Palliative Care Clinical Nurse Specialist in London

We are looking for an experienced nurse to join our community palliative team here at Greenwich & Bexley. If you are enthusiastic and committed to palliative and end of life care, then you may be what we are looking for. This role will offer the opportunity to work across our services which will include the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich.

Main duties of the job:

• Support our diverse local population.
• Provide symptom control and end of life care support.
• Work in partnership with other health and care organisations.
• Help people maintain connections with their community and maximise their quality of life.

About us:

We offer great opportunities to develop further skills and knowledge in Palliative care. The organisation actively supports academic development including non-medical prescribing, advanced clinical assessment, relevant Masters programmes and other recognised courses. We provide regular clinical supervision and are able to continue participation in the NHS pension scheme for existing members.

At the Hospice, we believe that every dying person in Greenwich and Bexley should have the best care, support and quality of life possible. Our role is to lead the way by giving expert care, support and education to people with terminal illness, their families, friends and professional carers.

You will need to be a car driver and available for on call and weekend work. We are situated in beautiful woodland grounds with easy access and free car parking. Membership of the NHS pension scheme is available for existing members, generous stakeholder pension scheme for all other staff and generous annual leave entitlement. We are an equal opportunities employer and are committed to inclusion. We celebrate and embrace diversity and thus encourage applications from a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, knowledge and skills.

Please note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted. The above post requires the hospice to carry out a DBS check on new recruits.

Job responsibilities:

• Deliver evidence-based palliative and end of life care to patients with any diagnosis and to their carers/families.
• Be working towards or already hold a non-medical prescribing qualification.
• Establish and develop relationships with those involved in delivering health and social care to patients at the end of life and their families/carers in all settings.
• Provide information and specialist advice on all facets of palliative care (symptom management, practical spiritual and emotional support) to patients and their families/carers and other professionals involved in their care.
• Actively disseminate best practice through example, education and training, professional development and learning, participation in nursing research and audit, publication and conference presentations.
• Work closely with multi-professional colleagues in a cohesive palliative care team.
• Participate in these even days a week visiting service, and (Community only) in the 24 hour on call advisory service (from home).
• Embed a quality improvement approach into practice.
• Oversee a case load of patients directly whilst supporting a team of band 6 nurses to deliver care.
• Contribute to and/or develop palliative care education both internally and externally.

Person Specification:

Experience:

• Evidence of having worked in a senior role eg B6 and above in palliative care for 18 months to 2 years.
• Experience of palliative care practice in any setting including hospital, and/or hospice and/or community.
• Experience of delivering teaching/training.
• Leadership and management experience.
• Experience of Quality improvement and research.
• Experience of managing own caseload.
• Experience of working with multiple stakeholders.
• Experience of working in both community and hospital.

Aptitude, Personal Characteristics:

• Ability to work independently and as a member of the multi-disciplinary team.
• Able to manage time and meet deadlines.
• Assertive with well developed influencing or persuasive skills.
• Excellent problem solving skills.
• Approachable and adaptable.
• Motivated and enthusiastic.
• Ability to manage the emotional impact of working with the dying and bereaved and to be calm in the face of distress/negative emotions.
• An understanding of the mission and values of Community Hospice.
• Demonstrable commitment to anti-discriminatory practice and equal opportunities.
• A flexible approach to work including an ability to work (evenings community) and weekends.
• Ability to undertake professional development, direct own learning.

Qualifications:

• Registered Nurse.
• Degree in relevant area or evidence of working towards same.
• Evidence of further study in Palliative Care.
• Willingness and ability to work towards advanced nursing practice.
• Advanced communications skills course.
• Masters level study in relevant area.
• Mentorship and/or teaching qualification.
• Independent prescriber.

Knowledge, Skills/Abilities:

• Knowledge of use of tools for Advanced Care Planning at the end of life including UCP or equivalent.
• Awareness of health and safety procedures and how they affect people in the workplace.
• Ability to give advice to other professionals while appreciating issues of role overlap and the limits of own knowledge.
• Understanding of loss and grief and its impact on individuals and families and their social networks.
• Working knowledge of Continuing Health Care and other relevant legislation/regulation.
• A knowledge of the issues related to provision of specialist palliative care in a variety of settings (care homes, home, hospital) and an understanding of some of the challenges that may arise.
• Knowledge of current policy relevant to end of life care and embedding new evidence into practice.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Computer literacy with knowledge of Windows based applications.
• A Valid UK driving licence and access to own car for daily use.
• Able to demonstrate effective working with members of a variety of professional groups at varying levels of seniority across a number of different organisations.
• Knowledge of local health economy in Greenwich and Bexley.
• Evidence of participation in audit or research.
• Verification of death skills.

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.