Children's Community Nurse

Are you a compassionate Registered Nurse (RN) seeking a new opportunity with community paediatrics? We have a maternity leave cover opportunity available within the community children's nursing team, based in the Child and Families Hub at East Reach House and Musgrove Park Hospital. The team cover the area of West Somerset, stretching from Burnham, Cheddar, down to Ilminster and much of Exmoor and Minehead.

This position is dayshifts and are usually 8am-4pm, 9am-5pm or 10am-6pm. There are no night shifts but you may be asked to consider joining any end-of-life care cover if they arise. We offer flexible working solutions where possible to ensure a work-life balance and part-time hours will be considered.

You'll need to be a car driver with your own vehicle to visit patients. We offer a generous mileage allowance to cover the use of your car for NHS business, which includes both mileage and depreciation.

If you're a qualified RN looking for a rewarding challenge to advance your nursing career, join our friendly, and highly skilled team of nurses and support staff. As this is a maternity cover post, experience of community working or similar is desirable. Experience in complex care, SEN support, multiagency working and independent care planning is highly useful.

Main duties of the job

As a community children's nurse, you'll provide care to patients in their homes, schools and nurseries, managing a range of complex health issues and collaborating with various other disciplines. A car is essential for this role and typical mileage is around 200-500 miles a month. You may also attend the local hospital, Bristol Children's Hospital and other venues for meetings, training etc.

You'll develop a broad range of nursing skills, including IV medication administration, palliative and end-of-life care, complex wound management, catheter and continence care, PICC line care, and family support. You will also be required to be a good communicator and empathic in your communication skills.

You'll need to make autonomous clinical decisions and create holistic care plans, with the support of your colleagues and Team Leaders. Appropriate training will be provided and we are a small supportive team who share and reflect very willingly. Even though you are lone working at times, a sense of good team working is valuable.

Our most common condition groups we deal with are: chronic lung disease, haemodynamically fragile cardiac conditions, cerebral palsy, degenerative diseases, complex continence conditions, metabolic diseases and some respiratory conditions.

About us

At Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, we're committed to supporting our employees with a range of benefits designed to enhance your professional and personal life. We offer:

• Flexible working options to help you balance work and life
• NHS pension scheme for long-term financial security
• Generous annual leave allowance to recharge and relax
• A strong focus on career development to help you grow and achieve your potential

Additionally, you'll gain access to our Blue Light Card, unlocking exclusive discounts on shopping, dining, and leisure activities, as well as NHS-specific perks to support you both inside and outside of work.

We are proud to foster a diverse, skilled, and inclusive workforce, and we encourage applications from all backgrounds.

Job responsibilities

As a key member of our multidisciplinary team, you will deliver high-quality, community-based clinical care to children, young people, and their families within Somerset NHS Foundation Trust's catchment area. Your role will involve supporting families in their homes, schools, and other community settings, with a focus on preventing hospital admissions and promoting better health outcomes. Working under the guidance of a Clinical Nurse Specialist or Senior Band 7/8 Community Nurse, you will use your expertise to make clinical decisions, collaborating with medical and nursing staff to provide the most effective care.

This role places a strong emphasis on patient-centred care, involving children, young people, and their families in care decisions, and coordinating with other professionals to ensure efficient, coordinated care. You will also contribute to advancing public health education and continuously work to raise the standard of care within the local area, ensuring that all available resources are fully utilized to provide the best possible support. You will also support families with children who have additional needs, ensuring adherence to the Children and Family Act (2014).

Our team typically covers children with complex long-term needs. As such you will attend the clients' homes, schools, or other settings, likely as a lone worker, to deal with nursing care issues. This may involve handling of body fluids or collecting biological samples. There is an expectation that basic nursing assessment of current health can be performed and could lead to decision making regarding the appropriateness of referring to GP service or admitting a child to hospital for further examination. Examples of a typical day include formal training to school staff, reviewing wounds, gastrostomy and nasogastric tubes, multiagency meetings, clinical monitoring for patients with chronic lung disease, report writing, care planning and empathic conversations with families who are often dealing with complex and stressful situations.

You will be expected to manage a caseload independently and communicate with the multidisciplinary team to plan and implement individualised care programmes. You will develop a close working relationship with medical professionals. You will attend schools, nurseries, homes and other locations to deliver such support.

Please see the job description for more details or reach out to us with questions.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• RSCN/RN(child), Teaching/mentorship qualification, Regular child protection training at least Level 2
• Experience of complex needs children, Community qualifications, Regular child protection training at Level 3

Experience

• Minimum 2 years at Band 5 (Band 6 preferable) Nursing of complex care patients.
• Currently working in a community setting, Regular experience of child protection issues, Close working with multi professionals within and outside the NHS, Care of children with complex needs and understanding of SEND principles, Experience of lone working situations and/or undertaking nurse led clinics, Experience of palliative care work.

Additional Criteria

• Experience of multi-professional communication, Able to handle a variety of challenging situations, Ability to teach groups of people, Basic computer skills including Word and Excel, Physically able to handle items of equipment which may be heavy, Current driving licence and access to vehicle.
• Experience of Continuing Health Care, Experience of SEND principles.
• Advanced computer skills such as word processing and presentation software, Experience of designing complex packages of care/training packages.
• Courses in lone working/challenging behaviour, Experience in transitioning young persons to adult services, Attending and even chairing of multiagency meetings.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.