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Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Hold a Diploma/Degree in Professional Nursing.

Be a first level registered nurse with 2 years’ experience in an acute medical setting.

Possess relevant post basic education and experience, which should include a minimum of two years at Band 5.

Provide evidence of continuous personal and professional development.

Possess the aptitude and confidence for working within a rapidly changing environment.

Have excellent communication skills both verbal and written.

Have excellent interpersonal and organisational skills.

Key Responsibilities

To provide clinical and professional leadership and support to all non-medical staff in the ward, ensuring that nursing practice is based on current and best evidence.

Take responsibility for own personal and professional development, maintaining clinical credibility and competence at all times.

Keep an up to date personal portfolio, in line with revalidation requirements in maintaining NMC registration.

Ensure that the wards philosophy is in line with the principles of clinical governance and that all staff understands its significance to practice.

In conjunction with the Ward Manager ensure that KPI’s, and Infection Prevention standards are maintained each month.

Clinical

To participate in the setting and maintaining of high standards of evidence based nursing.

To supervise and evaluate work of all nursing staff.

Promote patient and carers involvement in care planning, delivery and evaluations, ensuring junior staff develop the necessary skills to do this.  Implement a communication system to keep patients and their relatives/families informed of treatment and progress.  Undertake audits at regular intervals to maintain standards of record keeping.

Supervises and monitors junior staff in developing the necessary skills to identify care priorities and address them in a pertinent and timely manner, seeking advice where appropriate.

Communicates and interacts with patients, carers and staff in a non-judgmental way, demonstrating mutual respect and trust utilising a variety of communication skills.

To ensure patients and relatives needs are met in a courteous, helpful and compassionate manner.

To liaise with other agencies and professionals to maintain good service provision.

Maintain effective relationships between the ward and the multi-disciplinary team.

To maintain accurate and comprehensive records of patients care in line with the NMC code for record keeping.

Co-ordinate clinical activities within the unit and have responsibility for shift management.

Act as clinical leader and role model, sharing expertise with colleagues.

To ensure safety and confidentiality of patient information.

Managerial

To work with the ward manager to ensure that all staff sickness is monitored and that the Trusts sickness and absence policy is adhered to.

Ensure that units equipment is serviced properly and timely to maintain continuity of services at all times.

Act as role model and mentor to student nurses including the setting of action plans as necessary.

Adheres to the systems for reporting clinical incidents ensuring accurate and timely completion of Trust incident forms.  Monitors the practice of other staff.

Investigate complaints and untoward incidents in accordance with Trust policies and procedures.  Provide statements accurately, timely and professionally.  Support the ward manager in improving systems to prevent recurrence.

Ensure that the wards clinical procedures and protocols are understood and adhered to by all staff.  These should represent best possible practice and reflect Trust and National strategy for the management of emergency and acute patients.

Contribute to the recruitment and selection of quality staff for the unit, identifying future job requirements for profiling to compliment the ward team and to participate in induction programmes, Mentorship/preceptorship and Trust recruitment open and assessment days.

In conjunction with the ward manager facilitate staff development by achieving ward objectives using the principles if IPR using the KSF and developing personal development plans for all staff.  Monitor staff performance and report progress to the ward manager at regular intervals.

Contribute to the planning, organisation and evaluation of work, ensuring adequate induction of new staff including effective preceptorship for newly qualified nurses and nurses new to the speciality of emergency medicine.

Review the standard of ward documentation at regular intervals, benchmarking performance against NMC guidelines.

Support Clinical Governance within the ward by utilising:

Risk Management.

Education/training.

Clinical Supervision.

Clinical Audit and effective best practice.

Education

Develop clinical practice through education.

Participate in in-service training programmes where appropriate.

Share evidence based practice with colleagues.

Attend statutory training sessions annually.

Manage Finance

Contribute to the planning, monitoring and control of the wards resources, by ensuring that the wards resources are optimised and that expenditure on pay and non-pay are kept within the allocated budget.

Assist the ward manager to optimise nursing resources by an even distribution of staff annual leave and matching skill mix to workload.

Identifies, reports and acts upon and evaluates discrepancies between skill mix and workload within the clinical area.

Ensure you adhere to the policy for booking bank and agency staff and supervise junior staff to ensure that they do the same.

Ensure all resources are used in a cost effective manner, identifying and assisting in the implementations of cost improvement initiatives.