The following are the core responsibilities of the practice nurse. There may be, on occasion, a requirement to carry out other tasks, depending upon factors such as workload and staffing levels:
1. To develop, implement and embed health promotion and well-being programmes
2. To implement and evaluate individual treatment plans for chronic disease patients
3. To provide chronic disease clinics, delivering patient care as necessary, referring patients to secondary/specialist care as required
4. To identify, manage and support patients at risk of developing long term conditions, preventing adverse effects to patients' health
5. To provide routine nursing care to patients as required in accordance with clinical based evidence, NICE and the NSF
6. To provide wound care (ulcer/Doppler etc.) to patients
7. To provide travel medicine services when appropriate
8. To request pathology services as necessary
9. To process pathology results as required
10. To provide cervical cytology when trained
11. To provide ear irrigation to patients when trained
12. Administer immunisations and injections within own competency and level of training
13. To maintain accurate clinical records in conjunction with extant legislation
14. To ensure read codes are used effectively
15. To maintain chronic disease registers
16. To chaperone patients where necessary
17. To assist GPs with minor surgery when required
18. To prioritise health issues and intervene appropriately
19. To support the team in dealing with clinical emergencies
20. To recognise, assess and refer patients presenting with mental health needs
21. To implement vaccination programmes for adults and children
22. To support patients in the use of their prescribed medicines or over the counter medicines (within own scope of practice)
23. To liaise with external services/agencies to ensure the patient is supported appropriately (vulnerable patients etc.)
24. To delegate clinical responsibilities appropriately (ensuring safe practice and the task is within the scope of practice of the individual)
25. To support the clinical team with all safeguarding matters in accordance with local and national policies
26. To understand practice and local policies for substance abuse and addictive behaviour, referring patients appropriately
27. To deliver opportunistic health promotion where appropriate
In addition to the primary responsibilities, the practice nurse may be requested to:
1. Participate in providing effective Infection Prevention & Control (IPC) within the practice and to work to the IPC Policy providing audits, training, support and evidence of compliance as required
2. Develop and review audit protocols and process effectively utilising the audit cycle
3. Develop, review and implement nursing protocols in conjunction with colleagues, partners and managers
4. Monitor and ensure the safe storage, rotation and disposal of medicaments
5. Support junior members of the nursing team, providing guidance when necessary
6. Participate in local initiatives to enhance service delivery and patient care
7. Support and participate in shared learning within the practice
8. Continually review clinical practices, responding to national policies and initiatives where appropriate
9. Participate in the review of significant and near-miss events applying a structured approach, i.e. root cause analysis (RCA)
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