Lead Macmillan Gynaecology Cancer Nurse Specialist
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a motivated and dynamic professional to join our established clinical team as a Lead Gynaecology Cancer Nurse Specialist working 37.5 hours/week.
You will need to be educated to degree level or above with experience working in either Gynaecology or Oncology and preferably with an oncology-related qualification.
You will manage a small team of Clinical Nurse Specialists in providing specialist care and support to patients and carers throughout their cancer pathway and beyond. You will work collaboratively with a range of healthcare professionals and agencies, providing expert advice and support.
You will be caring, compassionate with excellent communication skills and be willing to work flexibly to meet the needs of the service.
As a specialist key-worker in malignant gynaecology disease, you will be working within the established gynaecology MDT, in both the ward and outpatient setting, to provide and develop a comprehensive specialist nursing service for those patients with a diagnosis of gynaecological cancer, maintaining trust and confidentiality and acknowledging each individual's right to an honest appraisal of their situation.
You will require good leadership skills with the drive to develop services to meet the changing needs of service users and the local and national cancer priorities.
This post will include cross-county working at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, Kidderminster Treatment Centre and the Alexandra Hospital, Redditch.
Main duties of the job
As the patient's main point of contact throughout their pathway of care, you will be actively involved at all stages of their disease, through investigations, diagnosis, and active treatment. You will also remain the point of contact post-treatment and during the extended follow-up period.
You will have high levels of both specialty related nursing expertise and communication skills, in order to convey highly complex, sensitive information to patients and carers, co-ordinating the care pathway and interacting productively on their behalf, at multi-professional team level.
You will be a contributing member of the weekly multi-disciplinary team meetings to review diagnosis and disease staging, and to discuss and plan integrated, on-going treatment and related care, for each patient.
You will be expected to make autonomous decisions, utilising your advanced specialist knowledge, analysing problems, providing solutions and initiating action, seeking advice or guidance if necessary, working within your professional code of conduct and the broad policies established.
This is a challenging role, involving highly emotional situations, whereby you will be endorsing news of a terminal illness, or one which has life-threatening/life-altering implications. You will be very closely involved with both patients and their carers during what can be a highly distressing time, supporting them and helping them to come to terms with the circumstances in which they find themselves.
About us
Our purpose is simple - Putting Patients First. We are looking for exceptional colleagues who can help us achieve this.
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is a large acute and specialised hospital trust that provides a range of local acute services to the residents of Worcestershire and more specialised services to a larger population in Herefordshire and beyond.
The Trust operates hospital-based services from three sites in Kidderminster, Redditch and Worcester.
Our workforce is over 7,000 strong, and our caring staff are recognised as providing good and outstanding patient-centred care. You could be one of them.
We are committed to recruiting the best people to work with us to achieve our Vision - working in partnership to provide the best healthcare for our communities, leading and supporting our teams to move 4ward. Our 4ward behaviours, which we ask all staff to demonstrate, underpin our everyday work and remain firmly at the heart of all we do.
Our objectives are simple:
* Best services for local people
* Best experience of care and best outcomes for our patients
* Best use of resources
* Best people
Better never stops, and our Clinical Services Strategy provides a clear future vision for our Trust, our hospitals, our services and our role in the wider health and care system.
We are proud to have achieved Timewise accreditation - this means we are committed to embedding flexible working within our organisation as a flex positive employer.
Job responsibilities
Key Duties
Professional
To act in accordance with the NMC Code of Professional Conduct for Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors.
To be aware of, and work within, the Trust policies, with particular attention to Clinical Governance issues, and to attend the Trust's mandatory training/update sessions.
To be aware of, and comply with, the Data Protection Act, Caldicott requirements and the Health & Safety at Work Act.
To participate pro-actively in your professional development reviews, the Trust's Cancer Nurses/AHP Team meetings and departmental Clinical Supervision.
To continually assess your own educational needs in relation to the clinical nurse specialist role, identifying and utilising appropriate resources.
To carry out such duties as may be required and are consistent with the responsibilities of the grade, providing and enabling the highest standard of care.
Clinical
You will be continually available during working hours via your bleep/telephone, to patients, carers and medical staff, this can mean you may be interrupted at unpredictable intervals, when an immediate need for your intervention occurs.
