Nights Senior Community Nurse

Job reference: 067-CH-NSCN

Band: 6

Job Overview

Do you want to develop your career within a clinically led organisation at the forefront of the revolution in adult community nursing? Are you passionate about delivering high-quality patient care and experience? This is an exciting opportunity to join our night community nursing service as a Band 6 nurse, working as part of a highly skilled workforce that is central to providing safe, responsive, and compassionate care out of hours. Working overnight, you will deliver essential nursing care to patients in their own homes and care homes, helping to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions and supporting patients to remain safely in their preferred place of care. You will work autonomously whilst being part of a wider multidisciplinary team, responding to urgent and planned care needs across the community during night hours. This is a unique chance to advance your career in a forward-thinking community service while making a real difference to patients when they need it most.

Main duties of the job

• Deliver skilled nursing care to patients in the community during night hours
• Assess, plan, implement and evaluate patient care independently
• Manage complex and urgent clinical situations safely and effectively
• Administer medications, including IV therapies, in line with policy
• Provide palliative and end-of-life care with compassion and sensitivity
• Support patients, families, and carers during overnight periods
• Work collaboratively with GP out-of-hours services, ambulance services, and other partners
• