Associate Clinical Nurse Specialist

Job summary

This is an exciting opportunity for the right candidate to be part of the community palliative care team; you will be mentored to develop advanced clinical skills to undertake specialist assessments and interventions with patients in community who have a life limiting illness.

Main duties of the job

30 Hours per week

The post holder should haveexperience within palliative care and be keen to develop advanced clinicalskills to undertake specialist assessments and interventions with patients inthe community environment who have a life limiting illness.

You will work within ourcommunity team to support the developmentof Single Point of Access and Virtual Ward projects.Following the addition of onsite clinics at Trinity hospice , working withinthe Living well services is also a key part of the role to deliver hospicesupport to patients and their loved ones, following their palliative diagnosis.

Delivery of education to is akey part of the role to enable acute and community colleagues to support theirpatients to live well. Also, working collaboratively within the PalliativeCare Networks across the area, to support the strategic vision of care needs.

You will be a team player withthe ability to work autonomously and possess a willingness and motivation tomake a difference.

The post holder will rotate tosupport all Trinity services according to patient need.

The service is provided over 7days. A UK driving licence and access to a car is essential.

About us

The successful candidate will be joining an established team, and an organisation which is highly rated by the people who work there. The 2023 Staff Survey found 98% of respondents enjoy the work that they do, 96% were proud to work for our Charity and 96% enjoy working with the people within the organisation.

Trinity is a great place to work, having an outstanding rating with the Care Quality Commission and Investors in People Gold accreditation. If you are looking to join a thriving, increasingly innovative organisation, which puts passion and care at the heart of its operations, want to make a difference to palliative and end-of-life care and seek to ensure high quality care to patients and their families, then this may well be the post for you

Our Staff Benefits:

38 days annual leave each year, pro rata (inclusive of Bank Holidays) Various Health and Wellbeing benefits including annual flu vaccinations, access to complementary therapy and counselling. Free car parking on site Professional NMC registration fees reimbursed Pension scheme or NHS Pensions can be transferred Maternity/Paternity benefits Being part of an organisation with an exceptional reputation Job description

Job responsibilities

OVERALL PURPOSE: Todevelop skills and competencies to provide specialist palliative

care knowledge, expertiseand support to patients, carers, their GPs and all other health

care professionals tomaximise the patients quality of life.

JOBPURPOSE: Theintention is that the post holder has an opportunity to develop their skills in palliative careand increase their clinical competencies and skills, moving from intermediate to advancedclinical practitioner in this defined area.

The post holder will have a key role in providing support topatients in their own homes who have palliative and end of life care needs,raising clinical standards and promoting a learning environment for otherhealth care providers. You will be responsible for planning, assessing,implementing and evaluating care in partnership with the District nurse teamsand out of hours providers. The post holder will take responsibility for themanagement of the designated case load in the absence of the CNS..

MAIN DUTIES OF POST

Assess patients requiring palliativecare in the community and contribute to their total nursing care and managementof symptoms by providing support and specialist advice to both the patient and carers.

Participate in the development and deliveryof management plans in conjunction with the primary health care team. Reviewingand undertaking assessments as required for the management of complex symptoms.

To liaise with thehealth care professionals working in the neighbourhoods and other members ofthe Trinity Clinical Nurse Specialist Team To liaise and work closely withthe Trinity Clinical Nurse Specialist Team Leader and Specialist PalliativeCare Nursing staff in the community to ensure that the community serviceremains efficient and effective.

Set and maintain high standards ofpatient care in Palliative Nursing,

Demonstrate enhanced communicationskills, when dealing with patients and families.

Undertake discussion regardingadvanced care planning.

Take referrals direct from GeneralPractitioners, Hospital Consultants and Clinical Nurse Specialists.

Support the Clinical Nurse specialistto maintain a designated case load, ensuring effective use of resources andregular review of patients, prioritising workload and managing resourceallocation when required.

Feedback to designated caseloadholders

Advise and support the Primary Health CareTeam regarding End of Life care

Advise and liaise with third sector andvoluntary organisations regarding patients requiring Specialist PalliativeCare.

Contribute to the assessment andprioritisation of patients for admission to the Hospice.

Advise and liaise with General Practitionersregarding pain and complex symptom management, care needs, admission to Hospiceor referral for appropriate care.

Develop enhanced skills to understand familydynamics and give specialist emotionaland psychological interventions to the patient and carers as needed.

Liaise with Hospice Chaplains and the Clergyin order to provide spiritual support when needed.

Continue to support relatives duringbereavement, as appropriate. Identify problems and refer them for appropriatecare to the Linden Centre.