To act as a specialist key worker for those with malignant gynaecological disease, from diagnosis, acting as patient/carer advocate, particularly in the context of MDT meetings, assisting patients and carers in the making of informed decisions by conveying, in an understandable format, highly complex information regarding current treatment options, particularly where barriers to understanding exist, thus enabling them to become partners in care.
To attend and participate in the weekly Gynae Oncology multi-disciplinary team meeting and the West Midlands Expert Advisory Group meetings.
To communicate effectively, with patients and their families/carers, over a range of highly sensitive and emotional issues, including endorsing of bad news; identifying and responding to the unpredictable psychological, physical and social needs of this patient group, and their concerns regarding such areas as altered body image, sexuality and bereavement; providing guidance, support, information, education and counselling; and, initiating referral on to other agencies if appropriate.
To remain the point of contact for patients and carers post-treatment and into the extended follow-up period and patient initiated follow up, whether face to face or via the telephone, assessing and analysing clinical/disease recurrence concerns and taking responsibility for urgent onward referral or appropriate re-assurance.
Provide mainstream genetic counselling for patients with ovarian, fallopian tube and primary peritoneal cancer.
Provide a mainstream counselling service for Lynch syndrome.
Promote self-management, undertaking risk stratification to determine those who can self-manage, following education, those who will need guided support to self-manage and those who will require on-going, face to face support.
Provide a telephone Patient Centred Follow up Clinic (PCFU) for low-risk patients that do not require standard follow up.
Provide a telephone helpline for PCFU patients with new red flag symptoms.
To communicate effectively with other Outpatient departments across the Trust, the Oncology multi-disciplinary teams and the Chemotherapy Service, the Cancer Centre, primary healthcare providers, Social Services, local hospices and relevant voluntary agencies, in order to ensure continuity and equity of patient care.
To offer an individualised service, respecting diverse cultural backgrounds and identifying the spiritual needs of the patient and his family/carers and enabling involvement of appropriate religious/pastoral care professionals.
Leadership
Lead a small team of Clinical Nurse Specialists and a Cancer Pathway Navigator.
The team will provide specialist nursing advice and support for patients and their family/carers and will help them negotiate the patient journey.
He/she will support and develop the CNS team providing expertise through training, advice, guidance and by acting as a role model.
He/she will manage the roster, appraisals, job planning, sickness and absence, objective setting and personal development plans for the team.
To demonstrate expert knowledge and high standards of clinical practice to healthcare professionals both within the Trust and externally.
To take full responsibility for own workload and manage own caseload efficiently and effectively and with flexibility to meet the demands of the service. To identify and maintain supportive networks for self and relevant staff/team members.
To be fully aware of the targets set out in the NHS Cancer Plan, Cancer Reform Strategy and Improving Outcomes Guidance as well as the Trust's corporate and directorate objectives, and in conjunction with the multi-professional team use the available resources to meet these targets.
To develop the interface with primary care and local cancer units by challenging existing boundaries and working in partnership.
To provide expert nursing advice and influence the work of the local Cancer Networks through attendance at relevant specialist nursing groups and Tumour Working Groups.
To take an active role in local, network and national specialist nursing groups.
Education and Development
To educate patients and their families at an appropriate level regarding their cancer, treatment plan and associated side-effects to enable their safe self-care when receiving outpatient/day care treatment.
To provide support, education and training to other healthcare professionals to develop their skills to deliver appropriate specialist care to patients with cancer.
To present research/audit or service development projects and represent the Trust at formal education forums/conferences.
To contribute to the development of resource and teaching packs for use by patients and/or staff in both clinical and educational settings.
To assess own educational needs and take steps to keep up to date with clinical and nursing developments in line with the requirements of the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
To formulate a personal development plan and undergo regular appraisals with the Matron. To undertake appropriate training to provide the necessary advance skills in the specialist nursing care of patients with cancer.
To utilise research findings to develop strategies, protocols and guidelines for the delivery of a specialist nursing service and to disseminate relevant information to staff.
To identify areas of specialist nursing practice that need to be researched, and advise the Divisional Clinical Nurse Manager. To undertake a nursing research study when possible and to publish the outcome.
To inform the other Advanced Practice/Specialist Nurses and Divisional Clinical Nurse Manager of the implications of any research study underway or to be established, providing advice on nursing and other resource implications.
