Practice Nurse

Clinical Practice Assess, order and interpret investigations, undertake practical procedures, diagnose, plan, implement and evaluate treatment / interventions and care for patients presenting with undifferentiated diagnosis. Clinically examine and assess patient needs from a physiological, psychological and social perspective, and plan clinical care accordingly. Plan, implement and evaluate an effective management plan for the patient, ensuring safe discharge/referral and/or transfer to an appropriate health care service. To demonstrate a level of clinical practice that reflects agreed policies, protocols and guidelines.

Provide information and advice on prescribed or over-the-counter medication on medication regimens, side-effects and interactions. Prioritise health problems and intervene appropriately to assist the patient in complex, urgent or emergency situations, including initiation of effective emergency care. Support patients and their families to adopt health promotion strategies that promote healthy lifestyles and apply principles of self-care where appropriate. Communication Utilise and demonstrate sensitive communication styles, to ensure patients and or their families are fully informed and consent to treatment.

Communicate effectively with patients and carers, recognising the need for alternative methods of communication to overcome different levels of understanding, cultural background and preferred ways of communicating. Anticipate barriers to communication and take action to improve communication. Maintain effective communication within the organisation and with external stakeholders. Ensure awareness of sources of support and guidance (e.g.

PALS) and provide information in an acceptable format to all patients, recognising any difficulties and referring where appropriate. Delivering a Quality Service Recognise and work within own competence and professional code of conduct as regulated by the NMC/HPC. Produce accurate, contemporaneous and complete records of patient consultation, consistent with legislation, policies and procedures. Prioritise, organise and manage own workload in a manner that maintains and promotes quality.

Deliver care according to NICE guidelines and evidence-based care. Assess effectiveness of care delivery through self and peer review, benchmarking and formal evaluation. Ensure professional revalidation requirements are met. Participate in the maintenance of quality governance systems and processes across the organisation and its activities.

Utilise the audit cycle as a means of evaluating the quality of the work and implementing improvements where required. In partnership with other clinical teams, collaborate on improving the quality of health care responding to local and national policies and initiatives as appropriate. Work with senior staff in identifying any areas of improvement in response to patient feedback relating to health care provision and the effectiveness of care. Support and participate in shared learning across the organisation and wider organisation.

Work with the Advanced Practitioners to assess the impact of policy implementation on care delivery. Understand and apply guidance that supports the identification of vulnerable and abused children and adults and be aware of statutory child/vulnerable patients health procedures and local guidance. Non-Medical- Prescribing If you are employed in a prescribing capacity, you must only do this if qualified and competent to do so. This applies to those practitioners with V300 qualification, who have active registration with the NMC or the practitioners professional regulatory body.

With relevant training, authorisationand experience, practitioners may be trained to use a set of specific patient group directions (PGD's). These are applicable only to nominated, authorised and competent practitioners who have undertaken training in this sphere of practice. You must maintain your knowledge and skills with regards to prescribing and administration of drugs, keeping up to date with any changes, alerts, recalls and other reasonable professional knowledge. Leadership Personal and People Development Contribute to the professional development of the clinical workforce in collaboration with the Clinical Service Managers and Head of Nursing.

Participate in staff development to maximise individual potential, provide clinical supervision, always acting as a positive role model. Actively promote the workplace as a learning environment, encouraging everyone to learn from each other and from external good practice. Encourage reflective practice within the team demonstrating a positive and supportive approach. Work proactively within the team to support and develop user and carer involvement in service delivery and service redesign to ensure the development of patient centred care.

Participate in teamwork and a corporate approach to decision making. Ensure the team maintains high quality standards for the environment, medical equipment and infection control issues in line with the area of work, gtd healthcare and CQC standards. Ensure the team implements and maintains national and organisational governance standards. Corporate Responsibility Understand own role and scope and identify how this may develop over time.

Work as an effective and responsible team member, supporting others and exploring the mechanisms to develop new ways of working. Delegate clearly and appropriately, adopting the principles of safe practice and assessment of competence. Work within clear referral procedures to meet patient need. Prioritise own workload and ensure effective time-management strategies are embedded within the culture of the team.

Work with others to clearly define values, direction and policies impacting upon care delivery. Discuss, highlight and work with the team to create opportunities to improve patient care. To work as part of the team to help deliver specifically identified services or projects as agreed with the organisations management team. Agree plans and outcomes by which to measure success.

Management of Risk Manage and assess risk within the areas of responsibility, ensuring adequate measures are in place to protect staff and patients. Monitor work areas and practices to ensure they are safe and free from hazards and conform to health, safety and security legislation, policies, procedures and guidelines. Managing Information Use technology and appropriate software as an aid to management in planning, implementation and monitoring of care, presenting and communicating information. Review and process data in order to ensure easy and accurate information retrieval for monitoring and audit processes.

Learning and Development Undertake mentorship for more junior staff, assessing competence against set standards. Disseminate learning and information gained to other team members in order to share good practice and inform others about current and future developments (e.g. courses and conferences). Assess own learning needs and undertake learning as appropriate.

Provide an educational role to patients, carers, families and colleagues in an environment that facilitates learning.