Palliative Care Nurse Community

County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest integrated care providers in England, serving a population of around 600,000 people. We are a high performing organisation with a track record of success and have been rated Outstanding by the CQC for our Palliative and End of Life Care. This Band 6 post offers an exciting opportunity for a suitably qualified and experienced nurse to work within the Specialist Palliative Care Team in the Community North area of the County. The post covers core hours of 09:00‑17:00 and works across a seven‑day period, weekends and bank holidays are rostered across the team as per CDDFT policy.

Main duties of the job:

• The successful candidate will provide a consistent, high‑quality specialist palliative care service for patients and families.
• With significant post‑registration experience, including recent experience in palliative care.
• As a Palliative Care Nurse Specialist the post holder will:
• Assess, plan, implement and evaluate care for patients and carers.
• Provide day‑to‑day supervision and/or clinical supervision to others.

Job responsibilities:

• Provide consistent, high‑quality specialist palliative care service for patients and families.
• Have a positive impact on care and confidently deal with difficult situations with sensitivity and compassion.
• Be committed to developing themselves and their practice.
• Work collaboratively as part of a team and build effective relationships within the role.

Person Specification:

• Experience working as a nurse.
• Demonstrates proactive approach to palliative and end of life care.

We particularly welcome applications from disabled and BAME candidates, as they are currently under‑represented.

Special Requirements:

• Able to travel across Trust sites to meet the requirements of the post.
• Ability to work hours flexibly when service needs require.
• Driving posts must have valid full UK driving licence.

Special Skills & Knowledge:

• Communicates complex sensitive, confidential information concerning patients/clients displaying empathy, persuasion and reassurance.
• Demonstrates skills for assessing and interpreting complex needs of patients/clients.
• Plans provision of care for patients/clients, e.g. clinics, health education.
• Assesses, plans, implements and evaluates clinical care of patients/clients.
• Provides specialist advice to patients/clients/carers.
• Develops and implements specialist programmes of care.
• Imparts unwelcome news, care of palliative and end of life/safeguarding issues.
• Follows policies, makes comments on proposals for change.
• Implements policies and proposes changes to working practices or procedures in own work area.
• Supervises work of others; clinical supervision of staff, students; provides training to others.
• Works within codes of practice and professional guidelines.
• Leads specialist, area or team; may manage a caseload in the community.
• Occasional participation in R&D activity.
• Physical skills: driving, carries out immunisations, restraint of patients/clients using approved techniques; dexterity and accuracy required for, e.g. intravenous injections, syringe pumps and infusion, insertion of catheters and removal of sutures.
• Demonstrates proactive approach to palliative and end of life care.

Statutory Registration:

• Registered Nurse (adult) on part 1 of the NMC register.
• Valid UK NMC PIN.

Qualifications:

• Professional knowledge acquired through degree or equivalent level of demonstrable professional knowledge/experience.
• Supplemented by diploma level specialist training, experience, short courses.
• Non Medical Prescribing.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check:

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

£39,959 to £48,117 a year per annum, pro rata.