Senior Community Nurse - Urgent Community Response

Job overview

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of our Urgent Community Response Service in North Norfolk as a Senior Community Nurse.

This role will predominantly involve face to face nursing care and assessment within a patient’s usual place of residence, with an element of Triage for the Urgent Community Response Team on a rota basis as well as other supportive activities as part of the Multidisciplinary Team (MDT).

To lead in the delivery of high standards of health care to patients within their own place of residence by assessing, planning, implementing and evaluating care, in order to prevent avoidable admission to hospital and facilitating early supported discharge.

You will be expected to support conversations with the wider Urgent Community Response (UCR) Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) on a regular basis enabling safe, appropriate and patient centred care to be delivered to this complex patient group.

This is a 7 day a week service and some weekend working will be expected. Hours of service delivery are, 8am-8pm, 365 days per year.

Main duties of the job

To work within the Urgent Community Response Team to prevent unnecessary admission to hospital.

• To assess and prescribe care pathways for patients in a crisis situation with long term conditions, the frail & elderly, palliative and end of life care and/or rehabilitation needs, to achieve quality of life and independence plus prevent avoidable admission where possible.
• To act as the patients advocate, facilitating choice and patient empowerment.
• To provide evidence based clinical/therapeutic interventions based on “best practice”.
• To work within the Urgent Community Response Team to support early discharge from hospital.
• To work with all health care professionals, and statutory/non statutory agencies to provide a seamless, integrated service to our service users.
• To triage referrals on a rotational basis for the Urgent Community Response Team.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical

The post holder will:

• Assess, plan, implement and evaluate all aspects of patient care, and develop treatment/care pathways that may need to be delivered from a range of options.
• Follow a holistic assessment, devise an individualised care pathway for each patient, modifying it as required.
• Be aware of Assistive Technology and utilise where required.
• Assess patients’ holistic needs, communicating complex and sensitive information to patients and carers as to their assessment, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment plan.
• Where there are barriers to understanding, such as hearing impairment, mental capacity impairment and other difficulties in comprehension, explanations require adjustments in order to gain understanding, consent and concordance.
• Establish and maintain therapeutic relationships with patients and carers, incorporating motivation, encouragement and confidence building to enable patients to engage in their treatment/care/management plan.
• Liaise with GPs, Social Services, inpatient teams, other allied health care professionals and the voluntary sector to ensure identified needs are met and care co-ordinated appropriately.
• Be required to undertake risk assessments and act upon them appropriately.
• Participate in multi-disciplinary/multi-agency meetings as appropriate, e.g. Gold Standard Framework.
• Plan and organise specialist services within the Urgent Community Response Team.
• Ensure activity data and clinical information is recorded on SystmOne and completed on a daily basis.
• Demonstrate dexterity and co-ordination when using specialist equipment and fine tools, advanced sensory skills, manual and mobilising skills.
• Order equipment and supplies via the electronic ordering systems used within the team.
• Ensure informed consent is obtained prior to initiating interventions.
• Be exposed to bodily fluids, infected material, blood products on a daily basis, therefore must utilise universal precautions and adhere to infection control policies.
• For those staff with a non-medical prescribing qualification, the member of staff may be required to prescribe according to service need.

Professional

The post holder will:

• Be responsible for ensuring workload for self and others is planned and prioritised according to service targets and needs.
• Be accountable for work delegated to others.
• Ensure own records are maintained, and those maintained by the team.
• Contribute to the staff rota on a monthly basis.
• Be required to undertake risk assessments and act upon them appropriately.
• Contribute to the supervision of workload within the integrated team.
• Be aware of budget and ensure all effort is made to work within this.
• Actively contribute to multidisciplinary team meetings and other meetings where appropriate.
• Support all team members within the Urgent Community Response Team, respecting them, their roles and contributions.
• Actively participate in and attend in-house training as required to develop current job role.
• Will be able to make own travel arrangements to patients’ homes, clinics, base and meetings etc, as required.
• Be responsible for safe use and maintenance of equipment and supplies.
• Remain accountable for own professional actions as determined by the professional bodies.
• Be required to demonstrate own duties to students, new starters and/or less experienced staff.
• Provide mentorship for students undertaking pre/post registration course.
• Provide advice/training to less experienced staff and supervise and support band 3 and 4 and 5 staff and students where appropriate.
• Mentor existing staff and provide training in specialist area as appropriate.
• Contribute to the induction process for new staff/students.
• Demonstrate good IT/standard keyboard skills.
• Demonstrate leadership skills within own competence.
• Maintain own continuous professional development.

Organisational

The post holder will:

• Undertake mandatory training as required.
• Participate in an annual Personal Development Review.
• Undertake Personal Development Plans for more junior staff members.
• Take part in clinical supervision as per Trust Policy.
• Follow Trust policies, and local procedures, and use discretion in interpreting them according to the setting and circumstances.
• Comment on draft policies.
• Ensure absence reporting is undertaken as determined by Team Leader and Trust Policy.
• Contribute to clinical audit as required.
• Complete the staff survey as required.
• Complete risk assessments and incident forms as required.