Job overview
We are recruiting for an Admiral Nurse who shares our vision to be trusted to provide consistently outstanding care and exemplary service to our patients.
This is an exciting time to become part of the established and award-winning dementia team based at Lister Hospital. We have a new dementia strategy for 2025 to 2028 with a clear plan for delivery. As an Admiral Nurse, you will join the Lead Admiral Nurse and the Dementia Volunteers Service Lead to support our mission to set high standards for dementia care at East and North Trust.
The Admiral Nurse role is to support, deliver and coordinate relationship-centred dementia care to improve the experience of people living with dementia and their carers/families during an admission.
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
In line with the Admiral Nurse Competency framework, the nurse will provide:
• Specialist bio-psychosocial assessment and support for people with dementia and families with complex needs
• Facilitation of education and training for staff in the delivery of evidence-based dementia care
• Support with policy development and quality improvements with regards to dementia care
• Consultancy to other health and social care professionals regarding dementia
Working for our organisation
At East and North Hertfordshire 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
Main responsibilities:
· Deliver evidence-based approaches to care, which meet the needs of people with dementia, carers/families and staff
· Advise on the care of people with dementia and delirium, their carers/families with complex care needs during their hospital admission.
· Provide specialist nursing assessment, using the Admiral Nurse Assessment Framework for carers/families affected by dementia during hospital admission
· Provide a range of bio-psychosocial interventions to promote health and wellbeing for people with dementia and their carers/families
· Work collaboratively with other professionals to support the identification and management of co morbidities and frailty for people with dementia and their carers/families
· Develop and support care plans for people with dementia including positive risk management (e.g. falls, delirium, depression, incontinence)
· Support people with dementia, carers/families and staff to understand and respond to changes in behaviour and relationships as a result of dementia
· Ensure the safeguarding of vulnerable adults and that all legal requirements relating to Mental Capacity Act 2005, Mental Health Act 1983 (amended 2007), and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (2009) are considered and adhered to in relation to patient care
· Act as an advocate for people with dementia and their carers/families to promote their rights and best interests
· Participate in case conferences and best interest meetings where required
· Work collaboratively with health, social and voluntary sector services to achieve coordinated care
· Work in partnership with colleagues to provide support and information to families, particularly around advance care planning, best interest decisions and end of life care
· Manage care transitions and support effective discharge for people with dementia and their carers/families in order to reduce frequency of admissions and length of stay
· Ensure that care is delivered in accordance with relevant local and national guidelines and all relevant East and North Herts Trust policies
· Recognise the limits of own competency and professional boundaries and make appropriate and timely referrals to other services where required
Education and Support
· Facilitate and support the delivery of innovative dementia and delirium training and education to staff within the Trust to improve staff competence and confidence, in line with best practice and guidance
· Participate in and/or support formal training events promoting best practice in dementia care and disseminating Admiral Nursing work
· Provide mentorship, offer clinical expertise and act a role model on the delivery of evidence-based practice in dementia care within East and North Herts Trust
· Support the development and delivery of work streams as part of the Trust’s Dementia Strategy
· Work proactively with key local and national stakeholders to support integrated care pathways and holistic models of care, through dissemination of specialist skills and knowledge
· Support delivery of policy and procedures for East and North Herts Trust to improve identification, assessment, ongoing support and effective discharge for people with dementia and their family carers
Evaluation and Audit
· Support the audit and evaluation of quality improvements and initiatives aimed at improving the delivery of dementia care within East and North Herts Trust, where appropriate to the role
· Collect quantitative and qualitative data to support the evaluation and audit of the Admiral Nurse Service
· Ensure information and data recorded is relevant, accurate, complete and captured in a contemporaneous manner
Professional
· Ensure all nursing practice is carried out in accordance with the agreed policies and procedures of East and North Herts Trust and the NMC Code
· Attend and actively participate in practice development, clinical supervision, and continuing professional development supported by Dementia UK and underpinned by the Admiral Nurse Competency framework
· Develop own competence through use of the Admiral Nurse Competency Framework and portfolio development using resources provided by Dementia UK
· Maintain professional registration in line with NMC guidance, including re-validation
· Contribute to the development of policies, procedures and protocols relevant to dementia and Admiral Nursing within East and North Herts Trust
· Ensure compliance with Trust clinical governance requirements
· Maintain up-to-date knowledge of evidence-based recommendations on supporting people with dementia and their carers/families
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Person specification
Qualifications / Training
Essential criteria
* Registered Nurse (RN/RNMH/RNLD)
* Evidence of training in recognition and management of delirium
* Evidence of continued professional development/training in relevant areas, for example dementia or leadership
* Commitment to continued professional and practice development through Dementia UK’s Admiral Nurse Academy
Desirable criteria
* Evidence of specialist training/education within the field of dementia
* Post graduate qualification in relevant area
Previous Experience
Essential criteria
* Post-registration clinical experience supporting people with dementia and their carers/families
* Experience of: completing holistic nursing assessments providing bio-psychosocial interventions working as an autonomous practitioner collaborative and multi-agency working
Desirable criteria
* Experience in service specific setting
* Experience of managing care transitions
* Experience of professional supervision/ mentoring of staff
* Experience of facilitating and delivering training
* Experience of caring for people with delirium
Skills
Essential criteria
* Ability to demonstrate the 6 Admiral Nurse competencies: person-centred care therapeutic skills triadic relationship centred working sharing knowledge delivering best practice critical reflective practice
* Skills to operate as a specialist Nurse: strong communication skills facilitation/presentation skills expert clinical practice ability to act as a decision maker and advocate ability to use appropriate information technology, including MS office software to enable efficient service delivery
Knowledge
Essential criteria
* Relevant policies/national strategy in relation to dementia care
* Admiral Nursing and its application
* Dementia and its impact on families
* Evidence based practice in dementia care
* Effective role-modelling
Desirable criteria
* Understanding of audit/evaluating clinical practice
* Understanding of practice development/quality improvement and service evaluation
Other Requirements
Essential criteria
* 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
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.