Clinical Nurse Specialist

Job overview

We are looking for an innovative, skilled, compassionate Learning Disability Nurse for our new Specialist Community Learning Disability Service as a Clinical Nurse Specialist .This is an exciting opportunity, and your expertise will be essential in supporting the changes in the nursing team and providing leadership for the nurses.

The service offers standard and enhanced pathways and will be more responsive and accessible, providing specialist health assessments, support, and care for adults aged 18 and over. Care will be provided in a community setting, close to people’s homes.

The Nursing Team have implemented the Moulster and Griffiths Nursing model, a specialist evidence-based, person-centred model to provide holistic care to those accessing Nursing support. Positive Behavioural Support also underpins person-centred care, in line with National agendas.

As a service, with a wide range of professions, we work, learn, and combine our expertise together, providing high-quality integrated community, mental health, and learning disability services across Sheffield and are looking for someone who shares our values and committed to helping improve the lives of the people we support.

We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families. The transformation has been co-designed and co-produced with stakeholders both internal and external to our organisation, alongside experts by experience, carers and service users.

Main duties of the job

To clinically lead the nursing team in a specialist health service for adults with learning disabilities and other co-morbidities such as mental health needs, complex behaviours that challenge and autism.

The Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) is responsible and accountable for providing safe, effective care and efficient services to service users and their carers who live within the community. Key aspects of the role include clinical leadership and effective day to day management of the team.

To clinically lead a team to provide care that meets the needs of service users and their families to achieve improved health outcomes and promote health and wellbeing while demonstrating care, compassion, competence, communication, courage, and commitment. Care is based on comprehensive assessment, ensures continuity and is person-centred, culturally sensitive, and evidence based.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The clinical nurse specialist role covers a range of different aspects and includes clinical and managerial aspects.

Management and leadership

Partnership working with other MDT members and external agencies.

Being a responsible and proactive clinical lead for the SCDS nursing team.

Management of resources including staffing, clinical and financial.

Co-ordinating staffing and ensuring adequate nursing cover is available.

Managing sickness and disciplinary issues using appropriate HR processes.

To provide managerial oversight and guidance to all team members ensuring any clinical issues are promptly and appropriately resolved.

Clinical and professional

Demonstrate clinical expertise and clinical credibility to nursing team, other MDT members and external agencies.

Be willing to undertake complex assessment and case formulations.

Be able to competently hold and manage a caseload of complex individuals.

Ensure nursing team are developing and maintaining high standards of clinical intervention and are following the nursing process appropriately.

To be responsible and accountable for ensuring the delivery of safe, effective, and efficient care.

To ensure high professional standards of nursing practice in accordance with the NMC code of conduct.

Communication

Develop and maintain positive working relationships with service users, carers and family members.

To exercise a highly proficient level of specialist communication with adults with learning disabilities who present barriers to understanding and/or articulating their needs to others.

To communicate with service users and carers to explain clinical issues, some of which may be highly complex (establishing capacity to consent, environmental influences, relationship dynamics, impinging health needs) or highly sensitive (e.g., adult/child protection, bereavement).

Quality and service Improvement

Have a commitment to promote and developing best evidence-based practice in the clinical workplace.

Share knowledge and expertise with nursing team and wider MDT and consider areas for development and improvement.

Have a vast knowledge of best evidence resources, local and national policies and current and future legislation in current learning disability practice.

Training and development

Support the team manager with team development and other practitioner performance.

To ensure that all nursing practice is developed using up to date evidence-based practice, as well as that all nursing staff have the appropriate skills base and supporting mechanisms to access training to work with the service user group.

To develop and deliver appropriate specialist training, development, and education packages to identified groups of staff (within the job holder specialty).