Job Description

Job Title: Registered General Nurse

Tenure: Annualised Hours

Base: Workington Community Hospital / Cleator Moor

Responsible to: Home Nursing Services Team Leader

Salary: Annualised hours (25.5 hours):

£25,170 per annum (FTE £37,015) plus the following enhancements for working unsociable hours:

• £2.59 per hour - for working hours between 10pm to 6.59am

• £1.48 per hour – for working hours between 7am to 9.59pm

JOB SUMMARY:

The role of the Registered Nurse is to work autonomously, without direct supervision on a one-to-one basis with patients. This includes the provision of nursing care, emotional, social and psychological support to individuals with palliative care needs and involves regular and extended involvement of assessing and managing the fluctuating needs of the dying patient and their families.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE POST:

Key Responsibilities of the job

Understands that any care and support provided within palliative and end of life care complies with best practice and regulatory requirements and is up to date with changing policies and practices to ensure that essential standards of quality and safety are maintained.

Undertakes and observes the Hospice at Home West Cumbria Initial Home Assessment, recognising when to inform the team lead / senior hospice nurse or out of hours on call of any situations which may pose a risk or threat to colleagues, patient or family.

Undertakes continued assessment of the patient during the episode of care and recognises and responds to any change in the patient’s condition. This includes seeking additional advice and support from out of hour professionals in relation to direct patient care and management.

Assesses the need for symptom control and administer medications either orally, by injection or by syringe driver as prescribed, reviewing effectiveness and potential side effects e.g., opioid toxicity.

• Advises patients and family members about symptom control (e.g., pain, nausea & vomiting, constipation) to ensure continued relief from pain and other distressing symptoms.

Provides families and carers with emotional and psychological support, effectively communicating complex and sensitive information to improve their end-of-life management and the bereavement experience of those important to them.

• Undertakes verification of death to confirm the patient is deceased and assist with ‘last offices’ as and when needed.

Attends and participate in supervision and de-briefings for patients, families and carers alongside other health and social care professionals on an as required basis and as part of maintaining own resilience and wellbeing.

Produces documentation of the care given which complies with documentation standards and is legible, traceable, permanent, contemporaneously recorded, original and accurate.

Works as a member of the wider hospice and organisational teams and to participate and support the induction of new staff and existing staff. To build positive relationships internally and externally including peers and local health care professionals.

• To act as a Link Nurse or trainer as and when identified and support with the HCA clinical supervision.

Personal Development:

To be committed to personal and professional development and complete mandatory and statutory training as required. To set challenging goals through the appraisal process to ensure the effective delivery of personal objectives.

• To keep updated with current policies and procedures, as well as external trends and developments.

Commitment to evidence on-going self-development and take responsibility for meeting revalidation requirements.

• To keep updated with current nursing developments.

General

• To ensure that personal conduct, ways of working and work activities are always aligned to the Hospice’s purpose and values.

In accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulations, to ensure the maintenance of confidentiality in respect of staff, volunteer and client records and all privileged information relating to the services of the Charity, its patients, staff and volunteers and particularly of the area for which directly responsible.

To promote and foster the Hospice’s reputation and standing within the community and with private, statutory and voluntary sector agencies and organisations.

• To adhere to the Health and Safety policy and report all accidents, incidents or near misses promptly and when requested to co-operate with any investigations undertaken.

• To be aware of obligations and to abide by the spirit and nature of the Equal Opportunities policy to avoid direct and indirect discrimination.

• To undertake any other duties which may be reasonably required.

Person Specification Registered General Nurse

	Qualities Required	Essential (E)Desirable (D)	Method ofAssessment
PracticalKnowledge andQualifications	NMC Registered General Nurse	E	A
	Demonstrable clinical competence in palliative care or a willingness to undertake additional training to gain apalliative care qualification	E	A
	Awareness of Hospice at Home West Cumbria and careservices	D	A/1
	Demonstrable knowledge of current and relevantlegislation and guidance including clinical governance	E	A/1
Skills andCompetencies	Ability to communicate and transfer complex andsensitive information effectively with patients, families,carers, and other health care professionals	E	A/I
	Ability to work in isolation without direct supervision forthe provision of clinical care, including the need forsymptom management, medication administration withan understanding of drug calculations and potential sideeffects.	E	A/I
	IT skills with a working knowledge of Office applicationsand a willingness to develop competencies withinOrganisational and EMIs clinical systems	E	A/I/E
	Ability to cope with constantly changing situations,undertake complex decision making and use owninitiative to achieve the best outcomes for patients,carers or family members	E	A/I
	Ability to work as a member of a team and to buildpositive relationships internally and externally	E	A/1
	Ability to empathise and understand the needs of others	E	A/1
	Ability to recognise self needs to maximise resilience	E	A/1
	Ability to handle conflict to de-escalate challengingsituations	E	A/I
	Flexibility during times of change to support new waysof working and to respond to changing working patternsover a 24 hour period 7 days a week	E	A/I
	Must be able to travel across the geographical areacovered by the post and holds a current driving licence	E	A
	Willingness to travel to attend meetings or undertaketraining (face to face or remote)	E	A/1
Experience	Evidence that demonstrates a wide breadth of postregistration experience	E	A/I
	Evidence of recent use of Syringe Drivers andadministration of end-of-life core medication	E	A/1
	Experience of providing palliative care in a variety ofsettings	D	A/1
Experience of working in the community i.e., patients'own home	D	A/
Experience of working in isolation with an awareness ofassociated risks	D	A/I
Experience of working in a variety of settings/locations	D	A/I

A = Application Form

I = Interview

E = Exercise