Sleep Clinical Nurse Specialist

Job summary

This advert is only open to applicants who are currently employed by County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a highly motivated nurse to work as a Sleep Nurse Specialist, within a forward thinking Organisation that delivers a patient centered approach to support a diagnosis of Obstructive sleep apnoea on patients.

This is a 6 month fixed term contract as a limited project.

There are approximately 8,000 patients established on treatment for Sleep disordered breathing within the County Durham and Darlington.

As a member of the sleep service you will have the opportunity to develop your skills and knowledge of sleep disordered breathing to enhance the care that patients receive. This includes being able to provide life style advice and offer DVLA guidance and undertake complex diagnositic interpretation of sleep studies.

This role will be predominantly hospital based. You will be responsible for direct patient care and nurse led clinics both on a 1:1 and group capacity, telephone clinics for patients with a new diagnosis of sleep disordered breathing and reviewing patients established on treatment. There is also an expectation to safely offer patient initiated follow up where necessary.

Main duties of the job

The role will involve both direct and indirect patient contact. You will work closely with the other members of the sleep service and relevant members of the MDT.

The sleep service recieves over 3,000 referrals for Sleep studies with approximately 60-80% of those studies being reported as positive requiring follow up and potential treatment. You will be responsible for acurately analysing sleep studies. The service consists of both face to face and telephone reviews for both new diagnosis of patients and reviews of those established on treatment. It will also involve distributing new equipment and trouble shooting a variety of potential problems.

The service has recently changed due to increase in capacity and demand and some clinics are now delivered in a group set up. You will be responsible for delivering these sessions which include delivering a presentation to a small number of same sex patients and commencing treatment.

There is also the requirement to answer telephone and email concerns from patients and liaise closely with other members of the sleep service.

About us

If you are being interviewed you must accept an interview slot in the system to continue, even if you have arranged with the manager.

You must be able to produce ALL certificates stated essential in the person specification or you will not be able to complete pre-employment checks.

We provide hospital services from two acute sites - Darlington Memorial Hospital and University Hospital of North Durham. We have a centre for planned care in Bishop Auckland and provide care from community hospitals in Chester-le-Street, Shotley Bridge, Barnard Castle, Sedgefield and Weardale as well as over 80 other community based settings and providing care in patients' homes.

We particularly welcome applications from disabled and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as BAME and disabled people are currently under-represented.

Full Job Descriptions can be found in the adverts supporting documents.

Over reliance on AI-generated content is discouraged and may diminish the applicant's chances of success.

For the most up-to-date information on visa requirements and eligibility, please check online to determine whether you can apply.

Details

• Date posted: 05 June 2026
• Pay scheme: Agenda for change
• Band: Band 7
• Salary: £49,387 to £56,515 a year Per Annum Pro Rata
• Contract: Secondment
• Duration: 6 months
• Working pattern: Part-time
• Reference number: C9439-2627-875
• Job locations: Bishop Auckland Hospital, Cockton Hill Road, Bishop Auckland, County Durham, DL14 6AD, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

To work alongside the existing Sleep Specialist nurses, to provide a high level of

specialist knowledge to patients and other health care professionals.

Liaise closely with the other Senior Sleep specialist nurses and line manage those within the service.

Provide highly visible nursing leadership, advising on operational issues as they arise.

Providing pre-diagnosis analysis of sleep studies and interpret accordingly.

To deliver both telephone and face to face clinics consisting of newly diagnosed patients, reviews and transfers into service.

Delivering alternate weekly group set up clinics to small group of patients. This will involve delivering a presentation on Sleep disordered breathing and CPAP therapy and issuing equipment.

Deliver weekly telephone clinics to patients with a positive sleep study. This involves discussing their sleep study and taking relevant history to decide whether further treatment is appropriate.

Trouble shooting problems with CPAP devices and equipment and arranging suitable follow up or delivery of equipment

Regular answering of queries from both patients with pre-exsisting OSA and pre-formal diagnosis.

Interpreting of complex sleep studies and collaboration with other members of MDT such as sleep neurologists where suitable.

Use advanced communication skills to enable clear understanding of sleep results and treatment options.

Awareness of other treatment options including ENT and ability to advise and guide where required.

Understanding the mechanics of Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and relevant equipment.

Understand remote monitoring (Airview) and when to adjust pressures and settings to ensure optimal patient treatment.

Ability to cross cover if required (DMH or UHND)