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Infection Prevention & Control Clinical Nurse Specialist
Band 7
Main area Infection Prevention & Control Grade Band 7 Contract Permanent Hours Part time - 30 hours per week (Monday - Friday, occasional weekend and on-call) Job ref 279-6890246-JAN25
Employer 279 University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Worthing Hospital Town Worthing Salary £46,148 - £52,809 per annum pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 28/01/2025 23:59
About our Trust
At UHSussex we’re proud to be at the heart of the NHS. As one of the UK’s largest acute Trusts, we’re a leading example of the excellence, the ambition, and the values that have embodied the NHS for over 70 years.
Our hard-working, talented, and dedicated people work together towards a common goal – to always put our Patient First. In fact, our mission is summed up by our ‘where better never stops’ motto and you will play a part in driving us forwards and in improving the lives of patients across Sussex.
At UHSussex, diversity is our strength, and we want you to feel included to help us always put the Patient First. Your uniqueness and experiences will be part of our creative and innovative community where everyone is encouraged to succeed. We have a range of Staff Networks to help break down barriers, and can offer a buddy to help new members settle in. We’re proud to be a Disability Confident Employer (Level 2) and a Veteran Aware Trust.
We treat our patients and staff with the same compassion and empathy we expect for ourselves. We’re here for them when they need us, and we go above and beyond to meet their needs. This can be seen in our Wellbeing Programme for staff which is extensive and designed to support you when you need it, including where possible, flexible working to support work-life balance - because we know that to look after others we must first look after ourselves.
As a university trust and a leader in healthcare research, we value learning, teaching, and training so that we can be the best that we can be. From the moment you start with us and throughout your career we will help you to grow and develop. We hope that in choosing UHSussex you are choosing a long and happy career where you will be able to see the difference you make and feel valued for all that you do.
We look forward to receiving your application and the start of your journey with UHSussex.
Job overview
Come and join the Infection Prevention & Control (IPC) team who are passionate about patient safety. We have an exciting opportunity for a band 7 Clinical Nurse Specialist IPC based at Worthing Hospital.
Responsibilities include surveillance, investigation, audits, and prevention strategies. The post holder will manage day-to-day activities of the IPC team and provide expert advice and education to staff, develop and update Trust policies, protocols, and guidelines. They will promote and initiate research-based practice and monitor the quality of the service provided.
It is essential the post holder is fully aligned to the Infection Prevention Society Competency Framework and has a recognised infection prevention qualification or is working towards one.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will manage the day-to-day activities of the Infection Prevention and Control Team. They will provide expert advice and education to staff, develop and update Trust policies, protocols, and guidelines. They will promote and initiate research-based practice and monitor the quality of the service provided. They are also responsible for planning and participating in audits to assess clinical practice and compliance with Trust policies. They will work in conjunction with the Matrons for Infection Prevention and Control and the seniors in IPC to implement infection prevention strategic plans.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Communication
* Communicate IPC information effectively in a verbal and/or written form at an appropriate level to the target audience that may include the multidisciplinary team, patients, and visitors.
* Recognise and appropriately escalate incidents and outbreaks, and identify evidence required to determine the nature, scale, and prevention strategies with the support of the Matron and Lead Nurse for IPC.
* Design, implement, and/or utilise existing effective surveillance systems to inform practice based on epidemiological principles.
* Assess any IPC related risks and provide advice on their prevention and control and design, construction, modification, and maintenance of facilities.
* Participate in the environmental audit programme, and assist clinical areas with developing action plans, receiving action plans and managing change in accordance with research-based evidence.
People Management and Development
* Manage the day-to-day clinical activities of the IPC service.
* Manage staff including off duty, annual leave, sickness absence management which may require one-to-one meetings.
* Develop, coach, assess and encourage team members to practice effectively and efficiently providing feedback when and where appropriate.
Patient Care Delivery
* Support, facilitate, and where necessary lead on clinical audit projects in partnership with other specialities as necessary, to promote a high standard of patient care, feeding back results and managing change in accordance with research-based evidence.
* Assess the IPC risks associated with equipment and the environment and advise on appropriate actions to optimise decontamination processes promoting patient safety.
Please see Job Description and Person Specification for full details.
Person specification
Experience/ Qualifications
* Registered General Nurse (Level 1) Degree level, with significant post-registration experience.
* A teaching qualification i.e. ENB 998 or equivalent. Qualification in IPC - first degree or Masters.
Experience/Qualification
* Experience in teaching and presenting. Managerial, leadership, and organisational skills. Ability to motivate and develop staff within the team. Ability to work across professional teams and organisational boundaries. Ability to delegate and prioritise. A sound understanding of the local and national infection prevention agenda. Understanding of clinical governance and its application to practice.
Skills
* Excellent record keeping skills. Competent at delivering lectures and presentations to large groups of people. Ability to inspire others and use tact, diplomacy, persuasion etc. as well as authority and assertiveness skills. Able to produce written reports to a high quality. Methods of surveillance and their application. Able to interpret surveillance data. Understanding the principles of statistics and limitations of data. Reporting surveillance data. Understanding epidemiological metrics such as incidence and prevalence, significance of microbiological and diagnostic results and action/implementation of results. National, regional, and local surveillance systems for HCAI, legislation, and national guidance. Analyse and make judgements to resolve problems following risk assessment.
* Understanding of ethical, legal, and professional implications involved in practice. Comprehensive understanding of professional nursing issues. Clear understanding and application of professional accountability. Evidence of ability to use information from audit to inform and change practice. Evidence in the interpretation of surveillance and audit data from various sources and present complex information to different levels of staff. Evidence of using own initiative to instigate change.
* Excellent written and spoken English. Excellent verbal communication skills with all members of the multi-disciplinary team, colleagues, patients, and relatives.
* Strategies for delivering information effectively. Relationship management. Be able to deal with complex situations, break bad news and manage difficult situations sensitively.
* Interpretation of research findings, assessment of study quality and validity of study findings or recommendations. Research methods including quantitative and qualitative study design, assessing research quality and validity, influence of bias and confounding measures of effect and basic statistics. Systematic literature searching to answer a clinical question. Analyse and make judgements to resolve problems following risk assessment.
People management and development
* Able to manage and develop staff using the appraisal process, conduct individual one-to-one meetings. Competent in team management such as managing sickness absence, annual leave. Ability to appropriately manage difficult behaviour and (with support) manage staff capability.
Freedom to act
* To work as an expert practitioner, delivering a safe infection prevention service. Gives expert advice in relation to infection prevention. Recognises own limits and identifies resources where advice can be sought (both internal Trust colleagues and external agencies such as UK Health Security Agency).
Specific requirements
* Flexible approach to work, able to respond to situations which require immediate attention.
Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion
* Evidence of having undertaken own development to improve understanding of equalities issues.
* Evidence of having championed diversity in previous roles (as appropriate to role).
Important information for applicants
Flexible Working: If you would like to explore potential options regarding flexible working please speak with the appropriate recruiting/line manager.
DBS Checks: As part of our commitment to a safe working environment, we undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service check on all new employees where the role is eligible for a criminal record check. We make offers in line with the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1975.
Skilled Worker Visa: Applications for Skilled Worker sponsorship are welcome for those that meet the Visa and Immigrations eligibility criteria. For further information please visit the gov.uk website searching for Skilled Worker.
Closing adverts early: Please apply as early as you're able for this role. In the event of exceptional interest, we may close adverts earlier than specified.
UHSussex reserves the right to close the role early if we receive a high volume of applications.
Further Information
For help with the application process for non-medical vacancies only, please contact the Resourcing Team by Email: uhsussex.non-medicalvacancies@nhs.net
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
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