Job Title Respiratory Clinical Nurse Specialist

JOB DESCRIPTION

Job Title Respiratory Clinical Nurse Specialist

Disease-Specific Clinical Nurse Specialist (training will be given)

Responsible to

Disease Specific team lead and Head of Community services

Principal contacts

(a) Internal: All hospice clinical teams

(b) External: Patients, Families & Carers, GPs, District Nursing teams, Respiratory Consultant and their teams at the hospice and the hospital, Hospital Palliative Care Team, proactive care teams, COPD community nurses

Environment

The post is based at St Barnabas House with some duties performed in community and hospital settings

Job purpose

Working in partnership with local hospital and primary care teams the post-holder will deliver specialist disease-specific services and palliative care to patients with advanced respiratory conditions and their families in hospital, hospice and community settings.

To coordinate a variety of clinical services in order to ensure continuation of formal pathway for patients with advanced respiratory conditions into end of life care.

To act as a coordinator of care for patients and signpost to services including relevant psychosocial support.

To act as a resource and support to health and social care professionals involved in the delivery of palliative care through the giving of advice, information and education.

To participate in meeting the clinical, strategic and operational aims of the organisation.

Principal duties and responsibilities

To provide expert advice, strategies and support for management of breathlessness and other debilitating symptoms for patients with advanced respiratory conditions working in partnership with both internal and external colleagues, families, carers and other health care providers to achieve this.

To initiate Advance Care Planning in line with the wishes of patients and their families

To support consultants during clinics with a view to leading clinics for patients with advanced respiratory conditions in both hospital and hospice settings.

To provide specialist palliative care for patients with advanced respiratory conditions in their home or other community settings

To develop and maintain own knowledge and skills through continual professional development and the appraisal system, ensuring that own practice is in line with the developing Nurse Specialist role.

To take personal responsibility for organisation of workload, using planning and time management skills effectively, ensuring service needs benefit patients and their families.

To contribute to the development of excellence in patient care, by adhering to professional Code of Practice, national guidelines and both internal and external(where appropriate) policies and procedures, conducting and documenting relevant risk assessments, taking appropriate action, and identifying changes to practice as a result.

To participate in quality monitoring and improving services by carrying out annual audits, participating in active research, undertaking service review & evaluation and implementing findings.

Person Specification

RN, Level 1, with 3 years post registration experience working at a senior level
1st level degree
Diploma/degree module in Palliative Care or willingness to undertake
Advanced communications skills or willingness to undertake
Proven palliative care and/or respiratory experience and relevant qualifications
Willingness to undertake extensive training with the respiratory team
Advanced Physical Assessment skills, or willingness to undertake
Non medical prescribing qualification, or willingness to undertake
Ability to demonstrate emotional resilience to manage excessive exposure to dying people, and family distress.
Ability to demonstrate high level of critical analytical thinking.
Masters level qualification, or willingness to undertake

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ABILITIES:

Sound knowledge of community palliative care or advanced respiratory conditions
Ability to work within a multi-professional team
Excellent oral and written skills
Adequate IT skills
Strong emotional resilience to manage stress
A thorough grasp of local and national issues relating to the delivery of respiratory and/or palliative care
An ability to translate equal opportunities and fair access values into practice

OTHER DUTIES

To undertake any other duty within your ability and within reason, as may be required from time to time, at the direction of your line manager.

ASSISTANCE

The Hospice has the advantage of being supported by a number of volunteers. If a volunteer is assigned to assist you at any time, you will still retain responsibility for the requirements of this job in terms of accuracy, efficiency and standards of completion. You will also ensure good communication and be mindful of your responsibility towards that volunteer in terms of Health and Safety.

CONFIDENTIALITY

You should be aware of the confidential nature of the Hospice environment and/or your role. Any matters of a confidential nature, relating to patients, carers, relatives, staff or volunteers must not be divulged to any unauthorised person. Ensuring patient confidentiality is maintained in accordance with the Caldicott principal and Data Protection Act.

DATA PROTECTION

You should make yourself aware of the requirements of the Data Protection Act and follow local codes of practice to ensure appropriate action is taken to safeguard confidential information.

HEALTH AND SAFETY

You are required to take reasonable care for your own health and safety and that of others who may be affected by your acts or omissions and you should ensure that statutory regulations, policies, codes of practice and safety and good house-keeping rules are adhered to, attending safety and fire lectures as required.

JOB DESCRIPTION

This Job Description is not intended to be restrictive and should be taken as the current representation of the nature of the duties involved in your job and needs to be flexible to cope with the changing needs of the job and the Hospice.

OTHER

Full clean driving license is essential