Keep accurate and up to date nursingrecords of each patient, reporting and discussing any problems which may occurwith Trinity Clinical Nurse Specialist mentor, Manager and Hospice Consultantas appropriate.

Be involved in audit of patient care andparticipate in research programmes to promote high standards of SpecialistPalliative Care.

Attend staff meetings in the community andTrinity, communicating information as appropriate (GSF, MDT, Complexneighbourhood discussions, extensive care).

Maintain confidentiality in all matters,presenting a professional attitude at all times.

Supervise the work ofhealthcare assistants and ensure hospice policies are followed.

Be prepared to copewith incidents or emergency situations as they arise and report to senior nurseon duty.

Cover a 24 hournursing rota for enhanced professional development in the total care ofpatients requiring specialist palliative care.

GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Toundertake all mandatory training as required by Trinity Hospice and PalliativeCare Services.

Maintainingthe strict confidentiality of all information acquired especially with regardto patients and staff.

Toparticipate in the appraisal and personal development reviews annually

Improveknowledge and utilise competencies to influence self-development.

Tobe a co-operative and supportive member of the Trinity staff team, ensuringthat all members are aware of any issues in the post holders workload, whichmay affect other members of the Trinity team and identify to the Line Manager.

Totake responsibility for being up to date with current policies and proceduresand to adhere to these.

Cooperatingfully in the introduction of any new technology and new methods as appropriate.

Topromote at all times the Hospice philosophy and uphold the Trinity core values.

Anyother duties that may be reasonably requested.

CLINICAL

Supportthe management of an identified caseload of patients with advancing disease whorequire Specialist Palliative Care in the community setting and communicatewith the case load holder regarding the progress of such.

Developexpert clinical skills to manage patients with complex Specialist palliativecare needs

Developadvanced com skills to enable patients and carers to make informed choicesregarding their care and management.

Actas patient advocate in often emotionally charged situations involving otherhealth care professionals, family and carers.

Maintainaccurate records of all patient, carer and healthcare professional contacts sothe activity of the Trinity Clinical Nurse Specialist Community Palliative CareTeam can be audited and evaluated.

Recordall contacts in our IT system as required to fulfil the minimum data setrequirements

Assessand refer appropriately to other Hospice services with the consent of thepatient.

Toadminister drugs and assist with their ordering in accordance with NMCstandards for the Administration of medicines.

Toverify when a death has occurred, notify families and carers as appropriate.

Beresponsible for co-ordinating flexible care provision to enable patients to stayat home (72 hour care package)

Undertake V300 non-medical prescribingcourse and actively prescribe within competencies (Following completion ofsymptom management portfolio and discussion with NMP lead)

EDUCATION

Support the education of families in helping them to give care and support to the patient. Participate alongside clinical mentor in Education Programmes organised at the Education and Learning Centre for Palliative Care Studies based at Trinity and in the Community Neighbourhoods. Participate in educational events with the general public on the role of Palliative Care Services in the community as required Work actively towards degree using opportunity to extend clinical and professional knowledge. Complete Symptom management portfolio. Develop computer skills to maintain records and collate statistics.

PERSONAL

To seek Clinical Supervision from clinical mentor and community Consultant as appropriate for complex clinical scenarios. Use opportunities to extend clinical and professional knowledge. Take responsibility for own professional development, identifying training and development needs to line manager. Participate in 1-1s Ensure personal safety in accordance with the Lone worker policy

Monitorrelevant research developments and disseminate the findings to patients, relativesand colleagues in the extended Health Care Team as appropriate to promoteeffective patient care.

Tojoin with other staff in the promotion of the overall Palliative Care Serviceas appropriate.

Complywith Nursing and Midwifery Council Regulations. For professional registration and practice.

Toundertake and support appropriate research activity and ensure awareness of andact in accordance with Health and Safety at work.

Promotethe family of services at Trinity

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

First level RGN, minimum 3 years post registration experience. Registered with NMC Educated to degree level or willingness to undertake

Desirable

Diploma in palliative care/ Formal qualification in palliative care Teaching/ mentor qualification Advanced communication skills

Experience

Essential

Previous palliative care/transferable experience Experience of working independently and as part of a team Community experience Experience of working independently and as part of a team Experience of co-ordinating workload for self and others Ability to work unsociable hours including nights and across the needs of the service Ability to prioritise workload around competing demands on time.

Personal Attributes

Essential

Highly enthusiastic & motivated to promote the values of Trinity Positive attitude to change and flexible work practice Excellent communication skills Good attendance/health/time keeping record Full UK driving licence and access to car

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

Essential

Good knowledge of palliative care Ability to use IT system (EMIS) and support data collection Ability to organise & supervise others Ability to develop & influence practice

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