Job responsibilities
JOB DESCRIPTION & PERSON SPECIFICATION
JOB TITLE: Practice Nurse
HOURS: 30 Hours per week (may include early mornings & late evenings)
DEPARTMENT: Nursing
REPORTING TO: Lead Nurse
This job description is not to be taken as an exhaustive list of duties and it may be reviewed in the light of changed service needs and training development. The post holder will be required to carry out the duties appropriate to the grade and scope of the post and must demonstrate flexibility. Assist in and perform routine tasks related to patient care as directed by senior nursing staff and GPs.
- Cytology
- Wound care
- Removal of Sutures
- Travel advice
- ECGs
- Spirometry/COPD
- All Chronic Disease Management
- Immunisations
- Chaperoning and assisting patients where appropriate who are being examined by another clinician
- Phlebotomy
- Assisting GPs with minor surgery.
- Requesting pathology tests
- Contraception
- Following agreed clinical protocols with referral to senior nurses or GPs as appropriate
Other tasks:
- Participation in administrative systems in the Practice
- At all times there will be a need to maintain contemporaneous accurate records
- A duty to advise senior nurses of potential problems or errors within assigned tasks
- Attend and participate in Practice meetings and training
- Any other duties appropriate to the post
- Infection control
- All the skills listed are not necessarily needed but is preferrable.
Further Responsibilities
- Advise patients on general health care and minor ailments with referral to other members of the primary and secondary health care team as necessary. Provide safe, evidence-based, cost-effective, individualised patient care. To work within the practice guidelines, policies and protocols. Maintain accurate clinical records in conjunction with existing legislation. Ensure read codes are used effectively. Support the team in dealing with clinical emergencies. Work as an effective and responsible team member, supporting others and exploring how to develop new ways of working and create opportunities to improve patient care. Recognise, assess and refer patients presenting with mental health needs. Support the clinical team with all safeguarding matters, in accordance with local and national policies. Participate in the management, review and identify learning from patient complaints, incidents and near-miss events utilising a structured framework (e.g. root-cause analysis). Liaise with external services / agencies to ensure the patient is supported appropriately. Delegate clinical responsibilities appropriately (ensuring safe practice and the task is within the scope of practice of the individual). May need to work autonomously.
- Training
- Develop your skills and training. Work towards constant improvement for yourself and the Practice. To attend scheduled, mandatory/statutory training sessions as they arise throughout the year. To be responsible for keeping your own accreditation up to date, to enable you to successfully perform all roles and tasks as stipulated in your Job Description. To seek out further training as your role develops. To be comfortable approaching the Lead Nurse or one of the Partners to request training which you feel may be beneficial to your role. Support and participate in shared learning across the practice and wider organisation.
- Quality
- Assess own performance and take accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision through self and peer review, benchmarking and formal evaluation. Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the teams performance.Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patients needs.Effectively manage own time, workload, and resources.Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk.
Confidentiality
While seeking treatment, patients entrust practice staff with, or allow us to gather, sensitive information in relation to their health and other matters.
All employees are subject to the requirements of the Data Protection Act/GDPR and must always maintain strict confidentiality in respect of patients and staffs records.
The post-holder must regard all information relating to patients, carers, practice staff and other healthcare workers (as well as information relating to the practice as a business organisation)as strictly confidential.
Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, other healthcare workers or the business of the practice may only be divulged to authorised persons in accordance with the practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality, data protection legislation and the protection of personal and sensitive data, as well as other related healthcare legislation (e.g. the NHS Confidentiality Code of Practice).
Management of risk
Manage and assess risk within the areas of responsibility, ensuring adequate measures are in place to protect staff and patients.
Awareness of national standards of infection control and cleanliness, as well as ownership of infection control and clinically based patient care protocols and implementing them across the practice.
Monitor own work areas and those of the practice to ensure they are safe and free from hazards and conform to health (including infection control), safety and security legislation, and practice policies, procedures and guidelines, reporting, and correcting health and safety hazards and infection hazards immediately when recognised.
Keeping own work areas and general / patient areas generally clean, sterile, assuming responsibility in the maintenance of general standards of cleanliness across the business in consultation with other managers including:
Waste management, including collection, handling, segregation, container management, storage and collection
Spillage control procedures, management, and training
Decontamination control procedures, management and training, and equipment maintenance
Safe management of sharps procedures, including training, use, storage, and disposal
Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults
The post holder is responsible for safeguarding the interests of children and adults who they encounter during their work. To fulfil these duties, post holders are required to attend training and development to recognise the signs and symptoms of abuse or individuals at risk, to follow local and national policy relating a safeguarding practice and to report and act on concerns that they may have.
Communication
Support and communicate effectively with patients and carers, recognising the need for alternative methods of communication to overcome different levels of understanding, cultural background, and preferred ways of communicating to enable us to be accessible to all.
Anticipate barriers to communication and take action to improve communication.
Communicate effectively with team members and act as an advocate when representing the patients and colleagues viewpoints to others.
Equality and diversity
Behaving in a manner that is welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelings, priorities, and rights.
Identify patterns of discrimination, take action to overcome this, and promote diversity and quality of opportunity.
Enable others to promote equality and diversity in a non-discriminatory culture.
Support people who need assistance in exercising their rights.
Act as a role model in good practice relating to equality and diversity.
Accept the rights of individuals to choose their care providers, participate in care and refuse care.
Assist patients from marginalised groups to access quality care.
Staff
The post holder will be responsible for working within, applying, and implementing the practice policies and procedures.
Will strictly follow information governance systems, policies, and procedures.
Will abide by the terms and conditions outlined in the post holders employment contract.
To ensure the practices ability to respond to changes in the needs of the service, after appropriate consultation and discussion with you (including consideration of personal. circumstances current skills, abilities, and career development) the practice may make a change to your location, duties and responsibilities that are deemed reasonable in the circumstances.
Utilise the audit cycle as a means of evaluating the quality of the work of self and the team, implementing improvements where required.
There will be times when the post holder will carry out duties in the event of sickness and absence, but this will be commensurate with skills, ability, and circumstance and in agreement with the post holder.
All employees must be aware of infection prevention and control policies and are expected to always follow them. Any breach of infection control policies will put patients at risk and repeated non-compliance will lead to disciplinary action.
Disclosure and Barring Services
This post requires an enhanced disclosure by the disclosure and barring service as it is regulated by statute. Failure to disclose details if you are currently / or in the future the subject of police investigation / proceedings which could result in a conviction, caution, bind over order or charges is a disciplinary matter, and may result in dismissal.
QualificationsEssential criteria
RGN Qualification Current NMC registration
Experience of working in General Practice
Full UK driving license and access to a car to conduct home visits
Evidence of continued professional development
IT skills
Time management
Competent in associated nursing duties for the post
Ability to communicate with a diverse range of people
Performing under pressure
Adaptable and self-motivated
Using initiative Team working
Flexibility to cover holidays, sickness, flu clinics and weekend work as designated from NHS England Confidentiality Knowledge of clinical governance
Desirable criteria
- Cytology
- Travel advice
- Spirometry/COPD
- Immunisations
- Contraception
- Health Promotion
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential:
- RGN Qualification Current NMC registration.
- Full UK driving license and access to a car to conduct home visits.
- Evidence of continued professional development
- Experience of working in General Practice
- See Job Description for full criteria
Desirable:
- Experience of SystmOne computer system.
- Cytology
- Travel Advice
- Spirometry/COPD
- Routine immunisations/Childhood Immunisations/Flu Clinics
- Contraception
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.
Work Location: In person
