Practice Nurse

Woodside Medical Practice is a Medical Practice that prides itself on offering tailored care to a diverse patient list of 6500. We offer 10 minute appointments, flexible working, Clinical and Pastoral support and mentorship, great learning opportunities, sociable and supportive environment and the use of a private car park. The practice prides itself on its commitment to high quality care to its patients and support from our excellent clinical and administration teams.

Main duties of the job

Provision of General Medical Services, Enhanced Services and work with the Primary Care Network, in accordance with the GMS and other practice contracts. Continuing professional development opportunities, and regular practice meetings.

About us

The practice currently has 2 GP Partners and 3 Salaried GPs. We have a lead Nurse, and 1 Health Care Assistant in post supported by 1 nursing associate, a pharmacy technician and a first contact MSK Specialist.

The practice is also supported by an experienced admin team, with an admin leader in post.

We are a well established team with a real family feel and would welcome prospective applicants in for an informal chat and tour of the Practice.

Job responsibilities

The post holder is an experienced nurse who, acting within their professional boundaries, will provide care for the presenting patient from initial history taking, clinical assessment, diagnosis, treatment and evaluation of care. They will demonstrate safe, clinical decision-making and expert care, including assessment and diagnostic skills, for patients within the general practice. The post holder will demonstrate critical thinking in the clinical decision-making process. They will work collaboratively with the general practice team to meet the needs of patients, supporting the delivery of policy and procedures, and providing nurse leadership as required. In order to work at this level NMC requirements for advanced practice must be met.

