District Nurse Team Lead

Job overview

***Important Sponsorship Information for this post: We are currently unable to offer a certificate of sponsorship for this post***

This role combines management responsibility for the Greenwich Twilight Team. The post holder will lead a team of nurses and support staff with the responsibility of managing the care for a defined caseload.

Community Nurses work as part of a team delivering high quality evidence based nursing care to clients within their own home, residential homes and clinical environments. As part of a District Nursing team you will have a role placing emphasis on prevention and rehabilitation as well as curative and palliative care.

The post holder will be able to work autonomously, understanding high level assessment to make a diagnosis, initiate medical and/or nursing treatments, prescribe medications, refer appropriately and lead the co-ordination of care with partner agencies and key stake holders.

Main duties of the job

The post holder is an autonomous practitioner and will assess, plan,  implement and evaluate patient care and also participate in the training of patients, relatives, carers, students and other health care professionals.

You will be committed to the development of the team through effective leadership and be given the opportunity to develop your own clinical skills through the delivery of a wide range of evidence based care and an active personal development plan. You must possess excellent communication, assessment and care planning skills and have an excellent knowledge of clinical standards.   At least a year of experience of managing a District Nurse  team caseload is essential to the role.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Management responsibilities:

• To perform delegated line management duties and support the Modern Matron, taking over responsibilities for the running of the service in his/her absence.

• To support the Modern Matron in delivering the service objectives and in performance managing the service.

• To contribute to the collection, monitoring and reporting on clinical statistics.

• To provide team leadership and to take responsibility for the co-ordination, supervision, teaching and appraisal of other staff services as appropriate.

• To provide effective line management to the team to ensure that all nursing and staff within the team are appropriately managed, and that associated resources are controlled and utilised effectively, demonstrating value for money and high-quality patient care.

• To provide support and guidance to the CNS with the management of Bank and Agency nursing staff with the overall aim to reduce the reliance on temporary staff.

• To carry out staff management responsibilities for directly line managed staff in line with appropriate policy & procedure and the “Managing People” guidelines, including recruitment, appraisal, and any necessary performance management measures, and to provide support to the CNS in carrying out their responsibilities in this respect. Specifically, the post holder will ensure that:

- All staff have a yearly PDR (including a 6-monthly review) and that all staff have a regular one to one meeting with their line manager.

- All clinical staff have been supported to undergo and successfully complete their clinical competency framework relevant to their professional role, including any relevant specialist competencies identified through PDR or service development.

• To ensure there are robust systems in place for managing and reducing sickness and other forms of absence and performance/conduct problems.

• To ensure that all staff maintain statutory and mandatory training.

• To ensure that all staff have: up to date DBS and NMC professional registration and to work within the NMC code of conduct and an up-to-date work permit (where appropriate).

Leadership:

• To work closely with and support Senior Management Team within the Service to ensure optimal utilisation of the Community Teams resources. Crucial components of this are robust monitoring of patient dependency, duration on caseload and ensuring appropriate planning and proactive audit measures are in place to monitor performance.

• In support of the Greenwich DN Matron, to provide professional and specialist clinical leadership to LTC Sub-Directorate, ensuring that all Nursing staff within own Team are clinically and professionally developed.

• To act as a sign-off mentor as per NMC requirements.

• To act as a role model for others, exhibiting high standards of professional behaviour at all times.

• To lead within the team on the implementation of the Chief Nurses Strategy for Nursing and imbedding the 6Cs within the LTC Sub-Directorate.

• Ensure that the Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust Core Values are embedded within the allocated teams.

Clinical:

• To use advanced clinical practice and assessment skills and expert knowledge to undertake comprehensive assessments of the physical and psycho-social needs of patients and to undertake clinical duties as an autonomous practitioner.

• To analyse and interpret highly complex information gained during clinical assessment to make a differential diagnosis of an individual’s problem or illness and decide on an appropriate course of action or treatment.

• To instigate therapeutic treatments/ interventions consistent with the best available evidence, applying knowledge and skills to improve health outcomes.

• To provide expert clinical care for patients with a range of complex needs and formulate appropriate treatment and care plans.

• To recognise and manage early symptoms of disease exacerbation and acute illness based on an understanding of disease, disease process, and current evidence and practice standards.

• To work with GPs and or hospital physicians to ensure there is robust communication around clinical care as indicated.

• To provide full assessments and interventions and undertake nursing procedure as indicated, for example catheterisation, phlebotomy.

• To liaise with GPs and secondary care clinicians to request appropriate investigations, interpret results and act on the results, in consultation with GP’s and/or secondary care clinicians.

• To design and monitor Care Plans for patients being cared for by the Community Teams and ensure they are patient focused with a robust framework for clinical safety and patient dignity.

• To sensitively deal with distressing or emotional circumstances regarding patient care, and communicate highly complex information, sensitively, requiring empathy and reassurance, to patients, carers, and members of the MDT both verbally and in writing.

• To have full knowledge of evidence-based practice and clinical management options and be able to demonstrate the highest level of expertise and clinical reasoning skills.

• To refer appropriately and in a timely way to relevant services where clinically indicated e.g., Intermediate Care, General medicine, and other specialist teams as appropriate.

• To prescribe treatment as an independent prescriber. Actively managing polypharmacy and other medication issues in accordance with Department of Health, Professional and organisational guidelines.

• To incorporate patient preferences into treatment decisions, such as planning advanced directives near the end of life.

• To manage patients at high risk of readmission proactively and minimise the risk of hospital admission wherever possible.

Communication:

• To use advanced skills to communicate effectively with patients and carers, to include sensitive and complex information in a language and at a level they understand and overcome obstacles to understanding or acceptance of information to manage any conflict or distress this may cause.

• To utilise communication skills to prepare patients and their families for changes in condition and support choices about end-of-life care and related issues e.g. living wills and discussing care options.

• To competently and sensitively break bad news following good practice guidelines.

• To be able to effectively communicate at all levels of the organisation, to a variety of professionals and to external organisations.

• To be confident in using medical terminology when communicating with medical practitioners and evidence full theoretical knowledge in field of expertise.

• To be able to keep accurate documentation and care plans (in Patient Held Records and on RIO), in accordance with the Trust/Professional guidelines and provide written reports as required.

• To record all own activity on RIO and to ensure that this is maintained within the larger team.

• To liaise and work in collaboration with other agencies such as social services and voluntary community sectors to mobilise resources as they are needed.

• To maintain contact with the patient if they are admitted to hospital and give the unit treating the patient the information, they need to ensure integrated and consistent care.

• To use communication skills to provide targeted health education strategies and personal coaching to support lifestyle changes and proactive self-management.

• To attend staff meetings as per the minimum requirement in relation to hours worked. If unable to attend them to ensure that the relevant meeting minutes are read and understood.

• Understands the limits of confidentiality, Data Protection, Freedom of Information

• Information Governance and Caldecott Principles

• Promote a culture of honesty, transparency, and openness.

On Call/Unsocial Hours:

The service operates outside of normal working hours. The role will involve working flexibly between the hours of 08.30 – midnight Monday – Sunday, including Bank Holiday on a rota basis. It will include one twilight weekend in three (18.00-23.00)