Senior Rapid Access Services Nurse or Paramedic

Job overview

Camden Rapid Access Services are an Adult physical health service.

Are you a Nurse or Paramedic seeking a new challenging role in the community? Camden Rapid Access Services (incorporating Urgent Community Response (UCR); Virtual Ward; and D2A pathways) are  currently seeking to employ a Band 7 Registered Nurse or Paramedic with experience in Acute care (e.g. A&E; Paramedic; ITU; CCU; HDU).

Potential post holders must possess current, valid NMC (UK) or HCPC (UK) registration.

Main duties of the job

Urgent Community Response

Nursing / Paramedic Led Caseload

The main duty of an Urgent Community Response nurse/paramedic is to provide, high-quality care to patients in the community who are experiencing an acute deterioration in their health, that could otherwise lead to a hospital admission. UCR nurses/paramedics assess, manage, and treat patients in their own homes or care settings, aiming to review patients within two hours of referral.  UCR nurses/paramedics play a crucial role in ensuring patients receive timely medical support, enabling them to recover safely at home and reducing the strain on emergency services

Virtual Ward

Consultant Led Pathway

Within this new service non-medically optimised patients are admitted to the Virtual Ward as a form of early discharge from the local acute trusts or escalated from the Rapid Response Team. A Consultant Geriatrician oversees these patients care. This service focuses on elderly care with a mix of conditions but will include patients requiring IV medication; Remote monitoring using high spec technology; Management of acute and/or chronic medical conditions.

Shifts

The team currently works a variety of shift patterns, including 08:00–21:00 (long day), 09:00–22:00 (long day), 09:00–19:00 (early), and 12:00–22:00 (late). The successful candidate will be expected to work two out of four weekends per month.

We allow team member to request up to 4 shifts or specific days off per roster (that's over quarter of your roster).

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Some of relevant skills:

• Completion of Physical Assessment (Essential)
• Venepuncture (with ability to identify the required blood tests)
• Cannulation
• Medication Administration (PO; PR; IV; IM; SC etc)
• Triage
• Autonomous Practice
• Confidence in knowledge and skills
• Awareness of the Mental Capacity Act and Mental Capacity Assessment
• Proficient at taking on a Nurse/Paramedic in Charge role
• Non-Medical Prescriber (Desirable)
• Teaching skills
• Mentor / Practice Assessor

Within the team, we have; Registered Nurses; Paramedics; Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists. We work together closely with our OT/PT colleagues, sometimes undertaking joint patient visits to meet all of their needs.

Nearby, we have District Nursing teams; We work in the same office as Respiratory Nurses; Heart Failure Nurses; and have access to bridging Packages of care (Carelink). It’s a big team of clinicians, all striving for the best outcomes for our service users and their families.

Unless you're a Paramedic, you will need to have completed a Physical Assessment Module (or a suitable alternative such as the A&E; ITU or DN Course). Paramedics are exempt from this as it's part of the basic curriculum for student paramedics.

Working in a Nurse / Paramedic led service, in the community, will sometimes bring you into situations where you're making the decisions that, typically, are made by our medical colleagues. So confidence in your clinical knowledge is essential. You should be forward thinking and able to prioritise based on clinical need. As a Senior Practitioner, you may be the person others are coming to for advice around decision making too.

Ideally you will possess a Full UK Driving licence as we cover the entirety of Camden but bus/tube passes can be provided if a suitable candidate does not have a licence. A car is provided for use on some shifts (automatic gears) though sometimes walking or public transport are essential.

Camden Rapid Access Services (Camden RAS) covers the entire borough of Camden, which is home to over 200,000 residents. Camden is historic, diverse and culturally rich. We're proud to be part of this community.

More information on Camden RAS can be found on our CNWL webpage, here.

To ensure you 'market' yourself as best you can, we highly recommend having an informal discussion with the services' Deputy Lead Nurse, Harry Simmonds ([email protected]) as well ensuring you include the elements of the person specification that are outlined as being assessed in your application.

We would like to wish any potential candidates the best of luck in the process.