatric Dentistry.
2. Develop and empower all members of staff to perform to high standards and innovate.
3. Support Consultants in Paediatric Dentistry with induction of new clinical and administration staff.
4. Support the Head of Service for Paediatric Dentistry for team training for all disciplines.
5. Adhere to procedures to support, maintain and achieve national targets.
6. Ensure to implement agreed Divisional, Local and Trust Policies.
7. Implement outcomes in respect of appropriate Clinical Governance.
8. Co-ordinate emergency and safety procedures and report consequences.
9. Assist with Departmental Audits and implementation of outcomes where appropriate.
10. Attend relevant Departmental and Trust Meetings and disseminate the information.
11. Assist Dental Nurse Manager with budgetary control to ensure the best use of resources across the clinical localities.
12. Liaise with Senior Dental Nurses to communicate with external agents regarding the maintenance and servicing of specialist equipment as required.
13. Assist with recruitment and selection of new nursing staff as required.
14. Monitor standards of cleaning and report deficiencies to appropriate manager.
15. Manage and implement agreed Cross Infection Policies within the team.
16. Maintain records for Dental Nurses i.e. annual leave, off duty and Trainee Dental Nurses attendance records and ensure this information is communicated to the Dental Nurse Manager, as required
17. Manage the appointment systems efficiently in each locality as required.
18. Manage patient referral and Triage system for Paediatric Dentistry.
19. Work with external health and social care providers and liaise with other hospitals/facilities involved.

Management and Leadership Responsibilities

1. Develop and empower all members of your team to perform to high standards and innovate.
2. Ensure supportive staff management arrangements are in place and carry out personal development reviews for direct reports, as required. Ensure all staff in your team(s) have annual PDRs resulting in specific objectives and effective personal development plans in line with the Knowledge and Skills Outline Framework.
3. Develop staff knowledge and skills to promote equality and diversity and address inequalities both in employment and service delivery. Ensure specific equality objectives are included in PDRs .
4. Develop a culture that ensure that the standards of Improving Working Lives and Investors in People are achieved and maintained for all staff and that staffs perception about their working lives are measured and improvements made.

Teaching:

1. Identify appropriate training needs for nursing staff across the localities in conjunction with the Head of Service.
2. Arrange training sessions as required to fulfil requirements of clinical support to the Paediatric Dental Service.
3. Mentor and support candidates as required for qualifications and personal development e.g. Sedation Dental Nursing, Special Care Dental Nursing etc.
4. Where required liaise with Dental Nurse Tutors to ensure Trainee Dental Nurses achieve their objectives and specialist knowledge whilst within the service.
5. Where required carry out performance evaluation of Trainee Dental Nurses during their placement and document their progress.
6. Deliver information and teach new techniques to qualified staff in conjunction with the Dental Nurse Manager and Head of Service.

Additional Responsibilities:

1. To undertake other duties that commensurate with this grade of post in agreement with the relevant line manager.
2. To minimise the Trusts environmental impact wherever possible, including recycling, switching off lights, computers, monitors and equipment when not in use.
3. Helping to reduce paper waste by minimising printing/copying and reducing water usage, reporting faults and heating/cooling concerns promptly and minimising travel. Where the role includes the ordering and use of supplies or equipment the post holder will consider the environmental impact of purchases.

Qualifications / training

Essential

• A Dental Nurse qualification that enables registration with the General Dental Council
• Registered with the General Dental Council
• Hold a post-qualification certificate in either Special Care Dental Nursing or Dental Sedation Nursing

Desirable

• Hold a recognised Teaching Qualification

Experience

Essential

• Significant experience in a wide range of dentistry
• Demonstrate full commitment to supporting undergraduates to deliver high quality patient care and achieve their required educational standard
• Evidence of continued professional development
• Computer literate
• Evidence a high level knowledge of decontamination procedures

Skills/knowledge

Essential

• Excellent organisational skills
• Evidence understanding of clinical stock/budget management
• Evidence of advanced clinical skills
• Able to lead and work as a team member
• Excellent communication skills - oral/written
• Ability to create and deliver training materials etc. Power Point Presentations/Tutorials
• Evidence of managing complex situations and patient complaints
• Evidence of an ability to motivate others
• Adaptable and responsive to change

Desirable

• Evidence of advanced clinical skills

Personal qualities

Essential

• Be Approachable
• Show Compassion
• Display Professionalism
• Have a Positive Attitude
• Be Committed to the Profession and our clients
• Be Productive
• Show Reliability

Other job requirements

Essential

• Ability to work flexibly across the dental service

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).