Non Medical Injector

Job overview

A very exciting opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic and dynamic  Non- Medical Intravitreal Injector (Nurse or Allied Health professional) to join our Medical Retina Service service within Ophthalmology at UHL. We are seeking  Dynamic flexible Nurse or allied health professional who would like to work within Ophthalmology who has a desire to develop their Medical Retina Skills.

We are looking for a motivated person, willing to develop and becoming an autonomous practitioner with the Medical Retina team. The candidate will need to demonstrate of excellent communication skills, strong passion to make a positive impact to patient care. While specialist support and training will be provided for the right candidate, relevant clinical experience in ophthalmology is essential. You will be required to complete a clinical skills competency package build for this specific role and will be assessed and supported by Senior Ophthalmic Practitioner and consultant team members.

You will be supported by our experienced and passionate Medcial Retina Ophthalmic Practitioner team, Consultants and well established Management team. Along the Consultants and other Specialist Nurses you will work towards delivering independent Intravitreal Injection lists for AMD and DMO patients, improving services for Medical Retina working alongside the clinical, Nursing and management teams to develop the service.

You will have a flexible approach to meet needs of the service.

Main duties of the job

PREVIOUS OPHTHALMIC EXPERIENCE IS ESSENTIAL

The post holder will work closely with the Retinal Team to deliver a high quality patient focused ‘Intravitreal therapy’ injection service that meets or exceeds the requirements of NICE guidelines and ensures that the care delivered is evidence based and benchmarked against other services and centers.

The post holder will be expected to exercise a high degree of professional autonomy and make critical judgements using specialist knowledge and skills in order to provide the highest standard of holistic patient care. They will practice within defined clinical protocols and guidelines.

The post holder will provide clinical leadership and work in partnership with the multidisciplinary teams, patients, relatives and carers in managing the clinical caseload for patients receiving Intravitreal drug therapy. They will assess, plan, implement and evaluate specialist programmes of care and provide support to both patients and family.

The post holder will provide support and professional leadership to other specialists and junior staff within the specialty.

This role is compliant with Royal college of Ophthalmology recommendations for Non – medical injector roles.

There will be a requirement to work across multiple sites, the community including GP practices.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Working autonomously and utilising specialist knowledge and skills to assess the physical health status of patients who are receiving Intravitreal drug therapy, making referrals to other agencies / disciplines as appropriate.
• Managing a defined caseload of patients, independently carry out ophthalmic assessments, optimising treatments within agreed protocols and patient group directives, seeking advice, if necessary from senior colleagues.
• Leading and co-ordinating an intravitreal injection clinic.  This will involve working as an autonomous practitioner with the responsibility for pre-assessment, intravitreal injections, and practitioner led discharge and post procedure follow up.
• Giving guidance on the management of patients through protocol / practice guidelines to support decision making in clinical practice.
• Make changes in collaboration with the Retinal team, to clinical management plans exercising a high level of clinical decision making supported by evidence based research and protocols.
• Assist in the developing efficient and effective care pathways for patients, delegating responsibilities to other health professionals to achieve seamless care.
• Ensuring through NICE guidance, that clinical practice is patient centred, evidence based and delivered within the code of professional conduct, Trust Policies and guidelines.
• Promoting best practice, collaborating with local and regional benchmarking groups to generate common standards and nursing and clinical guidelines.
• Performing / requesting Ophthalmology diagnostics and therapeutic interventions as they deem necessary following clinical assessment of the patient.
• Contributing to professional led discharge by initiating the transfer of care process and follow up care plans in collaboration with the health care team.
• Provide and develop psychological support pathways for patients and relatives who use the service.  Establishing complex, sensitive and empathetic relations with patients and carers.  In doing this the post holder may be exposed to occasional distressing or emotional circumstances.
• Promoting Infection Prevention practices in line with the saving lives high impact interventions (HII).
• Assist in producing patient leaflets as per Trust policy.
• Offering and delivering relevant health promotion and disease prevention education to clients

PREVIOUS OPHTHALMIC EXPERIENCE IS ESSENTIAL