Sister/Charge nurse

Job overview

If you’re a highly experienced emergency care nurse with significant post-registration experience, join Southmead Hospital’s Emergency Department!

As one of only two Major Trauma Centres in the region, you will gain highly acute experience across the full urgent and emergency care pathway, working with specialist regional services including neurosurgery, stroke, vascular surgery, renal medicine and transplantation.

With opportunities to combine advanced clinical practice, leadership and professional autonomy, while influencing how emergency care is delivered, you will be responsible for delivering high-quality patient care, supporting patient flow and making timely clinical decisions within a fast-paced, challenging environment.

You will provide operational management to designated areas, demonstrating strong clinical judgement, excellent communication skills and visible leadership. You will work autonomously while supporting and developing junior colleagues, fostering a positive team culture and ensuring safe and efficient delivery of care.

With ongoing departmental reconfiguration and expansion of our workforce, help shape the future of emergency services at Southmead. We are proud to offer a CQC-commended education programme and a wide range of development opportunities, including an Advanced Clinical Practitioner training pathway, making this an ideal role for nurses looking to strengthen their leadership and progress their career in emergency care.

Main duties of the job

As a Band 6 Emergency Nurse, you'll be a senior clinical leader on the shop floor, helping to ensure patients receive safe, effective and timely care from the moment they arrive.

Working across the Emergency Department and Minor Injury Unit, you'll utilise your advanced assessment skills to deliver high-quality care, support patient flow and make timely clinical decisions in a fast-paced environment.

A key part of the role is taking responsibility for the operational management of designated areas within the department. Whether coordinating Majors, Minors, Resus, the waiting room, the front door or ambulance offload, you'll maintain oversight of patient flow, staffing, clinical priorities and emerging risks, ensuring safe, effective care is delivered throughout your shift.

You'll work autonomously within your scope of practice while supporting and developing junior colleagues, leading by example and contributing to the continued improvement of the department.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Essential requirements include:

• A minimum of 3 years' post-registration experience working within a busy Emergency Department.
• Competence in the full range of extended Emergency Department nursing skills, including:
• Independent requesting of X-rays.
• Wound assessment and suturing.
• Front door streaming and Emergency Department triage.
• Significant experience in ambulance offload assessment, making rapid, safe and effective decisions to prioritise patients and maintain patient flow.
• Experience coordinating clinical areas within the Emergency Department, demonstrating the ability to prioritise workload, manage patient flow, allocate resources and respond effectively to changing operational pressures.
• A sound understanding of Emergency Department performance indicators and operational metrics, including patient flow, ambulance handover performance, time-critical pathways and the 4-hour standard, with the ability to use these to support safe, high-quality patient care while reducing delays and maintaining patient safety.
• The ability to assess complex clinical presentations quickly, recognising deterioration, initiating appropriate interventions and escalating concerns promptly.
• Excellent communication skills, with the confidence to work effectively alongside consultants, specialty doctors, ACPs, nurses, paramedics, therapists, healthcare support workers and operational teams across all grades.
• Proven ability to remain calm, organised and clinically focused while managing multiple patients, competing priorities and frequent interruptions within an exceptionally busy department.
• Strong leadership skills with the confidence to coordinate clinical areas, support colleagues, make timely decisions and foster a positive, collaborative team culture.
• A commitment to delivering compassionate, patient-centred care, even under pressure, while acting as a role model for professional standards and clinical excellence.

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.