Job overview
In conjunction with the haemoglobinopathies teams across North Central London, the post holder will contribute to the delivery and ongoing development of a high-quality specialist haemoglobinopathies service in the community. The post holder will provide care to people with sickle cell disease and thalassaemia in the home and in the hospital when required to improve standards and equity of care.
Main duties of the job
Key deliverables will include:
·Provision of health education and guidance on self-management to prevent exacerbation of patient’s condition to reduce incidences of acute episodes requiring admission to secondary care.
·Enhancing compliance with preventative actions such as vaccinations and prophylactic medications
·Addressing social and lifestyle factors which impact on condition management and overall quality of life and directing to appropriate local resources.
·Building trust with patients
·Targeted support to high-intensity users of secondary care including directing patients into existing NCL programmes for frequent ED attenders.
·In-reach service to secondary care
·Close working with multidisciplinary colleagues in primary, secondary, and social care to enhance continuity of care for patients.
·Enable implementation of individual care plans for patients in all settings
Working for our organisation
Whittington Health serves a richly diverse population and works hard to ensure that all our services are fair and equally accessible to everyone. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the way we look after our staff. We aim to employ a workforce which is as representative as possible of this population, so we are open to the value of differences in age, disability, gender, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, race, sexual orientation, and religion or belief. The Trust believes that as a public sector organisation we have an obligation to have recruitment, training, promotion and other formal employment policies and procedures that are sensitive to these differences. We think that by doing so, we are better able to treat our patients as well as being a better place to work.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
1.1.Clinical
1.1.1.Empower patients and carers by providing health education enabling informed decisions about their care.
1.1.2.Enhancing compliance with preventative actions such as vaccinations and prophylactic medications
1.1.3.Provide guidance on self-management to prevent exacerbation of patient’s condition to reduce incidences of acute episodes requiring admission to secondary care.
1.1.4.Address social and lifestyle factors which impact on condition management and overall quality of life, directing to appropriate local support services and external agencies.
1.1.5.Act as a patient advocate through the application of ethical, legal, and professional knowledge and skills, considering the multicultural needs of the patient by identifying demographic factors that influence health care needs of this patient group.
1.1.6.Provide targeted support to high-intensity users of secondary care including directing patients into existing NCL programmes for frequent ED attenders.
1.1.7.Pre-contact with patients to reduce DNA rates to hospital.
1.1.8.Enable implementation of individual care plans for patients in all settings
1.1.9.Advise on appropriate drug management at home, including dosages and information on non-pharmacological management techniques. Follow up on a regular basis to monitor effectiveness of the regimen and compliance.
1.1.10.Where relevant, utilise advance prescribing skills within the guidance from NMC and Trust
1.1.11.Provide in-reach service to secondary care.
1.1.12.Implementation of a patient outreach health education group programme, and organisation of patient led education sessions.
1.1.13.Promote good clinical practice in line with evidence-based guidelines and policies.
1.1.14.Offer timely and appropriate community nursing interventions where appropriate seeking senior support when required.
1.1.15.Understand when a patients’ care is beyond own clinical limitation and to liaise with other senior members of the team, or other professionals for advice.
1.1.16.Initiate and contribute towards a multi-professional approach for the management of patients referred to the community service.
1.1.17.Work closely with haematologists, ward sisters and nurses to initiate timely early discharge planning and facilitate community services for early discharges.
1.1.18.Provide individualised advice, education and support to patients, and their relatives/carers to manage their treatments effectively in preparation for early discharge.
1.1.19.Support nurse led clinics, telephone, or face to face, interpreting results, taking appropriate action, and feeding back into MDT meetings and reviews.
1.1.20.Attend community MDT discussions within the department and with other specialities.
1.1.21.Deputise for senior colleagues as required.
1.1.22.Support Virtual Ward programmes providing specialist assessment and advice.
1.2.Education and Training
1.2.1.Identify training needs taking responsibility for maintaining own professional development, continuously reflecting on monitoring, evaluating, and improving own professional performance.
1.2.2.Contribute to training programme development for the service in the community.
1.2.3.Participate in addressing the training needs of other health professional involved in the service, and other relevant services.
