The Lead Practice Nurse will be responsible for the management of the practice nursing team, consisting of nurses and HCAs. The Lead Practice Nurse will oversee several clinical areas such as infection prevention and control, health promotion, chronic disease management, health prevention, well women and well man clinics, as well as supporting the practice management team in the reviewing and delivery of clinical policy and procedure.
Main duties of the job
The Lead Practice Nurse will be responsible for the implementation of processes for the effective management of patients with long-term conditions using evidence-based practice including care for elderly and housebound patients.
Working as a senior member of the practice multidisciplinary team, the post holder will ensure nursing services are delivered effectively to the entitled patient population.
About us
We are a small but passionate and close-knit surgery, surrounded by affluent and prosperous areas on the outskirts of Ipswich. Our staff and patients are held with the utmost importance and we strive daily to look after them to the highest possible standard. All staff from clinical to non-clinical are offered a well-balanced workload and have full access to a supportive team both in and out of their specialist area.
Martlesham Heath Surgery itself is a practice using the SystmOne clinical system, with a list size of approximately 6000 patients. We are pleased to announce our connection with the new Wolsey PCN, this new collaboration is between a select number of GP practices within the local area. This venture offers a significant part of our future GP funding.
Our patients are often happy to take responsibility for their own health; however, we offer on-the-day contact to a wide selection of teams when they feel help is needed. The main access for our patients is via Anima, which has made a great improvement to the access we offer our patients and we are always looking at new technology to aid our patient journey.
Job responsibilities
The following are the core responsibilities of the Lead 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:
1. Act as the Infection Prevention Control (IPC) lead and work to the IPC Policy providing audits, training, support, and evidence of compliance to the practice manager. Produce the IPC annual statement in conjunction with the practice manager.
2. Develop, implement, and embed an effective care management programme for frail and housebound patients registered at the practice. Assess the needs of patients ensuring the provision of healthcare is appropriate, incorporating evidence-based practice.
3. Develop, implement, and embed health promotion and wellbeing programmes.
4. Implement and evaluate individual treatment plans for chronic disease patients that promote health and wellbeing.
5. Identify, manage, and support patients at risk of developing long-term conditions, preventing adverse effects to patients' health.
6. Provide routine nursing care to patients in accordance with clinical based evidence, NICE, and the NSF. Diagnose and manage acute and chronic conditions as required.
7. Prescribe medication for patients in accordance with PGDs and own scope of practice and review patient medications to enhance compliance. Offer and provide guidance to patients on the use of prescribed and over-the-counter medications regarding side effects and dosages.
8. Provide travel medicine services.
9. Request pathology services and process pathology results as required to oversee the provision of chronic disease clinics, delivering patient care as necessary, referring patients to secondary/specialist care as required. Maintain accurate clinical records in conjunction with regulations, legislation, and best practice.
10. Maintain and review appropriate use of chronic disease registers.
11. As Lead, develop, implement, embed, and participate in all NHS lead routine and directed clinics, inclusive of health checks and seasonal or specific directives such as vaccination programmes for adults and children.
12. Support the team in dealing with clinical emergencies.
13. Recognise, assess, and refer patients presenting with mental health needs, which may extend to understanding practice and local policies for substance abuse and addictive behaviour, referring patients appropriately.
14. Build and liaise with external services/agencies to ensure the patient is supported appropriately (vulnerable patients etc.).
15. Delegate clinical responsibilities appropriately (ensuring safe practice and the task is within the scope of practice of the individual) and support the clinical team with safeguarding matters, in accordance with local and national policies.
16. Deliver opportunistic health promotion where appropriate.
17. Develop, enhance, and review audit protocols and processes for the practice, effectively utilising the audit cycle.
18. Develop, review, and implement nursing protocols in conjunction with the partner.
19. Support all members of the nursing team, providing guidance when necessary, conducting appraisals and training needs analyses as required.
20. Participate in local initiatives to enhance service delivery and patient care, while supporting and participating in shared learning within the practice in order to improve patient care.
21. Continually review clinical practices, responding to national policies and initiatives where appropriate. Participate in the review of significant and near-miss events applying a structured approach, i.e., root cause analysis (RCA).
22. Coordinate the nursing team rota, ensuring sufficient staff are available to meet patient needs. Lead the planning and implementation of changes within the nursing team, enhancing the provision of services to patients.
23. Support the practice team with the reviewing and implementation of practice policies and protocols, ensuring conformance to extant legislation.
Person Specification
Qualifications
* Registered Nurse (Nursing and Midwifery Council)
* Post graduate diploma or degree (Chronic Disease Management)
* Nurse prescriber
* Completed formal infection prevention and control training
* Family planning qualification
* Mentor or teaching qualification
Experience
* Experience of working in a primary care environment
* Experience of leading a nursing team in a primary care environment
* Experience of chronic disease management
* Experience of working autonomously
* Experience of working as a practice nurse or community nurse
* Experience of infection prevention and control measures
* Experience of managing elderly and housebound patients
* Experience of quality initiatives, i.e., benchmarking
Clinical knowledge and skills
* Wound care/removal of sutures and staples
* ECGs
* New patient medicals
* Requesting and taking pathology tests and processing the results, advising patients accordingly
* Understanding the importance of evidence-based practice
* Understand the requirement for PGDs and associated policy
* Ability to record accurate clinical notes
* Ability to work within own scope of practice and understanding when to refer to GPs
* Chaperone procedure
* Immunisations (routine, childhood, and travel)
* Chronic disease management
* Excellent communication skills (written and oral)
* 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
* Broad knowledge of clinical governance
* Knowledge of public health issues in the local area
* Knowledge of health promotion strategies
* Experience with audit and able to lead audit programmes
* Experience with clinical risk management
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.
#J-18808-Ljbffr