Staff Nurse - Acute Medical Unit | Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Responsibilities

• Provides and receives complex information, communicating sensitively and confidentially information relating to patients/clients (for example, care plan discussions with patients).
• Communicates in a compassionate and empathetic manner, using persuasion and reassurance.
• Ability to recognise barriers to communication, and modify communication style as required.
• Ability to effectively communicate whilst providing training to students.
• Demonstrate effective communications skills with the wider MDT team.
• To be responsible for planning and organising a defined caseload of patients on a continuing basis.
• To assess, plan, implement/deliver and evaluate patient care for a defined caseload and recognise signs of deterioration/change and respond according to protocol.
• Maintain appropriate levels of training for clinical skills as needed within scope of practice.
• To maintain safe custody of drugs, ensuring that checking, witnessing and administration procedures are compatible with statutory and trust requirements.
• In the absence of Sister/Charge Nurse effectively respond to complaints/concerns and escalate as required.
• To ensure clinical incident/near misses are managed and reported and escalated in a timely manner.
• To be part of the multidisciplinary team decision making, acting when required as the patient’s advocate in order to support the patient’s pathway.
• Work within organisational policy, standard operating procedures and guidelines.
• To undertake risk assessments and implement risk reducing measures.
• To report and escalate to the Line Manager any deficiencies in the arrangements for minimizing risk.
• Ensure that privacy, dignity and safety of individuals is maintained at all times.

Use of Resources

• To actively participate in the effective and efficient use of the ward/departmental resources and equipment, including stock management and care and maintenance of equipment.
• Handles patient’s valuables, ensuring safe storage and transportation.
• Sign off agency timesheets in order to verify and record the hours worked.
• Liaise with the Roster Coordinator to ensure your personal roster is balanced within the roster period.
• To order and receipt goods in accordance with the Trust's financial framework.

Team Development

• To deputise in the absence of the Sister/Charge Nurse.
• To manage own time and that of others, through delegations to ensure high quality service delivery.
• To act as assessor/supervisor for junior staff and students.
• To participate in the setting of yearly personal and professional objectives for self.
• Support the department's appraisal process for junior staff, by providing feedback.
• To be flexible in the delivery of safe staffing across the Trust and participate in redeployment requirements within scope of practice.

Research and Audit

• To contribute to the collection of data for research and audit purposes.
• To identify audit topics relevant to the ward/department.
• To critically evaluate research before applying to clinic practice in order to enhance patient care.

Personal Development

• To identify areas for self-development, areas of interest and training requirements within individual personal performance planning and development review.
• To maintain a professional portfolio and reflective diary for developmental purposes and revalidation.
• Support the rest of the team by recognising own and promoting self-help and wellbeing.
• Develop a culture of learning and innovation, developing high quality learning environments.
• Adopt a reflective approach to own practice with a view to continually improve.

Disability Confident

About Disability Confident: A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people.

Employer Information

We are looking for suitably qualified nurses to join our proactive team here in the Southport Hospital Acute Medical Unit. Equally if you are a newly qualified nurse who would like a career in acute nursing but are worried that it may be too early in your career, we are also happy to ensure you can work on the unit and support would be provided to ensure you flourish. Newly qualified nurses will have a 12-month preceptorship with one of our experienced staff. We require excellent nurses who want exciting, challenging roles, to deliver first-class high-quality patient care. Interview Date - Week Commencing 9th February 2026. The AMU is a fast paced, busy environment, the successful candidates will be dynamic, enthusiastic individuals, who would like to further their career in this area of medical nursing. Commitment to undertake ongoing in-service training and development is essential. You should be motivated, keen to learn & ready to embrace change. Our commitment to you is to provide the environment for this to happen and ensure that you are part of our defined preceptorship programme. We can offer ongoing professional development on the ward & training opportunities relevant to the clinical area. We also offer our nursing staff the opportunity to take up funds from our apprenticeship funding which will ensure funding to further develop in your chosen career pathway.

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites. We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.

Our Services: Acute Care Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites. Primary Care Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital. Community Services Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation, freeing up space for more unwell patients. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre. Specialist Regional Services We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.

Achievements: Provided examples include Outstanding rating by CQC in 2018, Top 100 places to work in the NHS, and National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme.