An exciting opportunity has become available to recruit to our Band 6 Sisters/Charge Nurse Team. We are looking for someone who likes working in a fast-paced environment, supporting a large team of staff to ensure stroke patients and their families receive high-quality acute and ongoing care. We achieve very good audit results and you will be pivotal in continuing to achieve this.
We require you to have extensive experience of looking after hyper acute stroke patients, with evidence of ongoing continued professional development. You must be able to demonstrate good leadership skills, implementing and sustaining change to ensure we improve and maintain high standards.
Main duties of the job
* Manage the ward and coordinate the delivery of skilled, effective care and timely admission, transfer and discharge.
* Work to a culture of no delays.
* Ensure the safety of patients, staff and visitors.
* Deliver expert nursing care, leading the team by example.
* Provide advice and supervision to junior staff.
* Actively participate in the development of the standards within Stroke and Neurology.
* Provide support to the Ward Manager and Matron and assist with managing the teams.
* Recognise areas of improvement and meet deadlines to achieve this.
* Participate in all aspects of ward management when deputising for Band 7.
* Manage the ward environment, and be responsible for ensuring coordination and delivery of skilled, effective care and safe, timely discharge.
* Assess, prioritise, plan, implement and evaluate individualised patient care. Supervise others in the aforementioned functions.
* Neurological observations and telemetry.
* Participate in thrombolysis.
* Initiate and participate in Advanced Life Support and cardiac arrest management.
* Maintain clear, accurate, legible and timely written documentation in patients' notes providing a record of the care delivered. Remind other members of the team to do likewise.
* Ensure timely admission to the Stroke Unit. Manage bed and assist in providing solutions.
* Assume nurse leadership in the event of a major incident being declared.
* Effective communication with patients, family and carers, the multi-professional team and others.
About us
We are an acute trust caring for over one million people in Wakefield and Kirklees. Our 10,000 staff work in patients' homes, the community, and our three hospitals in Pontefract, Dewsbury, and Pinderfields (Wakefield). We prioritise our people and values so we can deliver the best possible care to patients. Our team is friendly, passionate, and innovative, always seeking better ways to work.
We support work-life balance and foster a diverse, inclusive environment where everyone belongs. Our staff networks offer safe spaces to share ideas and concerns so we can increase awareness and appreciation of equality, diversity, and inclusion. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and especially encourage members of the LGBTQ+ community, ethnic minority groups, and people with disabilities or neurodivergence to apply, as they are currently underrepresented in the Trust.
If you value caring, high standards, improvement, and respect, join our team to make a difference every day.
Job responsibilities
Key Responsibilities
CLINICAL
* Manage the ward environment, and be responsible for ensuring coordination and delivery of skilled, effective care and safe, timely discharge.
* Assess, prioritise, plan, implement and evaluate individualised patient care. Supervise others in the aforementioned functions.
* Ensure safe, timely discharge or transfer of patients to wards, other hospitals or care settings.
* Perform and ensure others perform patient observations such as Neurological observations, blood pressure, pulse, respirations, oxygen saturations, early warning score, pain score, pressure score, peak expiratory flow, temperatures, and electrocardiographs.
* Participate in thrombolysis.
* Provide follow-up advice, treatment and care.
* Perform procedures.
* Complete investigations such as blood glucose measurement, ward test urine.
* Ensure timely admission to the stroke unit and assist in being creative with managing beds and solutions to problems.
* Initiate and participate in Advanced Life Support and cardiac arrest management.
* Maintain clear, accurate, legible and timely written documentation in patients' notes providing a record of care delivered. Remind other members of the team to do likewise.
* Administer intravenous, intramuscular, subcutaneous injections, and rectal and oral medication.
* Provide direct patient care. Attending to patients' hygiene needs such as giving and removing bedpans and urinals. Washing incontinent, unclean and infested patients as required.
* Give direction, support and advice to junior staff.
* Accept accountability and responsibility for own safe clinical practice. Comply with the NMC Code of Practice and subsequent published guidelines for practice.
* Act as the patients' advocate when necessary.
* Attend the department and assume nurse leadership (in absence of Matron and Senior Sister) in the event of a major incident being declared.
* Implement and maintain control of infection procedures, such as hand washing, and be attentive that others do too.
COMMUNICATION
* Maintain confidentiality of information regarding patients, families and friends at all times. Be attentive that others do so.
* Obtain effective communication with the patient; their family, friends and carers; the multi-professional team; other departments and hospitals; primary care teams. This will be verbal, written, electronic and telephone and for the purpose of explaining diagnosis, treatment and obtaining verbal, implied and written consent and follow-up care to patients and family; to request investigations and consultations from other professionals; eliciting more information to contribute to the diagnosis and care; arranging follow-up care; passing information. This will frequently be to patients who have complicated emotional, physical and psychological conditions e.g. deafness, dysphasia, learning difficulties and mental health illness and will require expert use of verbal and non-verbal communication.
* Communicate bad news, with explanations, such as death or severe illness to relatives/carers. Provide support for parents, family and carers.
* Recognise the needs of the patient family and friends and ensure they receive suitable support from the appropriate staff.
* Express ideas simply, through oral or written presentations to staff and others.
* Inform patients and visitors when their behaviour is threatening, violent or intimidating to other patients or staff that this is not acceptable, and ask them to stop. If they persist in the undesirable conduct ensure patient, visitor and staff safety by calling security and/or police by telephone or attack alarm.
* Organising and conducting meetings, which have a clear purpose and outcome such as around their special interest.
* Use the information technology system to e.g. input data, request investigations and refer to other members of the hospital team. Code episodes of patient care in the ED and therefore letter to GP.
EDUCATIONAL
* Provide mentorship, teaching and assessment for pre and post-registration student nurses completing documentation as required by universities.
* Maintain awareness of current developments in oncology nursing and issues relating to the service and assist in their implementation.
* Supervise junior staff, student nurses and ancillary staff with their educational needs.
* Assist with planning, delivering and participating in the departmental teaching programme.
* Participate in the planning and delivery of oncology induction programmes and in the orientation of staff new to the department.
* To maintain own knowledge base and practice advanced accident and emergency skills and supervise others in their delivery of these skills.
* To ensure own educational needs are met within NMC recommendations.
* Assist in maintaining a teaching resource area in the department to promote evidence-based practice.
* Assist with the management and development of preceptors and mentor group to enhance practice within the department.
* Encourage an environment that facilitates appropriate education and training through the organisations individual appraisal system.
* Offer advice and guidance to doctors and multi-professional team when requested.
MANAGEMENT
* To maintain a safe environment for staff, patients and visitors on the ward.
* Maintain safe custody and administration of medicines and controlled drugs according to statutory legislation, Mid Yorkshire NHS Trust and the NMC (2002) Standards for the Administration of Medicines.
* Balance nursing staff resources to peaks and troughs of activity through a rota.
* Find cover for nursing shifts in the event of sickness or absence.
* Monitor and control the use of resources through effective systems of stock control.
* Raise the awareness of the team with regard to financial and budgetary issues.
* Recommend improvements in services, with supporting evidence, to Consultants, Matron and the stroke team. Consult with appropriate personnel in order to effect change.
* Prioritise work and manage time effectively.
* Report and record all complaints, clinical incidents and untoward occurrences.
* Ensure that confidentiality and safe record keeping are undertaken in accordance with the Data Protection Act.
* To assist in leading the development of nursing practice within the oncology department.
* Accept responsibility for maintaining equipment and stock levels, reporting any defects, hazards or shortfalls within the clinical area, ensuring that problems are followed up.
* Lead, some, and participate in the development of guidelines, protocols, and pathways of care, using an evidence base where it is available.
* Monitor and assist in managing sickness and absence.
* Have an understanding of the disciplinary/grievance procedure and how and when it should be applied.
* Participate in the recruitment, selection and retention of staff.
* Attend and contribute to staff meetings. Represent the gastroenterology ward and contribute to other meetings external or internal as requested.
LEADERSHIP
* To maintain respect, privacy and dignity for all patients regardless of race, colour, creed or social circumstances of reason for attendance.
* Act as an effective role model and maintain professional standards when representing the department being courteous and helpful at all times.
* To develop and maintain own area of expertise and role on the ward.
* Offer time and space for the ward team to have appropriate defusing following distressing events such as death; aggression and violence.
* Support staff, through clinical supervision, to be accountable practitioners.
* Contribute to the creation of a departmental culture that recognises and works in partnership with patients and carers involving them in all decisions.
* Work in a collaborative, co-operative manner with other health care professionals and other relevant agencies.
* Maximise the effectiveness of the team e.g. appropriate skill mix, duty rotas, training, and mentorship.
* Assist in the enabling and empowering of staff.
* Develop systems which ensure continuity of care.
* To be accountable for own safe practice.
* Ensure adequate and accurate patient documentation and records are maintained.
Person Specification
Qualifications
* Registered Nurse
* Current NMC Registration
* Evidence of Continual Professional Development
* Nursing/Critical Care Nursing or equivalent.
* Have or undertaking education with the intention of completing a Health related degree.
Knowledge and Awareness
* Awareness of current professional nursing issues.
* Mentorship and preceptorship skills.
* Demonstrates a knowledge of management issues.
Experience
* Sufficient or significant proven experience as a Senior Band 5/Junior sister.
* Evidence of participating in the development of patient care.
* Must have Acute Stroke Experience.
* Recent Acute Stroke experience.
Skills and Abilities
* Effective communication skills, verbal and written.
* Demonstrates leadership skills.
* Ability to motivate self and others.
* Has expanded clinical competencies such as wound closure, intravenous cannulation.
* Administration of intravenous medicines.
* Undertaken added responsibilities as a Senior Staff Nurse, such as moving and handling, wound care teaching, liaison role etc.
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.
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