Practice Nurse - General Practice

Job responsibilities

Job Summary:

To be responsible for the delivery of nursing services, working as part of the practice multidisciplinary team, delivering care within nurses scope of practice to the entitled patient population. The general practice nurse will be responsible for a number of clinical areas such as health promotion, chronic disease management, health prevention as well as supporting the management team in the reviewing of clinical policy and procedure.

Key Responsibilities:

The following are the core responsibilities of the General Practice Nurse. There may be on occasion, a requirement to carry out other tasks; this will be dependent upon factors such as workload and staffing levels:

a.Develop, implement and embed health promotion and well-being programmes

b.Support the clinical team in the development of individual treatment plans for chronic disease patients

c.Identify, manage and support patients as risk of developing long-term conditions, preventing adverse effects on the patients health

d.Provide routine nursing care to patients as required in accordance with clinical based evidence, NICE and the NSF

e.Provide wound care (ulcer /Doppler etc.) to patients

f.Provide travel medicine services

g.Refer patients directly to other services as appropriate

h.Provide chronic disease clinics, delivering patient care as necessary, referring patients to secondary / specialist care as required

i.Maintain accurate clinical records in conjunction with extant legislation

j.Ensure Snomed codes are used effectively

k.Maintain chronic disease registers

l.Support the team in dealing with clinical emergencies

m.Recognise and refer patients presenting with mental health needs

n.Recognise, assess and refer patients with community health needs, developing strategies for effective care pathways

o.Implement vaccination programmes for adults and children

p.Delegate clinical responsibilities appropriately (ensuring safe practice and the task is within the scope of practice of the individual)

q.Support the clinical team with all safeguarding matters, in accordance with local and national policies

r.Understand practice and local policies for substance abuse and addictive behaviour, referring patients appropriately

s.Deliver opportunistic health promotion where appropriate

t.Maintain professional registration and adhere to revalidation requirements

In addition to their core responsibilities, the general practice nurse may be requested to:

a.If an independent prescriber, prescribe in a safe and effective manner, in accordance with PGD and extant legislation

b.Monitor and ensure the safe storage, rotation and disposal of medicaments

c.Contribute to the implementation of an effective training programme for staff and students within the practice

d.Participate in local initiatives to enhance service delivery and patient care

e.Support and participate in shared learning within the practice

f.Continually review clinical practices, responding to national policies and initiatives where appropriate

g.Be aware of and contribute to the planning and implementation of ICB patient pathway initiatives

h.Participate in the review of significant and near-miss events applying a structured approach i.e. root cause analysis (RCA).

Generic Responsibilities

All staff at Ryeland Surgery have a duty to conform to the following:

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI)

A good attitude and positive action towards ED&I creates and environment where all individuals are able to achieve their full potential. Creating such an environment is important for three reasons: it improves operational effectiveness, it is morally the right thing to do, and it is required by law.

Patients and their families have the right to be treated fairly and be routinely involved in decisions about their treatment and care. They can expect to be treated with dignity and respect and will not be discriminated against on any grounds including age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. Patients have a responsibility to treat other patients and our staff with dignity and respect.

Staff have the right to be treated fairly in recruitment and career progression. Staff can expect to work in an environment where diversity is valued and equality of opportunity is promoted. Staff will not be discriminated against on any grounds including age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. Staff have a responsibility to ensure that you treat our patients and their colleagues with dignity and respect.

Safety, Health, Environment and Fire (SHEF)

This practice is committed to supporting and promoting opportunities to for staff to maintain their health, well-being and safety. You have a duty to take reasonable care of health and safety at work for you, your team and others, and to cooperate with employers to ensure compliance with health and safety requirements. All personnel are to comply with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, Environmental Protection Act 1990, Environment Act 1995, Fire Precautions (workplace) Regulations 1999 and other statutory legislation.

Confidentiality

This practice is committed to maintaining an outstanding confidential service. Patients entrust and permit us to collect and retain sensitive information relating to their health and other matters, pertaining to their care. They do so in confidence and have a right to expect all staff will respect their privacy and maintain confidentiality at all times. It is essential that if, the legal requirements are to be met and the trust of our patients is to be retained that all staff protect patient information and provide a confidential service.

