Transitional Care Unit Lead Neonatal Nurse

Job overview

The post holder is responsible for utilising specialist skills and expertise to provide high standards of assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation of individualised care pathways. The post holder is responsible for contributing to the management and coordination of the transitional care service, including resource management, and providing leadership and supervision to others. The post holder will liaise and communicate with networks, which are internal and external to the Trust and will actively contribute to setting and maintaining a high standard of nursing care.

It is expected that the Transitional Care Lead would be a role model in setting and upholding agreed clinical standards; promoting awareness of child protection procedures and working closely with maternity services to enable patients to receive high quality evidenced based care.

An expectation that the post holder will maintain high professional standards, keep abreast of research and developments within the neonatal field and support the neonatal team in the smooth running of the unit.

Main duties of the job

The post holder is responsible for utilising specialist skills and expertise to provide high standards of assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation of individualised care pathways. The post holder is responsible for contributing to the management and coordination of the transitional care service, including resource management, and providing leadership and supervision to others. The post holder will liaise and communicate with networks, which are internal and external to the Trust and will actively contribute to setting and maintaining a high standard of nursing care.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Corporate Responsibilities

• To work collaboratively with colleagues across the Trust.

• Act as a role model in customer service towards service users and visitors to the hospital.

• To facilitate any measures to help achieve Directorate, Trust and National targets and disseminate all appropriate information to all members of the nursing team.

Supporting Clinical Excellence

• To promote effective communication within the ward /department /directorate.

• Keep the Neonatal Matron informed of all the relevant issues affecting patient care e.g. risk, staffing levels, and skills and equipment needs.

• To participate in recruitment and retention of staff.

• To lead the team of staff within transitional care.

• To investigate any complaints, ensuring lessons are learnt.

• To ensure the coherence of work effort by all team members.

• Manage incidents ensuring that all incidents are reported as per trust policy.

• Ensure effective 24 hour off duty rotas are maintained using workforce efficiently, anticipating staff shortages and taking appropriate action.

• To assist in the assessment for and booking of bank staff within the clinical area.

• To monitor and maintain a safe and clean clinical environment in accordance with local and national policies, undertaking IPC audits as required.

• Liaise with the multidisciplinary team and external agencies.

• Understanding of emergency procedures and escalation policies and ensuring that all managed staff are aware of their role.

• To ensure all staff adhere to TCU admission criteria.

Supporting Patient Excellence

• The Transitional care lead nurse will need to maintain a visible presence and act as the first contact point for patients, relatives and staff to address concerns and complaints.

• To act as a clinical leader and role model for staff, maintain competence in and facilitate the development of extended skills for other staff.

• To support patient and public participation in service development.

• To monitor patient dependency scoring, reporting high activity to the Neonatal Matron.

• Consider new ways of working, which enhance patient care, presenting outline proposals to the Neonatal Matron.

• Ensure the clinical area is a safe working environment in which all patients receive high quality individualised care, which maintains their privacy and dignity.

People/Management Excellence

• To facilitate and implement clinical supervision and support in practice.

• Ensure staff achieve and maintain Trust and professional mandatory and role specific training

• To support the Neonatal Matron, in ensuring all ward/department staff have a formal annual review of their progress, which enables the development of their personal professional development plan, in line with the Knowledge and Skills Framework.

• To identify training and learning needs of all Transitional care staff and responding and/or forwarding those to the Neonatal Matron and Practice Development Nurse as deemed necessary.

• To support the Neonatal Ward Manager in ensuring that the contractual student and learners placements are met and adequately supported and assessed while on Transitional Care.

• Participate and assist in the continual learning of all staff so that personal development plans progress and succession planning is promoted.

• To facilitate and promote a suitable learning environment, which embraces evidence-based practice, for new members of staff, students and families.

Supporting Financial Excellence

• To consider the use of resources and highlight ways to reduce waste and unnecessary costs.

Professional Responsibilities

• To maintain own professional responsibilities including compliance with mandatory and role specific training.

• To have an annual IPR.

Quality Assurance and Monitoring

• To ensure that all ward/department documentation is completed.

• To participate in the Care Quality Indicators as required, receive feedback from audits and produce/monitor action plans as required.

• To support the Neonatal Matron, Neonatal Ward Manager and Practice Development Nurse in ensuring that all agreed action plans from both national and local strategies, benchmarking standards and clinical audits are achieved.

• To support the development of guidelines, protocols and practices that enhances the patient experience

Policy and Service Development Responsibilities

• Ensure staff have access to and are made aware of the content of Trust policies, protocols and take appropriate action where compliance is breached.

Research and Development Responsibilities

• To support the unit's participation in research as per individual baby criteria.