Description
The Person
Passionate about contributing to DMC’s service development across our Nursing Service Team and
more widely across the organisation, enabling you to be involved in the decisions that affect our
care delivery.
The Role
The post holder is responsible for ensuring the delivery of safe and effective nursing care to the whole practice population. As the team leader for the nursing team, the post holder is accountable for nursing service delivery.
They will lead and manage all the nursing resource, working closely with the practice management and GPs to deliver the practice priorities. Clinically, the focus of the role is the delivery of evidence-based practice for patients with long-term conditions and management and preventative nursing interventions to all patients.
As an autonomous practitioner the nurse is responsible for the care delivered, demonstrating critical thinking and skills in clinical decision-making. They will work collaboratively with the whole practice team to meet the needs of patients, supporting the delivery of policy and procedures, and providing leadership and direction for the nursing team.
Key Relationships
* The Partners & Doctors
* The Practice Manager/ Practice Nurse Manager
* Patients
* The Practice Team
* Attached Staff and Independent Contractors
* Clinical Commissioning Group
* Social Care and Health
* Nursing and Residential Homes
* Local Pharmacies
* Statutory and Voluntary Organisations
* Safeguarding Leads
Responsibilities
Core functions, but not limited to:
Clinical duties
Assess, plan, develop, implement, provide, and evaluate treatment programmes including, but not limited
to:
* Health promotion and well-being plus individual plans for patients with/at risk of a long term condition.
* Manage and treat long-term conditions, in line with national and local policies and practice needs
* Review medication for therapeutic effectiveness, in accordance with evidence based practice and national/practice protocols, and work with patients to support adherence to prescribed treatments
* Prioritise health problems, intervening appropriately, to assist the patient in complex, urgent or emergency situations, including initiation of effective emergency care
* Support and manage health needs of women presenting for family planning and cervical cytology consultations
* Implement and participate in vaccination and immunisation programmes for both adults and children including patients travelling abroad
* Meet the needs of patients presenting for wound care communication
* The post holder will communicate regularly with colleagues, the Partners and Doctors within the surgery, the Practice Nursing Team, attached staff, patients, members of the general public and a range of external agencies
* Demonstrate sensitive communication styles to ensure patients are fully informed and consent to treatment
* Communicate effectively with patients and carers, recognising the need for alternative methods of communication to overcome different levels of understanding, cultural background and preferred ways of communicating, including those receiving “bad news”
* Participate in practice team meetings, delivering the nursing agenda and run nurse department meetings
* Produce written documents that evidence the contribution of the nursing team to the practice priorities.
Non-Clinical
Delivering a quality service
* Recognise and work within own competence and professional code of conduct as regulated by the NMC
* Produce accurate, contemporaneous and complete records of patient consultation, consistent with legislation, policies and procedures
* Prioritise, organise and manage own and other’s workload in a manner that maintains and promotes quality
* Deliver care as an individual and team according to NSF, NICE guidelines and evidence-based care, assessing effectiveness of care delivery through peer review, benchmarking and formal evaluation and leading on the maintenance of quality governance systems for the nursing team
* Implement and review the application of evidence-based practice in nursing
* Lead and participate in shared learning across the practice and wider organisation and assess the impact of policy implementation on care delivery
* Monitor the performance of the PN team in accordance with local policies
* Work within policies regarding family violence, vulnerable children and adults, substance abuse and addictive behaviour, and refer as appropriate
* Leadership – personal and people development
* Take responsibility for own development, learning and performance including participating in clinical supervision and acting as a positive role model
* Support the development of others in order to maximise staff potential.
* Act as a clinical leader in the delivery of practice nursing services to patients, ensuring that the needs of the patient are the priority.
* Lead the nursing team in the planning and implementation of local guidelines, protocols and standards, and of local projects or initiatives.
Team working
* Work as an effective and responsible team leader, supporting others and exploring the mechanisms to develop new ways of working.
* Delegate appropriately, adopting the principles of safe practice and assessment of competence of nurses
* Ensure clear nurse referral mechanisms are in place to meet patient needs.
* Prioritise own and other’s workload and ensure effective time-management strategies are embedded within the culture of the team.
* Lead nursing team activities that create opportunities to improve patient care.
* Participate in research programmes.
* Contribute nursing view to practice management.
* Set specification and quality required from nursing admin support.
Management of risk
* Monitor work areas and practices to ensure they are safe and free from hazards and conform to health, safety and security legislation, policies, procedures and guidelines.
* Ensure safe storage, rotation and disposal of vaccines and drugs.
* Apply infection-control measures within the practice according to local and national guidelines.
General
* Use technology and appropriate software packages as an aid to day to day operations
* Act as mentor for more junior staff and students, assessing competence against set standards
* Disseminate learning and information to other team members in order to share good practice and
* inform others about current and future developments (eg courses and conferences)
* Provide an educational role to patients, carers, families and colleagues in an environment that facilitates learning
* Support people who need assistance in exercising rights
* Monitor and evaluate adherence to local chaperoning policies
* Accept the rights of individuals to choose their care providers, participate in care and refuse care
Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion
A good attitude and positive action towards ED&I creates an 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 they treat our patients and their colleagues with dignity and respect.
