Senior Community Nurse

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Senior Community nurse  to join our Isle of Ely and Cambridge Community Nursing Teams. We are looking for someone who can provide  consistent Triage cover (multiple times a week) and support current caseload holders.

You will be working as part of a team which includes a Community Nursing Clinical Lead,  Community Nurses (RN), and Healthcare Assistants. You will link closely with colleagues outside of CPFT including GPs and other members of the multidisciplinary team to support excellent nursing care at home, reducing the necessity for acute hospital admission.

The successful candidate will need to have worked within a community nursing team or similar role – with community related continual professional development evidenced with completion or plan for completion of  post graduate community related qualification.

The successful candidate will be supported and encouraged to  develop their career within role.

Main duties of the job

• To work as an autonomous practitioner within the team.
• To be responsible for own caseload and undertake assessment of patients with complex and multiple pathologies using specialist clinical reasoning skills.
• To be accountable for assessing, interpreting, planning, implementing and evaluating treatment to patients within professional guidelines, with the support of the multidisciplinary team.
• To regularly contribute to the triage and assessment of patients with complex and multiple pathologies using specialist clinical reasoning skills.
• To keep the patient at the centre of care, ensuring patient and carer participation indecision making.
• Provide support and education to peers, new staff non-registered staff and students.
• To supervise junior staff and students overseeing patient intervention and ensure that a high standard of care is delivered, and staff achieve set competencies.
• To be accountable for a delegated case load.
• To prioritise all referrals according to clinical lead and allocate or signpost appropriately.
• To provide a high standard of nursing intervention within a patient’s own home this includes lone working, with access to Specialist and Advanced Practitioners when required.
• To identify patient needs, agree goals and to provide appropriate holistic nursing interventions, to refer to other services and provide or order equipment.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please note for this role you will be required to travel independently around the county meeting strict time deadlines. You will need to hold a full UK driving licence* and have use of a vehicle. You cannot use public transport for this role as this is not a reliable form of transport and will not allow you to meet service needs. Please confirm in your application that you meet the specified criteria.

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of responsibilities

• To be professionally and legally accountable for all aspects for your own and delegated work
• To work within codes of practice and professional guidelines.
• To undertake holistic assessment (including those with complex presentations and multi pathologies) making use of clinical reasoning skills.
• To use evidence-based practice, to ensure clinical care is effective and appropriate.
• To promote independence and wherever possible to avoid hospital admission and reduce inpatient length of stay to ensure those patients receive the appropriate care in the most appropriate setting.
• Organise and manage own time, delegating work appropriately.
• Contribute to risk assessments and health and safety assessments and including.
• Immediately reporting any changes/newly identified risks.
• To demonstrate the importance of gaining patient and carer consent in all interventions.
• To effectively communicate verbally with patients, carers and colleagues using tact and persuasive skills. This may involve using skills where patients have difficulties in communication, e.g. hearing loss, diminished sight, depression, speech problems, cognitive impairment, behavioural problems and pain.

*DVLA have a number of reciprocal arrangements with overseas countries, for further information please visit the DVLA website