Macmillan Skin Cancer Associate Clinical Nurse Specialist

Job overview

The Macmillan Skin Cancer Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) within Bolton NHS Foundation Trust is an experienced member of staff who works within and may lead a team within a defined area of specialist nursing care.

This is a band 6 post with future opportunity to progress to a band 7 subject to completing relevant competencies. The band 7 post would include additional clinical work such as cancer follow up clinics, breaking bad news clinics, and training to perform minor surgery.. This progression opportunity will be reviewed as part of the appraisal process and will be determined by the success of the post holder and obtaining the necessary experience and knowledge.

The CNS will act as Key Worker and therefore specialist resource of current clinical information addressing the specific needs of individual patients through direct / indirect interventions. The post holder will liaise across all care settings, referring patients to other relevant Health Care Professionals, when appropriate. A key part of the role will be collaborative working, aiming to provide a seamless service between the Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, other Hospital Trusts, hospices, Primary Care and the voluntary sector.

Another key objective of the role is to work as part of and contribute to the ongoing development of the site-specific multidisciplinary teams.

Main duties of the job

The Skin Cancer CNS will be a positive influencer, who has the expertise and highly developed skills to interpret and communicate speciality knowledge. The CNS will ensure that best evidence-based practice within the speciality is promoted throughout the Trust supporting at all times the provision of compassionate, safe and high-quality care for all patients.

The Skin Cancer Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) will work within the Skin Cancer CNS Team and alongside Dermatologist, Plastic Surgeons, Oncologists and the wider Multidisciplinary Team supporting patients diagnosed with a skin cancer. Previous dermatology experience is preferred but not mandatory.

The aim of the post is to enhance the patient quality of life when diagnosed with skin cancer, supporting patients, families and carers. The post holder will act as a key worker identifying the needs of this patient population using his/her expertise in clinical, knowledge and interpersonal skills to support the management of symptoms and treatments.

The post holder will be an autonomous practitioner managing a caseload of patients from diagnosis. This will involve the provision of specialist advice and liaison with appropriate Health Care Professionals across all care settings and Dermatology Multidisciplinary Teams in other Trusts. The CNS will be expected to deliver nurse-led clinics supporting patients with skin cancer.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

1. To support, by demonstrating exemplar nursing practice and the implementation of evidence-based care, the provision of a high standard of individualised patient care and experience, upholding the Trust Nursing Strategy which includes the 6Cs.

2. Responsible for ensuring own knowledge of and compliance with appropriate NMC standards and revalidation and Trust professional guidelines and that these are applied to practice.

3. Assess, potentially highly complex, patients, planning, implementing and reviewing care within the hospital environment, both in-patient and outpatient, community or other settings.

4. Ensure accurate and contemporaneous patient, staff and other records are maintained, submitted and stored meeting NMC requirements.

5. Provide and receive highly complex and/or highly sensitive patient/staff related information and ensure this is interpreted and shared, where required, to ensure seamless and effective care, in line with rules of information governance.

6. Ensures clinical governance agenda encompasses continual quality improvement that focuses on safety, reducing risk and developing efficiency and quality in care.

There is also future potential to train in suspected cancer minor surgery to undertake autonomous clinics to support the overall cancer pathway (subject to training, experience and competencies).

Please see attached Job Description.