In the performance of the duties outlined in this Job Description, the post-holder may have access to confidential information relating to patients and their carers, Practice staff and other healthcare workers. They may also have access to information relating to the Practice as a business organisation. All such information from any source is to be regarded as strictly confidential

Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, other healthcare workers or the business of the Practice may only be divulged to authorised persons in accordance with the Practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data

Quality & Continuous Improvement (CI)

To preserve and improve the quality of our output, all personnel are required to think not only of what they do, but how they achieve it. By continually re-examining our processes, we will be able to develop and improve the overall effectiveness of the way we work. The responsibility for this rests with everyone working within the practice to look for opportunities to improve quality and share good practice.

This practice continually strives to improve work processes which deliver health care with improved results across all areas of our service provision. We promote a culture of continuous improvement, where everyone counts and staff are permitted to make suggestions and contributions to improve our service delivery and enhance patient care.

Induction Training

On arrival at the practice all personnel are to complete a practice induction programme.

Learning and Development

The effective use of training and development is fundamental in ensuring that all staff are equipped with the appropriate skills, knowledge, attitude and competences to perform their role. All staff will be required to partake and complete mandatory training as directed by the training coordinator, as well as participating in the practice training programme. Staff will also be permitted (subject to approval) to undertake external training courses which will enhance their knowledge and skills, progress their career and ultimately, enable them to improve processes and service delivery.

Collaborative Working

All staff are to recognise the significance of collaborative working. Teamwork is essential in multidisciplinary environments. Effective communication is essential and all staff must ensure they communicate in a manner which enables the sharing of information in an appropriate manner.

Service Delivery

Staff at Ryeland Surgery must adhere to the information contained with practice policies and regional directives, ensuring protocols are adhered to at all times. Staff will be given detailed information during the induction process regarding policy and procedure.

Security

The security of the practice is the responsibility of all personnel. Staff must ensure they remain vigilant at all times and report any suspicious activity immediately to their line manager. Under no circumstances are staff to share security codes with anyone and are to ensure that restricted areas remain effectively secured.

Professional Conduct

At Ryeland Surgery, staff are required to dress appropriately for their role. Administrative staff will be provided with a uniform whilst clinical staff must dress in accordance with their role.

Qualifications

Essential

• RGN, current NMC registration
• Qualification in at least one of the following chronic disease areas: Asthma or COPD or Diabetes

Desirable

• Chronic disease management qualifications in additional areas (asthma, COPD, CHD, diabetes)
• Childhood Immunisation and Cytology qualifications or willing to train to achieve these qualifications
• Clinical skills qualification, degree level or equivalent
• Independent Nurse Prescriber

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working in a primary care environment
• Experience of chronic disease management
• Experience of autonomous working

Desirable

• Experience of working as a practice nurse or community nurse
• Experience of managing, leading and developing a team

Clinical Knowledge and Skills

Essential

• Wound Care / Removal of sutures & staples
• ECGs
• Venepuncture
• Chaperone procedure
• Requesting pathology tests and processing the results, advising patients accordingly
• Travel medicine
• Immunisations (routine, childhood and travel)
• Womens health (Cervical cytology, contraception, etc.)
• Understands the importance of evidence based practice
• Broad knowledge of clinical governance
• Ability to record accurate clinical notes
• Ability to work within own scope of practice and understanding when to refer to GPs
• Knowledge of health promotion strategies
• Understands the requirement for PGDs and associated policy

Desirable

• Spirometry
• Knowledge of public health issues in the local area
• Awareness of issues within the wider health arena

Skills

Essential

• Excellent communication skills (written and oral)
• Strong IT skills
• Clear, polite telephone manner
• Competent in the use of Office and Outlook
• Effective time management (Planning & Organising)
• Ability to work as a team member and autonomously
• Good interpersonal skills
• Problem solving & analytical skills
• Ability to follow clinical policy and procedure

Desirable

• EMIS user skills
• Experience with audit and able to lead audit programmes
• Experience with clinical risk management

Personal Qualities

Essential

• Polite and confident
• Flexible and cooperative
• Motivated, forward thinker
• Problem solver with the ability to process information accurately and effectively, interpreting data as required
• High levels of integrity and loyalty
• Sensitive and empathetic in distressing situations
• Ability to work under pressure / in stressful situations
• Effectively able to communicate and understand the needs of the patient
• Commitment to ongoing professional development
• Effectively utilises resources
• Punctual and committed to supporting the team effort

Other Requirements

Essential

• Flexibility to work outside of core office hours
• Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check
• Occupational Health Clearance
• Meet the requirements and produce evidence for nurse revalidation
• Evidence of continuing professional development (CPD) commensurate with the role of a Practice Nurse

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).