Children and Young People's Community Nurse

Job overview

Currently the service provides community nursing for children and young people with acute and long term conditions, complex needs, and palliative care, including end of life care. The children and young people can present with acute illness in addition to requiring skilled nursing intervention to manage highly complex health and developmental needs throughout childhood and at transition to adult services.

The CYPCNS works closely with social care, education and third sector organisations to implement the statutory requirements of the Children and Families Act 2014, and we are actively involved with partners in developing children and young people’s urgent care pathways. Our CYPCNS offers innovation, partnership and excellence in community care and we are highly committed to active ongoing engagement with children and families to shape and improve services. We aspire to be what children, families and our partners need us to be to enable the very best health and wellbeing outcomes for children and young people in West Sussex.

We have an opportunity for an experienced Registered Nurse to join our well-established integrated CYPCN team as a Band 6 Children and Young People's Community Nurse. This post will be based in Chichester, working alongside Sussex Snowdrop Trust and is offered on a fixed term, one year contract.

This is a challenging but highly rewarding role, and the post holder will be supporting the Team Lead with caseload and local service management.

Main duties of the job

• Manage the delivery of quality nursing care, support, information and advice, for a delegated CCNT caseload, helping to ensure that appropriate resources are available to assist in providing this care.
• Support and educate staff offering clinical specialist knowledge and skills for the delivery of nursing care for children in the CCNT caseload.
• Maintain excellent communication channels with service stakeholders.
• Multi-disciplinary team working and liaison
• Help develop, implement and review clinical protocols and standard operating procedures which assist in delivering safe care and best nursing practice.
• Develop clinical skills and knowledge within the team, ensuring the relevant clinical skills required for management of safe nursing care are maintained.
• Provide teaching regarding the use of equipment and treatment regimes in the community for children, families/carers and staff involved.
• Excellent record keeping.
• Act as a resource and role model of children’s community nursing specialist practice to all other professionals and work colleagues.
• Attend essential and relevant clinical practice updates in tertiary centres and  special interest groups both within the Trust, locally and nationally to help develop and contribute towards establishment of clinical practice standards.

• Support the Team Lead with caseload and staff management.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The post is a nursing role within Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust (SCFT) Children’s Community Nursing Service (CCNS), focused on the clinical and associated public health nursing of children, young people and families. The Service is a 7-day service.

The Children & Young People’s (CYP) Community Nurse (CCN) will contribute to the development of the local Children’s Community Nursing Team and countywide CCNS together with the Team Lead and senior nurses, helping to ensure that policy and practice is developed and delivered in line with Trust and national best practice standards.

The post holder will have a key role in delivering specialist community children’s nursing for the children and young people on the CCN caseload. They will provide up-to-date knowledge and skills for the nursing management and care of children in the community setting. They will liaise with clinical experts for the provision of specialist knowledge, skills and leadership as required.

As a Registered Nurse - Child, they will promote the health and wellbeing of children and their families and ensure the provision of high quality, safe nursing care to children and families on the caseload. They will work closely with other health professionals within the Trust and across the health economy, as well as with statutory and third sector agencies.

Practitioners at this level assume responsibility for planned teaching of nurses and health care assistants, associate practitioners and students, and will help ensure the mentorship and supervision of students.

The CCN is required to educate and clinically support staff to meet the needs of individual children acting as a specialist practitioner in the community setting.

The post holder will protect, safeguard and promote the well-being of children in accordance with ‘The Children Act’ (1989 & 2004) and ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ (HM Gov. 2013).

Please refer to Job Description and Person Specification information.