To liaise with the Clinical Trial Nurses to participate in and be aware of clinical research trials for patients with cancer, including specific protocols and treatment plans.
Strategy and Service
The role also requires you to develop, set and monitor specialised standards of care, together with planning and delivering educational programmes to all areas and all levels of healthcare professionals, in both group and one-to-one settings. You will also be expected to help develop and implement policies for gynae Oncology nursing and to make proposals for service development in other areas, where such a need is identified by you and, which impacts in the broadest terms on gynae Oncology patient care, across the Trust. In addition, you will be asked to represent this area of specialist nursing on behalf of the department/Trust, in a variety of situations/meetings, both within and externally to the Trust.
Maintain awareness of emerging national and regional policy/strategy and ensure that the service develops in line with the West Midlands Cancer Alliance strategy.
Work with gynae and oncology colleagues at SaTH and tertiary centres to deliver best practice in line with NICE and other national guidance.
Develop new practice/policies as required to deliver best practice.
Ensure that the service is run efficiently, minimising waste whilst maintaining a compassionate high-quality service.
Develop and deliver short/medium/long term plans in line with the above.
Work with Cancer Services and other cancer site teams to meet Trust values, strategy and objectives.
Promote a culture of evidence-based practice using critical appraisal skills within the multidisciplinary forum to analyse current research, implications for practice and apply when appropriate.
Participate in clinical audit and research to promote excellent care.
Clinical Governance, Quality and Audit
To facilitate a high-quality specialist service through regular audit and monitoring of standards against national guidelines and through the maintenance of customer care and other quality initiatives agreed by the Trust.
To utilise information systems to aid regular audit of the clinical role.
In collaboration with the other clinical Nurse specialists formulate and revise policies and regularly review these following change/implementation. To work in accordance with the procedures and policies of the Trust.
To contribute to the National QST (Cancer Peer Review) process as a key member of the multi-disciplinary team.
Person Specification
Qualifications
* Registered Nurse with current NMC registration
* Educated to degree level or above, or equivalent
* Post-registration qualification in oncology or relevant to specialty
* Evidence of continued professional development
* Advanced communication skills course/counselling qualification.
* Psychological support level II training
* Recognised teaching qualification
Experience
* Experience in providing clinical services to patients with cancer in an acute setting
* Experience in gynaecology or oncology nursing
* Teaching experience with patients and other health care professionals
* Managing clinical risk and incidents at department level
* Evidence of management experience
* Professional standards.
* Knowledge of Health Promotion
* Demonstrate a basic understanding of clinical genetics and genetic counselling and testing
* Research experience
Knowledge and Skills
* Demonstrate an extensive knowledge of cancers & complex treatment modalities
* Demonstrate an extensive knowledge of current clinical & professional issues
* Demonstrate knowledge of Gynaecological Cancer Services within the Trust, Integrated Care Board and nationally
* Demonstrate an ability to develop and maintain good communication links with health care professionals/other health care agencies with regard to patient care
* Demonstrate knowledge of social & psychological support available for cancer patients & how to access these
* Knowledge of statistics & report writing
* Demonstrate a working knowledge of NHS Cancer Plan, related cancer standards & gynaecological cancer outcome guidance
* Demonstrate a knowledge of professional & legal spheres of accountability
* Knowledge of Health Promotion
* Demonstrate a basic understanding of clinical genetics
* Clear understanding of the clinical nurse specialist/advanced practice nursing role and the associated responsibility and accountability
* Knowledge and understanding of NICE guidance and government targets relating to cancer specialty
* Ability to manage projects and meet deadlines
* Recognised advanced practice assessment skills, including physical assessment; history-taking; electing and recommending appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic interventions
Personal Qualities
* Evidence of adherence to the NMC Code
* Maintains own professional development, ensuring skills & knowledge are updated in accordance with national & professional standards
* Evidence of commitment to patient care initiatives and incorporation of cultural values into practice.
* Ability to lead and influence staff
* Effective interpersonal and communication skills with particular ability to show empathy and consideration for others
* Effective organisational and time management skills
* Evidence of innovative practice/evidence-based care
* Ability to set and monitor standards
* Ability to work under pressure
* Ability to work effectively with members of the multi-disciplinary team across various professional and organisational boundaries
* Ability to work as an autonomous practitioner
* Ability to display tact and manage boundaries
* Ability to travel independently across the county
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.
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
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