Registered Nurse Maternity

Qualifications:
• Nursing degree/diploma.
• Registration with South African Nursing Council (SANC) as Registered Nurse.
• BLS qualification advantageous.
• Updated ACLS/PALS/ATLS (advantageous for specialized units).

Experience:
• Post-registration experience preferred.
• Previous experience in a private hospital environment advantageous.
• Computer proficiency.

Role Purpose:
To promote and deliver quality patient care and wellness in accordance with industry standards and to execute Nursing duties within the standards, procedures and protocols set down by the South African Nursing Council and Scope of Practice. The incumbent will collaborate with Doctors, multi-disciplinary team members and the community in providing holistic support to patients and their family and loved ones whilst supervising allocated team members. As a Midwife, the incumbent will prepare women for the delivery of babies, which makes them a vital presence during all stages of pregnancy, labour and the early post-natal period.

Responsibilities:
• Perform all duties in accordance with South African Nursing Council (SANC), Department of Health (DOH) and National Core Standards.
• Adhere to the principles and standards of Patient Advocacy according to SANC Acts and Omissions, Company Code of Conduct, Patient Rights and Responsibilities Charter, National Millennium Development goals and responsibility of Continuous Professional Development (CPD).
• Supervise, organize, lead and control work for self and team to ensure efficient completion of tasks.
• Devise a working knowledge of, and understand the Nursing Strategy, in order to contribute towards unit goals.

Quality, Risk, Emergency Preparedness:
• Assure quality of care by adhering to therapeutic standards, measuring health outcomes against patient care goals and standards, and making recommendations according to the hospital’s requirements of best and safe practices and unit specific protocols and procedures.
• Actively participate in internal and external auditing processes, for example DOH, National Core Standards, SHERQ, SANC and Risk Audits.
• Document patient care services by accurately charting inpatient and department records including updating care plans as patient needs change.
• Maintain accurate files and records of patient medication, incidents and complaints and steps taken to resolve patient problems or prevent incidents from recurring.
• Conduct structured ward rounds including accompanying Doctors and other Medical Practitioners for creating and evaluating customized care plans including implementing Doctors instructions and prescriptions.
• Monitor activities of nurses to ensure compliance with protocols, security, safety of patient environment, Group Nursing policies and procedures, SANC requirements and act on findings through regular unit rounds.
• Take responsibility for activities specifically related to midwifery which include:
• Act as lead health professional and contact for the expectant mother, providing evidence-based information and assisting her to make informed decisions regarding the options and services available throughout pregnancy;
• Provide full antenatal care, including parenting classes, clinical examinations and screening;
• Identify high-risk pregnancies;
• Monitor and support expectant mothers during labour and the birthing process;
• Teach new and expectant mothers how to feed, care for and bathe their babies; and
• Understand the emotional, physical and psychological processes of pregnancy and birth as sometimes pregnancies do not go to plan and there will be a need to offer support and advice on stillbirth, miscarriage, termination, neonatal death and neonatal abnormalities.

Customer:
• Build mutually beneficial relationships with both internal and external stakeholders.
• Drive a positive patient (customer) experience by putting patients first and delivering holistic customer-oriented service.
• Collaborate with Unit Managers in identifying and implementing actions to improve service quality and problem resolution.
• Report, investigate and discuss all negative and positive comments regarding the unit and act on findings, where necessary.
• Establish a harmonious and compassionate environment that promotes the patients’ mental and physical health and provide the required support to family and friends.
• Maintain cooperative relationships among healthcare teams e.g. multidisciplinary team to improve patient care standards, information communication and participating in team problem solving.
• Keep patients informed about the Group’s complaints procedure and “The Voice” patient experience platform and guide patients in terms of how the survey can be completed.

Finance:
• Utilize supplies and equipment in an economical manner reducing wastage whilst maintaining overall control.
• Utilize and maintain sufficient inventory levels (i.e. stock levels) to accomplish job and results whilst ensuring minimal wastage.
• Ensure correct usage, cleaning and storage of equipment and report equipment that requires repair and maintenance.
• Drive a culture of efficiency amongst team members by consistently reinforcing opportunities to prevent wastage and reduce costs.
• Support the Nursing Services Manager and Unit Managers in controlling budget expenditure, by ensuring nursing resource spend is in line with budget, patient care and actual activities.

People:
• Be an ambassador for quality patient care by living the company values and upholding the company image.
• Take responsibility for CPD to enhance professional and technical knowledge and skills e.g. through attendance of educational workshops, rotating to other units to gain broader exposure, reviewing professional publications, establishing personal networks, participating in professional societies and the like.
• Ensure performance contracting process is completed timeously and that outputs are delivered according to performance standards.
• Promote the Group’s brand and market nursing services by responding timeously to patient needs, projecting a professional image by adhering to the dress code, resolving patient problems and providing personal patient care.
• Supervise team members and motivate them to perform to agreed standards, as well as to ensure compliance to Group’s HR policies and procedures.
• Train and mentor staff to improve overall quality of care.

Competencies:
PRACTICE VALUES: Professionalism; Respect; Action; Care; Truthfulness; Innovation; Confidentiality; Every Day