Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical/Professional role

• To act as a role model of expert clinical practice in the specialty.
• To be a role model and effective leader.
• To participate in direct patient care.
• To work closely with carers and relatives to ensure individualized patient centred care is provided.
• To obtain patient and relative feedback by undertaking clinical rounds with the aim of providing excellent standards of care.
• To ensure that nursing documentation is maintained to a high standard and to audit documentation in liaison with the ward manger, Be a competent user of and participate in the on-going development of the Electronic Patient Record.
• To work in close liaison with other members of the multidisciplinary team.
• To promote the development of evidenced based practice on the ward.
• To promote clinical supervision on the ward within the Trust’s strategy.
• To ensure high standards of care are given to all patients, monitoring this through spot checks and clinical quality indicators outcome measures.
• Explore opportunities to develop nursing roles in accordance with the Chief Nursing Officer of England’s “Ten Key Roles”
• Advise patients on the promotion of health and the prevention of illness
• To liaise with other departments in the hospital e.g. Estates, Facilities, Finance, IT,
• To ensure that services supplied are of an acceptable standard and problems identified are registered and addressed. On-going or serious problems will be notified to the line manager.

Management

• To be responsible for the provision of nursing care on the ward.
• Recruit and retain a workforce qualified to meet the needs of the patients in that area.
• Manage ward staffing day to day to ensure effective use of resources. This includes responsibility for the duty rotas, annual and study leave, bank and agency usage.
• Ensure that all staff in the area undergoes an annual performance development review and have a personal development plan (PDP). Collate all staff’s PDP’s in order to identify and plan the educational needs of the area.
• Identify and investigate any issues of conduct, discipline and performance within your team, in accordance with trust policies and procedures, in liaison with the ward manager.
• Maintain a safe and acceptable environment for patients, visitors, students and staff, reporting and taking appropriate action on any hazards, incidents, faulty equipment or inadequate standards of cleaning. Coordinate the reporting of all such incidents for the area in liaison with the Divisional Risk Manager and Matron.
• Collect data and provide essential information in a timely and accurate manner as requested by the directorate and trust management teams. This could include dependency studies, manpower and a variety of audits.
• To ensure safe custody and administration of drugs in accordance with Trust policies and procedures and in liaison with the pharmacy team.
• Ensure the area’s team is aware of trust policies and procedures and know how to access the latest versions. Disseminate any changes in policy and procedures in a timely manner. Work within these policies.
• To participate in meetings and project work as identified and delegated by the Matrons, Service Managers and Divisional Nurse.
• Deputise and act up for the ward manager, if required.
• To investigate and respond to informal and formal complaints in a timely manner encouraging an open and learning environment.
• To monitor all incidents that occur within the clinical area undertaking root cause analysis as required. 
• To manage any changes in practice or learning identified through incident reviews

Educational role

• To identify educational needs of all members of staff through regular appraisal and review, taking appropriate action in liaison with the ward manager
• To be aware of the educational needs of student nurses ensuring that preceptors and assessors are available. Work in close liaison with the Practice Facilitators and other educational staff.
• To be responsible for the orientation and development of new staff to the area, including the allocation of a preceptor.

• To ensure the ward maintains a sound learning environment for all students.
• Organise and participate in educational activities (e.g. teaching programmes) within the clinical area

PLEASE SEE JD/PS FOR FULL DUTIES OF THE ROLE