Job overview
A great opportunity has arisen within the Division of Medicine at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals for an experienced Staff Nurse to develop their career as a Stroke Specialist Nurse. This is a fantastic time to join our very passionate and dedicated stroke team as the developments of a HASU and Ambulatory Care Service provide lots of new training and learning opportunities, including Clinical Skills Exam and Non-medical prescribing.
The aim of the Specialist Nurse role is to provide high quality evidence-based care to stroke patients who attend the Trust as emergencies and/or patients who suffer stroke as an inpatient. The Specialist Nurse's ensure rapid assessments and implementation of Stroke pathways, including hyper-acute Stroke treatments thrombolysis and thrombectomy.
We provide a regional thrombectomy service. smooth flow of the pathway, including receiving referrals, arranging transfers and repatriations.
The successful candidate will have previous Stroke and or Emergency medicine experience and will be motivated and enthusiastic. You will demonstrate the ability to work alone and as part of a team and possess sound clinical assessment and communication skills.
Main duties of the job
In our role, we focus on delivering comprehensive stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA) assessments to patients arriving at the emergency department. This involves assessing acute stroke cases to determine eligibility for thrombolysis or thrombectomy treatment. We collaborate closely with radiology colleagues to facilitate various imaging requests and support the tele-stroke service. Additionally, we maintain communication with the broader community team, including general practitioners (GPs) and the Community Neuro team.
Our responsibilities extend to reviewing inpatient referrals for stroke and TIA, actively engaging in the thrombectomy pathway by managing referrals, coordinating transfers, and overseeing repatriations. We also identify stroke and TIA patients post-admission (from the ED or wards) and ensure adherence to the stroke and TIA pathway, including assessments for thrombolysis.
Our aim is to promote and maintain high standards of professional practice to enhance care quality for stroke and TIA patients. We provide vital support and training to junior staff, taking on the responsibility of managing a caseload of stroke and TIA patients within the Trust while ensuring compliance with stroke and TIA pathway protocols.
Working for our organisation
We have 10000 fantastic people working hard to deliver quality services to our patients. Whatever your role, you help look after 370,000 people in our local area & give specialist care to 1.5 million people across Lancashire & Cumbria.
Working with us gives you the knowledge and sense of pride that every activity you do genuinely does make a difference to support our patients & staff, ensuring we keep thriving & delivering outstanding healthcare right across our local towns.
You’ll have access to varied development opportunities, learn new skills, meet fab people & do things you’d never have done. You’ll learn about working in a hospital, interacting with people from all different roles to build skills & enhance your career path.
You’ll make an impact, be challenged to think differently, be bold & help innovate to keep improving things. Everything we do centres around patient care and enhancing their experience which means your role is pivotal and something really to be proud of.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
1. Hyper-acute Stroke assessments including assessing patients in the Emergency Department for thrombolysis and thrombectomy
2. Assessment of care and care planning.
3. Develop and maintain effective working relationships with clinicians, managers and others within the directorate and trust wide users.
4. Ensuring maintenance of stroke database and within the trust and facilitate SSNAP.
5. Take part in the development of services in the stroke department.
6. Maintaining teaching and sharing the knowledge of management of stroke.
7. Assess FAST positive patients in a variety of different clinical settings for example ED, ward areas, SDEC
8. NIHSS assessments
9. Neurological observations
10. Referrals to neurosurgery
11. Organising repatriation
12. Actively taking part in research trials
13. Administration of thrombolysis and monitoring patients throughout
14. Post thrombolysis and thrombectomy monitoring
15. Nurse dysphagia screening
16. Taking ECGS and bloods (venepuncture and cannulation )
17. Requesting CT imaging (develop skills to interoperate imaging)
18. Administration of medications (including IV thrombolysis)
19. Triage TIA referrals
20. Gives advice to GP’s
21. Basic nursing duties ( pressure relief, mouthcare, etc )
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
22. Registered General Nurse
23. Degree in related subject
24. Post basic qualification in Stroke or relevant subject
25. Evidence of continued professional development
26. Advanced communication skills training or prepared to work towards
27. Recognised teaching qualification or prepared to work towards
Desirable criteria
28. Research qualification
29. Prescribing qualification or willingness to complete
Knowledge
Essential criteria
30. Relevant post registration experience at band 5 or above, in Stroke or Emergency Medicine
31. Experience of teaching
32. Leadership and management experience
33. Experience of multi-professional working
Desirable criteria
34. Previous experience working as a stroke specialist nurse
35. Awareness of research and audit
36. Awareness of current relevant national service frameworks/guidance