Senior Registered Nurse
Senior Registered Nurse – Community Team
Sue Ryder St John’s Hospice
St John’s Road, Moggerhanger, Bedford MK44 3RJ
30 hours per week
£17.37-£18.71 per hour (£33,964.65-£36,584.83 per annum pro rata) - plus enhancements and competitive benefits
*Full UK NMC registration, Full Driving Licence and own transport essential*
Shift times – Monday-Sunday rota days and nights 8-8
Sue Ryder is here to make sure everyone approaching the end of their life or living with grief can access the support they need. There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to how we cope and the help we need, but with our support, no one has to face dying or grief alone.
We are there when it matters.
About us
Sue Ryder St John’s Hospice is in Moggerhanger in Bedfordshire. We provide expert palliative and end-of-life care in the hospice and the community.
We are seeking an experienced, compassionate, and motivated Senior Registered Nurse to join our Community Palliative Care Team. This is a rewarding leadership role that combines expert clinical decision-making, telephone triage, team coordination, and staff management to ensure high-quality care and support for patients with palliative and end-of-life care needs.
Working as part of a multidisciplinary team, you will provide specialist advice and support to patients, families, carers, and healthcare professionals, helping to coordinate care and ensure patients receive the right support at the right time.
About the role
This is primarily a telephone-based role, acting as a key point of contact for patients, relatives, carers, and healthcare professionals. You will assess needs, provide advice and support, triage referrals, and coordinate access to appropriate services.
As the senior nurse on shift, you will also take responsibility for the day-to-day operational management of the service, ensuring safe and effective delivery of care across the community team.
Key Responsibilities Include:
•Provide telephone-based clinical support, advice, and symptom management guidance to patients, families, carers, and healthcare professionals.
•Triage referrals and coordinate access to appropriate local services and community resources.
•Act as the Nurse in Charge during shifts, providing clinical leadership and operational oversight.
•Lead and facilitate daily team huddles to ensure effective communication, prioritisation, and service delivery.
•Monitor workload, manage shift activity, and respond to changing service demands.
•Undertake line management responsibilities for Community SHCAs, including supervision, appraisal, performance management, and staff development.
•Work collaboratively with the Clinical Team Lead and Community Manager to ensure high standards of care and operational effectiveness.
Minimum Essential Criteria:
•Current registration with the NMC.
•Significant post-registration nursing experience, ideally within palliative care, community nursing, hospice care, or a related specialty.
•Experience of clinical assessment, triage, and care coordination.
•Excellent communication skills and confidence in providing telephone-based support and advice.
•Experience of leading teams and coordinating services in a fast-paced environment.
•Supervisory or line management experience, or a willingness to develop these skills.
•Strong decision-making, prioritisation, and problem-solving abilities.
•A compassionate and patient-centred approach to care.
Desirable Criteria:
•Supervisory or line management experience, or a willingness to develop these skills.
•Experience in case management or community coordination
•Non-medical prescribing qualification or interest in developing
About you
Our ideal candidate will have experience of working in Palliative and End of Life Care. This experience may come from a hospice or alternatively, for example, from a high dependency unit, oncology or community service. They will be comfortable with leading junior staff and be able to offer support and advice when needed.
•NMC Registered Nurse with post-registration UK experience in the clinical field
•UK Driving License and access to a vehicle essential
•Evidence of continued professional development
•Proven ability to build, lead and influence an effective team in a clinical setting
•Knowledge of current legislation within the independent care sector
•Demonstrable experience of practising in a self-directed and highly motivated way
Sue Ryder provides a thorough induction with supernumerary time to settle into the role and full training/competency assessment will be provided.
There is plenty of scope to further develop your own skills in specialist palliative care, and planned career progression through our education programme and development framework is encouraged.
Benefits
•Enhanced pay for unsociable hours
•Company pension scheme
•Continuation of NHS pension (terms and conditions apply)
•27 days holiday – rising to 33 with length of service plus bank holidays
•NHS annual leave honoured (terms and conditions apply)
•Enhanced maternity and paternity pay
•Enhanced sick pay
•Electric Vehicle Scheme
•Healthcare Cash plan, to claim back costs of routine healthcare
•Death in Service benefit
•Staff discount of 10% on new goods online at shop.sueryder.org
•Structured induction programme and learning and development opportunities.
For more of our employee benefits please visit:
www.sueryder.org/SEjobs
Our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion;
At Sue Ryder, we recognise that a diverse workforce allows us to provide the best care and support. We are committed to encouraging equity, diversity and inclusion among our workforce, and eliminating unlawful discrimination.
We welcome applications from people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities, LGBTQ+ individuals, those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and those living with disabilities.
As a Disability Confident Committed employer, we’re proud to support the ‘Offer an Interview’ scheme. This means we will offer an interview to all disabled applicants who best meet the minimum essential criteria for the role.
We use inclusive recruitment practices including sharing interview themes or questions in advance, offering remote interviews where needed, and other accessibility support.
If you require support to compete an application or participate fully in the interview process, please email recruitment@sueryder.org.
Once in post you’ll have access to staff and volunteer networks for LGBTQ+ colleagues, ethnic diversity and equity, people with disabilities, and women and non-binary individuals, plus an Inclusion Passport to record and carry your workplace adjustments.
For more information on our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion work, please visit: www.sueryder.org/jobs/equity-diversity-inclusion
Join us in creating a culture where everyone feels respected, valued, and able to thrive.