Practice Nurse

The Practice Nurse is an important role within the Practice Nurse Team.

Working with the nursing team, as a member of the practice multidisciplinary team, the post holder will ensure nursing services are delivered effectively to the entitled patient population.

As part of this role, you commit to ongoing development and training.

This is a patient-focused, evidence-based, varied role requiring you to work within your professional boundaries.

You will be part of a supportive team and will play a crucial role in all aspects of nursing practice.

Main duties of the job

The Practice Nurse will be required to work in several clinical areas such as:

1. infection prevention and control
2. chronic disease management
3. ECGs, venepuncture, ear irrigation, recording of clinical observations
4. The management of emergency situations, enlisting appropriate assistance as per Honiton Surgery protocols/Resus guidelines/NMC code of conduct
5. Assist doctors in the performing of clinical procedures, to include chaperoning.
6. Offer general health care advice to patients, with referral onto specialist health professionals as required.
7. The assessment & treatment of wounds, and administration of injections (dependent on training and established competency)
8. Ensure pathological samples are processed and dispatched to the lab in a timely manner.

About us

We are a very busy, well-established GP practice of 17,749 patients and are located in the market town of Honiton in East Devon. We have 6 GP Partners, 13 Salaried GPs, 2 Advanced Nurse Practitioners, 1 Lead Practice Nurse, plus all the associated teams that incorporate our workforce. We have active participation in PCN development with two other local practices and have a good rating with CQC.

The Partners and Practice Manager are innovative and forward-thinking, and always open to continuing the development of future systems that support excellent patient care and staff wellbeing.

We are looking for a committed, enthusiastic individual who is proactive and well-organised. They will need to be passionate about delivering high standards of patient care.

The right candidate will require excellent leadership skills to help us move forward in this exciting and challenging time for General Practice. Individuals should be adaptable and able to understand and respond to the diverse and dynamic nature of the role, being able to balance the needs of the practice with the ever-changing challenges of providing healthcare. We look forward to welcoming a highly motivated individual to work alongside our Nursing Team and the Partners in leading our friendly team.

Job responsibilities

Practice Nurse Job Description - Interview date: Tuesday 20th May 2025

The following are the core responsibilities of the Practice Nurse role. There may be, on occasion, a requirement to carry out other tasks. This will be dependent upon factors such as workload and staffing levels:

1. Assess, plan, develop, implement, and evaluate treatment plans that promote health and well-being across the practice population and for specific patient groups
2. Proactively identify, diagnose, and manage treatment plans for patients at risk of developing and/or having a long-term condition, including participating in prescribing/deprescribing for that condition (medical and/or social) within your scope of practice and in line with national and local guidance.
3. For all areas of clinical practice understand the implications, needs of the patient and signpost appropriately.
4. Contribute to practice targets both local and national, e.g. QOF.
5. Provide adult and childhood immunisation service. Follow PSD/PGD guidelines, UK immunisation schedule.
6. Plan and support leadership team with annual Flu campaign and mass population vaccination programmes.
7. Administer prescribed therapies such as contraception injections/vitamin B12/GNHR/Aranesp/Denosumab and other patient-specific injections, recognising side effects and contraindications.
8. Perform wound management using appropriate (aseptic/clean) technique.
9. Have good understanding of the process of wound healing, knowledge of wound management, potential complications, local and national guidance.
10. Be proficient at Doppler assessment, knowledge and understanding of the pathophysiology of venous, arterial, and diabetic foot ulcers.
11. Recognise signs of wound infection, manage appropriately and interpret results from microbiology sampling.
12. To oversee the provision of chronic disease clinics, delivering patient care as necessary, referring patients to secondary/specialist care as required
13. To maintain accurate clinical records in conjunction with extant legislation
14. To ensure clinical codes are used effectively by all members of the nursing team
15. To ensure the appropriate use of chronic disease registers
16. Work with the Lead Nurse and Practice Management team to improve the management of disease within the practice population. Implement clear management plans with patients including appropriate prescribing and referral.
17. Work to support compliance and adherence to prescribed treatments by detecting and managing side effects and/or adverse reactions.
18. Emphasise the importance of prevention and self-care.
19. Refer patients to other services or agencies as appropriate. Promoting communication between all involved in the patient care.
20. To request pathology services and process pathology results as required.
21. To implement vaccination programmes for adults and children.
22. To support patients in the use of their prescribed medicines or over-the-counter medicines (within own scope of practice).
23. To liaise with external services/agencies to ensure the patient is supported appropriately (vulnerable patients etc.).
24. To delegate clinical responsibilities appropriately (ensuring safe practice and the task is within the scope of practice of the individual)

In addition to the primary responsibilities, the Practice Nurse may be requested to:

1. Participate in local initiatives to enhance service delivery and patient care
2. Support and participate in shared learning within the practice in order to improve patient care
3. Continually review clinical practices, responding to national policies and initiatives where appropriate
4. Participate in the review of significant and near-miss events applying a structured approach, i.e., root cause analysis (RCA)
5. Support the practice team with the reviewing and implementation of practice policies and protocols, ensuring conformance to extant legislation

Person Specification

Experience

• Experience of chronic disease management
• Experience of working autonomously
• Experience of working as a practice nurse or community nurse
• Experience of managing diabetes
• Experience of working in a primary care environment
• Experience of managing elderly and housebound patients
• Experience of quality initiatives, i.e., benchmarking

Qualifications

• Registered Nurse (Nursing and Midwifery Council)
• Mentor or teaching qualification
• Post graduate diploma/degree (Chronic Disease Management)
• Nurse prescriber
• Family planning qualification

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.