Safety, Health, Environment and Fire (SHEF)
DMC Healthcare is committed to supporting and promoting opportunities for staff to maintain their health, well-being and safety.
The post holder is to manage and assess risk within the areas of responsibility, ensuring adequate measures are in place to protect staff and patients and monitor work areas and practices to ensure they are safe and free from hazards and conform to health, safety and security legislation, policies, procedures and guidelines.
All personnel have a duty to take reasonable care of health and safety at work for themselves, their 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.
Use appropriate infection control procedures and maintain clinical work areas so that they are clean, safe
and free from hazards.
Report any potential risks identified including:
* Hand washing.
* Universal hygiene procedures.
* Collection and handling of laboratory specimens.
* Segregation and disposal of waste materials.
* Reporting and treatment of sharps injuries.
* Dealing with blood and body fluid spillages.
* Assist patients and colleagues in adopting sound infection control measures.
* Know the general principles of first aid and resuscitation to be able to undertake initial actions as appropriate.
* Know the health and safety policies and procedures within the workplace, including fire procedures.
* Be aware of statutory child health procedures and statutory local guidance and referral criteria.
* Use the computer monitor safely.
* Be able to identify the risks to health of microbiological and chemical hazards within the working
* environment according to the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health.
* Awareness of the Practice Lone Worker policy.
Confidentiality
DMC Healthcare are 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.
Confidential and personal information related to staff, patients and the Practice must not be disclosed within or outside the place of work, except in the proper discharge of duties. It is the responsibility of all staff to be aware of their obligations in respect of the Data Protection Act 1998, the Access to Medical
Reports Act 1988 and the Access to Health Records Act 1990 as outlined in the Practice Policy and Procedure.
It is essential that, if the legal requirements are to be met and the trust of our patients is to be retained, all staff protect patient information and provide a confidential service.
Quality & Continuous Improvement (CI)
* Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk in the care of patients.
* Practice in accordance with agreed standards of care.
* Ensure own actions are consistent with clinical governance systems.
* Ensure stock items under your control are ordered and available in the treatment and consulting rooms.
* Be aware of the practice policies.
* Be able to manage your own time effectively.
All staff are to contribute to investigations and root cause analyses whilst participating in serious incident
investigations and multidisciplinary case reviews.
Induction
In addition to the induction process at DMC Healthcare, where you will be provided with a full induction
programme, when attending any practice within the network you will also be required to complete their
practice induction programme.
Service Delivery
Staff will be given detailed information during the induction process regarding policy and procedure.
The post holder must adhere to the information contained within the practice policies and regional
directives, ensuring protocols are adhered to at all times.
Security
The security of the practice is the responsibility of all personnel. The post holder 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 the codes for the door locks with anyone and are to ensure that restricted areas remain effectively secured. Likewise, password controls are to be maintained and are not to
be shared.
Professional Conduct
All staff are required to dress appropriately for their role.
Skills, Knowledge and Expertise
Essential
Qualifications
* Registered nurse
Experience
* Experience of working in a primary care environment
* Experience of working as a practice nurse or community nurse
* Experience of chronic disease management
* Experience of working autonomously
* Clinical Knowledge & Skills
* Wound care/removal of sutures and staples
* ECGs
* Venepuncture
* New patient medicals
* Chaperone procedure
* Requesting pathology tests and processing the results, advising patients accordingly
* Travel medicine
* Diabetes
* Hypertension
* Asthma
* Immunisations (routine, childhood, and travel)
* Women’s health (cervical cytology, contraception, etc.)
* Understand 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 understand when to refer to GPs
* Understanding of infection prevention and control measures
* Knowledge of health promotion strategies
* Understand the requirement for PGDs and associated policy
Skills
* Excellent communication skills (written and oral)
* Strong IT skills
* Clear, polite telephone manner
* Competent in the use of Office and Outlook
* EMIS/Systmone/Vision user skills
* Effective time management (planning and organising)
* Ability to work as a team member and autonomously
* Good interpersonal skills
* Problem solving and analytical skills
* Ability to follow clinical policy and procedure
* Personal Qualities
* Polite and confident
* Flexible and co-operative
* 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 utilise resources
* Punctual and committed to supporting the team effort
Other Requirements
* 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 lead practice nurse
* Driving Licence – if the role requires you to travel via car
* Desirable
Qualifications
* Post graduate diploma or degree (Chronic Disease Management)
* Nurse prescriber
Experience
* Experience of leading a nursing team in a primary care environment
* Experience of infection prevention and control measures
Clinical Knowledge & Skills
* Spirometry
* CHD
* Knowledge of public health issues in the local area
* Awareness of issues within the wider health arena
Skills
* Experience with audit and able to lead audit programmes
* Experience with clinical risk management
DMC Healthcare is a leading independent provider of primary care, consultant-led dermatology, radiology reporting, in-sourced routine endoscopy services and MSK community services to the NHS.
We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to achieve healthier outcomes.
Firmly rooted in the NHS and dedicated to excellent patient care for nearly 55 years, DMC Healthcare currently works with 30+ NHS organisations and other partners, treating over 100,000* patients each year.
With NHS waiting list pressures, workforce shortages and unprecedented demand, we want to help. We support capacity deficits with a firm eye on quality and robust clinical governance.
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