Band 6 Cardiac Rehab Specialist Nurse Practitioner: The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate extensive experience of working within a cardiac environment and the care of patients who have had a myocardial infarction. You will also have experience of caring for patients who have a range of cardiac diagnosis including heart failure, ICDs and cardiac surgery. The post has a strong patient and health promotion focus to support patients and their families through a pathway of care from presentation (e.g., diagnosis or cardiac event), identification for eligibility, referral, and initial assessment. This includes nursing assessment, individual patient goal setting, supporting the patient to help them achieve their individual goals by self care management techniques, psychological intervention, and patient group education sessions. You will be required to mentor students and post registration health professionals and support the Cardiac Rehabilitation Manager as required. In collaboration with the Exercise Physiologists, you may be required to undertake clinical assessment and help provide support for long-term management. You may also be required to play a lead role in the supervised phase lll exercise programmes to the above groups of patients. JOB PROFILE The Specialist Practitioner will contribute to the care of a patient group by leading on defined aspects of care. Specialist Practitioners will Accept patient referrals to agreed criteria and be identified as the key worker for an agreed patient/client caseload. Provide advice, education and support to patients, their carers and other health care professionals. Practice clinically in agreed care settings according to approved protocols or guidance. Contribute to the smooth running of the designated service. Work across departmental boundaries. Liaise with other hospital and community teams along an agreed pathway to support the delivery of patient and family centred seamless care. Assist in providing cross site service cover. Support the line manager in contributing to the on-going development of the designated service. Clinical Practice: Specialist Practitioners will: Be a defined point of contact for patients/carers for defined episodes/pathways of care and provide clinical care, specialist nursing advice and psychosocial support. Work collaboratively and in partnership with other health care professionals, offering advice to colleagues. Assess health and psychosocial needs of individual patients, and provide care to meet these needs, through a process of shared decision making. Accept referrals to agreed criteria, and work in partnership with other. professionals to deliver co-ordinated programmes of care effectively and referring patients to other practitioners as required. Deliver expert nursing care to patients in agreed practice settings, working as part of nursing/multidisciplinary teams. Communicate with patients in ways that empower them to make informed choices about their health and health care. Act as advocate for individual patients and the client group. Provide appropriate education to patients and their families to promote health and encourage self-care. Use communication skills to impart information to patients and carers, and provide them with advice and emotional support in hospital/at home as appropriate. Maintain adequate patient documentation to NMC requirements for all patients seen and advice given in any practice setting and contribute to clinical activity/data collection as required. Leadership: Specialist Practitioners will be able to; Be involved in developing standards of care, practice guidelines and where appropriate Care Pathways for the patient/client group. Contribute to the development and delivery of nurse-led initiatives for the benefit of the identified client group, in conjunction with medical and nursing/AHP colleagues. Demonstrate and share clinical practice developments to provide evidence-based care and contribute to service improvement in accordance with local policy initiatives. Contribute appropriately to clinical governance activities that relate to own area of practice and patient/client group. Support clinical and management teams in the delivery of Trust and Directorate objectives. Lead by example in supporting cross site staff cover Education/Training: Specialist Practitioners will be able to: Maintain, advance and develop personal theoretical knowledge, high standards of clinical competence and professional development through self education and attendance at relevant courses of study Maintain own professional portfolio Contribute to the development of specialist nursing knowledge and skills to enhance and extend the practice of other nurses and health care professionals within the service Identify and address the educational needs of patients, families, carers and staff involved in the delivery of this service Provide specialist nursing support, information and education for patients, families and carers who use the service Contribute to the teaching and support of students from the multi professional team within relevant educational programmes Organise and contribute to relevant educational programmes and in house study days. Develop and maintain a peer network of support, information and learning with other specialist practitioners at a local and National level. Improving quality and developing practice: Specialist Practitioners will be able to: Assist in the evaluation of the service and patient care, including monitoring of patient experience. Maintain awareness of relevant research, evaluations and audit, and act on this information in collaboration with colleagues to continually develop the service. Identify areas of risk and poor quality, and address these through appropriate governance structures and forums. Develop personal and professional knowledge through critical self appraisal, clinical supervision and networking with other health care professionals locally and nationally. Have responsibility to ensure annual appraisal, agree objectives which reflect local and national service needs and develop personal development plans. Advocate and contribute to a working environment that promotes continuous learning and development, evidence-based practice and succession planning, as well as identifying learning opportunities at local and national levels. Have a high level of communication skills to enable the participation in the dissemination of practice through conferences and professional publications. Develop and sustain appropriate multidisciplinary working relationships to improve health outcomes and healthcare delivery systems. Contribute to protocols, documentation systems, standards, policies and clinical guidelines for others to use in practice. Support line manager in implementing service reviews/changes Ensure statutory and mandatory training updates, as well as role /speciality updates are completed and necessary records maintained