Respiratory Nurse Specialist in Wolverhampton

This is a 37.5 hour Mon - Fri full time role. To provide expert care and management for patients with respiratory diseases within a primary care setting. The postholder will work alongside the Senior Respiratory Nurse Specialist and will be involved in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of evidence-based care for individuals with acute and chronic respiratory conditions, fostering high standards of practice and promoting patient-centred care. The Respiratory Nurse Specialist will act autonomously within their professional scope of practice. They will provide care to patients face to face, by telephone consultation and also in the patients' own homes. They will need to triage and prioritise the needs of patients accordingly, making any necessary referrals for investigations in the appropriate manner. They will support the wider General Practice Nursing team including Nurse Associates, General Practice Assistants and Health Care Assistants, providing advice and guidance where applicable. The postholder will use the skills, knowledge and competencies they have as a qualified Respiratory Nurse Specialist to be responsible and accountable for managing patient caseloads including assessment, treatment, referral and admission/discharge of patients as appropriate.

Main duties of the job

• Assess, plan, develop, implement and evaluate care that promotes health and well-being, and prevents adverse effects that are detrimental to health.
• Carry out holistic and thorough reviews of patients with Asthma and COPD.
• To initiate investigations for patients on respiratory pathways.
• To carry out spirometry if indicated, and interpret the results (where qualified to do so).
• To implement and evaluate individual care plans for patients with Asthma and COPD, ensuring they understand how to manage any exacerbations or changes in symptoms.
• Identify and manage appropriately patients at risk of developing respiratory disease.
• To recommend and prescribe (where qualified to do so) inhaled/other treatment therapies in line with local and national guidance, aiming for good symptom control.
• Provide patients with teaching to ensure good inhaler technique.
• Prioritise health problems and intervene appropriately to assist the patient in complex, urgent or emergency situations, including the initiation of effective emergency care.
• Support patients to adopt health promotion strategies that encourage good health, deliver opportunistic health promotion at all times and support the principles of self-care.
• Provide information and advice on prescribed or over-the-counter medication or medication regimes, side effects and interactions.
• Advise, support and if required, administer vaccinations recommended for respiratory patients, including influenza and pneumonia vaccines.
• Produce accurate, contemporaneous and complete records of patient consultations, consistent with legislation, policies and procedures.
• Prioritise, organise and manage own workload that maintains and promotes quality.
• Deliver care according to the BTS/SIGN, GINA and National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines and Evidence based care following the Black Country ICB Respiratory Guidelines for Asthma/COPD.
• Understand and apply the legal policy that supports the identification of vulnerable and abused adults and children being aware of local policies, guidelines and procedures.
• Have an understanding and an active involvement in reaching QOF targets related to their specialty.
• To be aware and work towards any current enhanced services.
• To keep up to date with changes in guidance, and to feed learning back to the wider team.
• To carry out home visits for respiratory patients who are not able to attend the surgery.
• To offer expert advice in the management of the patients long-term condition.
• To undertake other Clinical Nursing at an Advanced level as directed by the Lead Nurse.
• Participate in regular review of prescribing practice with prescribing mentor.
• Request diagnostic investigations and interpret within agreed protocols e.g. Spirometry, X-ray, blood tests, scans, etc.
• Assess, diagnose and treat patients in practice premises or their own home who require medical attention and/or refer to appropriate agency.
• Refer patients to other members of the multi-disciplinary practice teams, secondary care organisations and other organisations as necessary.

Care Management

• Communicates confidential and sensitive information to patients, relatives and carers in relation to their condition.
• Work closely with colleagues in specialist community/secondary care health services to ensure smooth transitions between teams and services and facilitate an improved access to evidence-based interventions.
• Work closely with, and provide day to day support and guidance to, the Care Co-ordinators and Health Coaches to connect patients to appropriate community and voluntary sector support.
• Facilitate Respiratory health assessments in practice and support the practice team in accessing appropriate level of services.
• Provide highly specialised care advice beyond the scope of normal Nursing practice e.g. care treatment plans, making referrals as appropriate (including fast track referrals).
• Contribute to local and national practice targets clinical remit e.g. QOF, prescribing incentive scheme, National benchmarking.
• To monitor and meet care outcomes against standards and recommend or initiate changes as necessary.

Health Improvement

• Management of health screening programmes and ensure other team members are aware of health priorities and screening objectives and programmes.
• Innovation in practice to meet ongoing demands on the practices delivery of care.
• Improve health outcomes for patients by introducing new developments, and can demonstrate them as reports and presentations where appropriate.
• Supports practitioners in reporting the practice population health improvement and disease prevention.
• Makes referrals to appropriate agencies (statutory and voluntary) where necessary.

Administration and professional responsibilities

• Produce accurate, contemporaneous and complete records of patient consultation, consistent with legislation, policies and procedures.
• Participate in the administrative and professional responsibilities of the practice team.
• Accurate and legible notes of all consultations and treatments are recorded in the patients notes clinical systems kept up to date, recording and/or amending accurate details.
• Ensure appropriate items of service claims are made accurately, reporting any problems to the practice administrator.
• Ensure accurate completion of all necessary documentation associated with patient health care and registration with the practice.
• Attend and participate in practice meetings as required.
• Restocking and maintenance of clinical areas and consulting rooms.

Training and personal development

• Maintain up to date skills and knowledge, maintaining awareness of professional issues at an advanced level.
• Training needs will be monitored by yearly appraisal and will be in accordance with practice requirements.
• Personal development will be encouraged and supported by the practice.
• Assess effectiveness of care delivery through self-reflection and peer review, as well as benchmarking and formal evaluation.
• Contribute to the identification and assessment of learning needs of staff and other professionals and assist in planning effective programmes of education.
• Participate in the education and training students of all disciplines.
• Maintain Revalidation with Nursing and Midwifery Council.
• Act as a mentor for junior staff, assessing competence against set standards.
• Taking responsibility for own development, learning and performance and demonstrating skills and activities to others who are undertaking similar work and ensure own educational commitment is at least sufficient to maintain revalidation requirements.
• Develop and maintain a Personal Learning Plan.
• Regularly participate in clinical supervision.

Management Duties

• Develop and maintain practice policies and protocols for Specialist Respiratory Health.
• Work closely with Lead Nurse and Senior Respiratory Specialist Nurse and deputise at Senior Level as required.
• Ensure agreed practice audits are carried out.
• Ensure Lead Nurse/ Hub Managers are aware of any matters arising or problems / potential problems.
• Ensure all surgery-produced nursing respiratory leaflets are kept up to date.

Person Specification

• Adhere to the NMC Code of Professional Conduct and other relevant regulations.
• Maintain confidentiality and uphold the highest standards of care and integrity.
• Participate in regular appraisal, supervision, and mandatory training programs.

Experience

• Experience in managing a caseload of patients with Respiratory conditions.
• Competency in Spirometry and FeNO testing.
• Experience in delivering virtual clinics and/or group consultations.

Qualifications

• Registered Nurse with valid NMC Pin.
• Independent prescribing qualification or commitment to completing this training.
• ARTP accreditation in Spirometry or willingness to achieve this certification.
• Familiarity with home oxygen therapy and nebuliser assessments.

Skills & Knowledge

• Strong leadership and mentoring skills.
• Ability to work independently and within a multidisciplinary team.
• Proficiency in using clinical systems (e.g. EMIS) for patient documentation.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Commitment to continuing professional development.

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.