Job overview
We are recruiting for a Breast Cancer Support Nurse who shares our vision to be trusted to provide consistently outstanding care and exemplary service to our patients.
Ideally you will have experience of looking after patients with breast cancer or relevant surgical, oncology/chemotherapy experience to support the CNS team.
The role will involve acting as a key worker for these patients supporting them at all stages of their cancer journey.
We are committed to consistently providing specialised, excellent care and treatment and wish to continue in our drive to further improve the service to our patients. No two days are the same in the service and we are looking for someone who is adaptable and eager to learn.
At the heart of everything we do are our core values: Include, Respect, and Improve. We encourage you to embrace these values throughout the recruitment process and in your role with us.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will support the Clinical Nurse Specialist to be the key worker for all patients with a breast cancer and will work closely with the Oncology Consultants, Oncology CNS, at Mount Vernon cancer centre to provide advice and support to patients.
You will be responsible for assessing, developing and implementing specialist nursing care programmes.
The successful candidate will be able to provide specialist clinical advice for patients and carers.
You will also be required to undertake surveys or audits in own specialty.
Working for our organisation
At East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust, we are proud of the range of general and specialist services we provide and our 6,000 or so dedicated staff ensure our patients get the best care. Our ability to be flexible and innovative in the way in which we work and deliver our services to our catchment has never been more important than it is now.
We run the following hospitals:
* The Lister Hospital, Stevenage
* New Queen Elizabeth II (New QEII), Welwyn Garden City
* Hertford County, Hertford
* Mount Vernon Cancer Centre (MVCC), Northwood
We have ambitious plans to become an outstanding, patient-led Trust where dedicated staff provide high-quality, compassionate care to our patients. We continue to undergo significant transformation and our staff and patients are at the heart of delivering this ambitious agenda.
We are committed to a positive work life balance for our employees. This means that any employee is entitled to seek to work flexible working patterns and we are committed to listen and consider all requests. Such requests, of course, have to be made and considered formally, and will need to be balanced against service needs, but our starting point will always be to find ways to support making them happen.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification applicant pack for further detailed information regarding this role.
Person specification
Qualifications / Training
Essential criteria
* Registered Nurse (NMC registration)
* Relevant experience in oncology
Desirable criteria
* Evidence of continuous professional development
* Teaching or mentoring qualification
* Post registration qualification in speciality or willingness to complete
* Degree
* Research module
Previous Experience
Essential criteria
* Demonstrable expert nursing skills
* Evidence of mentorship/preceptorship roles
* Able to accept personal accountability for own practice
* Experience of formal/informal teaching
* Understanding of evidence-based practice
* Understanding of Clinical Governance
* Understanding and knowledge of specialist field
Skills
Essential criteria
* Good verbal and written communication skills
* Capable of working as an integral member of a small team
* Flexible and adaptable to changing situations due to both workload and colleagues needs
* Ability to undertake teaching of staff and patients
* Ability to work unsupervised and manage own workload; effective time management.
* Effective interpersonal skills
* Commitment to multidisciplinary working
* Assertiveness/perceptive
* Counselling skills
* Leadership skills
Other Requirements
Essential criteria
* To act in a professional manner at all times in accordance with the NMC Code of Conduct
* Capable of developing liaisons with other practice areas/academic institutions.
* Experience and evidence of engagement around equality, diversity and inclusion issues in relation to policy, service development and service delivery in respect of both services to users and the management of staff
* Role model our Trust values every day
Desirable criteria
* Knowledge of broader issues related to specialty – political and Trust
Our values
We want our staff to believe in, demonstrate and live our values in everything we do.
Include
We value the diversity and experience of our community colleagues and partners, creating relationships and climates that provide an opportunity to share, collaborate and grow together.
Respect
We create a safe environment where we are curious of the lived experience of others, seek out best practice and are open to listening and hearing new ideas.
Improve
We are committed to consistently delivering excellent services and continuously looking to improve through a creative workforce that feels empowered to act in service of our shared purpose.
Committed to our Community
East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion for all job applicants, staff, patients and the wider community. We want to create a workforce which represents the communities we serve. We are on a journey to become a more inclusive organisation and we welcome applications from everyone regardless of their background. In particular we encourage applications from candidates with disabilities, and candidates from Black, Asian and Minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds who are currently under-represented in various parts of our workforce .
We understand the importance of balancing work and home life. We are committed to support flexible working for our staff wherever possible and all our employees are given the opportunity to discuss potential for flexible working.
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and achieved our status in 2019.
We will remove barriers that prospective candidates might face at any stage of our recruitment process. If you have a disability and would like the advert in an alternative format, or would like to talk about how we can adjust the interview process to best support you, please contact us by emailing resourcing.enh-tr@nhs.net
We are also proud to support our UK armed forces by supporting Reservists, Cadet Instructors, Veterans and military spouses/partners into employment and offering supportive policies that value their contribution to the community and to our Trust.
We are committed to being a carer-friendly environment, addressing the complex needs of families with caring responsibilities. In partnership with Carers in Hertfordshire, all our working carers have access to support from recruitment. We are also a member of Carers UK, providing resources to make balancing work and caring easier. Our approach is inclusive, recognizing diverse challenges and creating a supportive environment where carers feel valued.