1.2.4.Participate in all educational programmes the Haemoglobinopathy Services are committed to and contribute to the further development and delivery of educational initiatives.
1.2.5.Participate in activities to monitor and evaluate educational needs for patients and staff and implement any changes required.
1.2.6.Maintain accurate and contemporaneous records of attendance at training, for both self and other members of the specialist nursing team.
1.2.7.Support development and delivery of competency packages for each patient pathway.
1.3.Communication
1.3.1.Build trust with patients to enhance their overall healthcare experience.
1.3.2.Communicate effectively with patients ensuring an individualised and equitable approach to all, taking in to account the complex and sensitive nature of condition management needs for sickle cell disorder.
1.3.3.Maintain close links with multidisciplinary colleagues in primary, secondary, and social care to support early referral and enhance continuity of care for patients.
1.3.4.Ensure that appropriate, consistent written information is available for patients, relatives, staff, and visitors and that this is reviewed, updated, and promoted.
1.3.5.Utilise interpreting services for patients with a language barrier.
1.3.6.Maintain accurate records regarding all patient contacts, including telephone consultations.
1.3.7.Ensure the accuracy of results or information sent by letter to patients.
1.3.8.Ensure that confidentiality and adherence to the Data Protection Act in relation to own practice is maintained.
1.4.Time and People Management
1.4.1.Practice in an organised but flexible manner with the ability to respond to the unpredictable and challenging needs of the service including cross-site cover.
1.4.2.Effective time management with appropriate planning and prioritisation
1.4.3.The post holder may be required to act up into another senior nurse role within the haemoglobinopathies department.
1.5.Governance and Quality
1.5.1.Provide measurable standards of community practice in pain management and including psycho-social care.
1.5.2.Support data collection to enable service evaluation, including data quality entered on the National Haemoglobinopathy Register, ensuring it is accurate and submitted in a timely manner.
1.5.3.Ensure effective and efficient use of resources, assisting with review processes where necessary.
1.5.4.Attend local and regional meetings to share good practice and keep informed of changes to practice and national standards and targets.
Person specification
Qualifications and Knowledge
Essential criteria
1. • First level Registered Adult Nurse (with the NMC)
2. • Relevant educational/ training qualification/certificate/experience
Desirable criteria
3. • Qualified non-medical prescriber
Experience
Essential criteria
4. • Post registration nursing experience
5. • Knowledge of sickle cell disease and thalassaemia
6. • Experience of caseload management
7. • Evidence of multidisciplinary and multiagency working
8. • Experience of safeguarding adults
9. • Knowledge and appreciation of equality and diversity issues
Skills
Essential criteria
10. • Able to manage competing demands and priorities in a changing, complex environment and is personally resilient.
11. • Demonstrate an ability to integrate nursing knowledge and skills with the clinical aspects of the job.
12. • Phlebotomy skills
13. • Competent IT skills including Microsoft Office apps (Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint)
Personal and people development
Essential criteria
14. • Approachable and open
15. • Ability to work under own initiative with good organisational skills.
16. • Self-motivated and autonomous but work collaboratively within a multi-disciplinary and cross site team.
17. • Demonstrate a commitment to team working
Communication
Essential criteria
18. • Ability to teach relatives, clients, and staff all areas of self-care and appropriate nursing practice.
19. • Strong written and verbal communication skills, with ability to adapt to effectively manage complex and sensitive situations
Other
Essential criteria
20. • Ability to travel independently to all sites across NCL.
21. • A flexible approach to service delivery with ability to work evenings and weekends on occasions where required
SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN AND ADULTS
To comply with the Trust’s Safeguarding Children and Adults policies, procedures and protocols. All individual members of staff (paid or unpaid) have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults This will require you to:
22. Ensure you are familiar with and comply with the London Child Protection Procedures and protocols for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and young people.
23. Ensure you are familiar and comply with the London Multi Agency Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults Pan London Procedures.
24. Ensure you are familiar and comply with local protocols and systems for information sharing.
25. Know the appropriate contact numbers and required reporting lines.
26. Participate in required training and supervision.
27. Comply with required professional boundaries and codes of conduct
Whittington Health is committed to safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.