Key responsibilities

1. Clinical practice
2. Assess, diagnose, plan, implement and evaluate treatment/interventions and care for patients presenting with an undifferentiated diagnosis
3. Clinically examine and assess patient needs from a physiological and psychological perspective, and plan clinical care accordingly
4. Assess, diagnose, plan, implement and evaluate interventions/treatments for patients with complex needs. Proactively identify, diagnose and manage treatment plans for patients at risk of developing a long-term condition (as appropriate)
5. Diagnose and manage both acute and chronic conditions, integrating both drug and non-drug-based treatment methods into a management plan
6. Prescribe and review medication for therapeutic effectiveness, appropriate to patient needs and in accordance with evidence-based practice and national and practice protocols, and within scope of practice
7. Work with patients in order to support compliance with and adherence to prescribed treatments. Provide information and advice on prescribed or over-the-counter medication on medication regimens, side-effects and interactions
8. Prioritise health problems and intervene appropriately to assist the patient in complex, urgent or emergency situations, including initiation of effective emergency care
9. Support patients to adopt health promotion strategies that promote healthy lifestyles, and apply principles of self-care
10. Communication
11. Utilise and demonstrate sensitive communication styles, to ensure patients are fully informed and consent to treatment
12. Communicate with and support patients who are receiving bad news
13. 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
14. Anticipate barriers to communication and take action to improve communication
15. Maintain effective communication within the practice environment and with external stakeholders
16. Act as an advocate for patients and colleagues
17. Ensure awareness of sources of support and guidance (eg PALS) and provide information in an acceptable format to all patients, recognising any difficulties and referring where appropriate
18. Delivering a quality service
19. Recognise and work within own competence and professional code of conduct as regulated by the NMC. Produce accurate, contemporaneous and complete records of patient consultation, consistent with legislation, policies and procedures
20. Prioritise, organise and manage own workload in a manner that maintains and promotes quality
21. Deliver care according to NICE guidelines and evidence-based care
22. Assess effectiveness of care delivery through self and peer review, benchmarking and formal evaluation
23. Initiate and participate in the maintenance of quality governance systems and processes across the organisation and its activities
24. Utilise the audit cycle as a means of evaluating the quality of the work of self and the team, implementing improvements where required
25. In partnership with other clinical teams, collaborate on improving the quality of health care responding to local and national policies and initiatives as appropriate
26. Evaluate patients response to health care provision and the effectiveness of care
27. Support and participate in shared learning across the practice and wider organisation
28. Use a structured framework (eg root-cause analysis) to manage, review and identify learning from patient complaints, clinical incidents and near-miss events
29. Assess the impact of policy implementation on care delivery
30. Understand and apply legal issues that support the identification of vulnerable and abused children and adults, and be aware of statutory child/vulnerable patients health procedures and local guidance
31. Professional Role
32. Promote evidence based practice through the use of the latest research based guidelines and the development of Practice based research.
33. Monitor the effectiveness of their own clinical practice through the quality assurance strategies such as the use of audit and peer review.
34. Maintain their professional registration.
35. Participate in continuing professional development opportunities to ensure that up to date evidence-based knowledge and competence in all aspects of the role is maintained.
36. Work within the latest NMC Code of Professional Conduct.
37. Record accurate consultation data in patients records in accordance with the latest NMC guidance and other pertinent standards.
38. Keep up to date with pertinent health related policy and work with the Practice Team to consider the impact and strategies for implementation.
39. Work collaboratively with colleagues within and external to the Practice.
40. Pro-actively promote the role of the NP within the Practice, and externally to key stakeholders and agencies.
41. Leadership personal and people development
42. Take responsibility for own learning and performance including participating in clinical supervision and acting as a positive role model
43. Utilising personal development reviews for self and nurses in order to improve performance
44. Support staff development in order to maximise potential
45. Critically evaluate and review innovations and developments that are relevant to the area of work
46. Enlist support and influence stakeholders and decision-makers in order to bring about new developments in the provision of services
47. Take a lead role in planning and implementing changes within the area of care and responsibility
48. Contribute to the development of local guidelines, protocols and standards
49. Market the role of the advanced nurse practitioner in general practice
50. Understand own role and scope and identify how this may develop over time
51. Work as an effective and responsible team member, supporting others and exploring the mechanisms to develop new ways of working
52. Delegate clearly and appropriately, adopting the principles of safe practice and assessment of competence
53. Create clear referral mechanisms to meet patient need
54. Prioritise own workload and ensure effective time-management strategies are embedded within the culture of the team
55. Work effectively with others to clearly define values, direction and policies impacting upon care delivery
56. Discuss, highlight and work with the team to create opportunities to improve patient care
57. Manage and lead on the delivery of specifically identified services or projects as agreed with the practice management team
58. Agree plans and outcomes by which to measure success
59. Management of risk
60. Manage and assess risk within the areas of responsibility, ensuring adequate measures are in place to protect staff and patients
61. 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
62. Apply infection-control measures within the practice according to local and national guidelines
63. Advocate for policies that reduce environmental health risks, are culturally sensitive and increase access to health care for all
64. Interpret national strategies and policies into local implementation strategies that are aligned to the values and culture of general practice
65. Managing information
66. Use technology and appropriate software as an aid to management in planning, implementation and monitoring of care, presenting and communicating information
67. Review and process data using accurate Read codes in order to ensure easy and accurate information retrieval for monitoring and audit processes
68. Manage information searches using the internet and local library databases
69. Understand responsibility of self and others to the practice and primary care trust regarding the Freedom and Information Act
70. Learning and development
71. Undertake mentorship for more junior staff, assessing competence against set standards
72. Disseminate learning and information gained to other team members in order to share good practice and inform others about current and future developments (eg courses and conferences)
73. Assess own learning needs and undertake learning as appropriate
74. Provide an educational role to patients, carers, families and colleagues in an environment that facilitates learning
75. Equality and diversity
76. Identify patterns of discrimination and take action to overcome this and promote diversity and equality of opportunity
77. Enable others to promote equality and diversity in a non-discriminatory culture
78. Support people who need assistance in exercising their rights
79. Monitor and evaluate adherence to local chaperoning policies
80. Act as a role model in the observance of equality and diversity good practice
81. Accept the rights of individuals to choose their care providers, participate in care and refuse care
82. Assist patients from marginalised groups to access quality care
83. Undertake any training required in order to meet the needs of the practice

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Nursing degree or equivalent experience
• Registered Nurse (NMC)
• Evidence of immunisation training and assessment of competence in last 2 years
• 6 months relevant experience working in a primary care environment in the last 2 years
• Immunisations (flu, routine, childhood, B12, travel)
• Wound Care / Treatment of small injuries / Removal of sutures & staples
• Dressings
• Diabetes review
• Cardiovascular disease primary prevention
• Coronary Heart Disease
• Ability to record accurate clinical notes
• Ability to work within own scope of practice and understanding when to refer to GPs
• Understanding of Extended brief interventions (NICE guidelines)
• Cytology certificates
• Mental Health
• ECGs
• Venepuncture
• New patient medicals
• Chaperone procedure
• Requesting pathology tests and processing the results, advising patients accordingly
• Asthma
• Understands the importance of evidence-based practice
• Broad knowledge of clinical governance
• Knowledge of public health issues in the local area
• Awareness of issues within the wider health arena
• Knowledge of health promotion strategies
• Understands the requirement for PGDs and associated policy

Experience

• Experience of working within a nursing team
• Experience of working in a GP practice
• Experience of working in primary care

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.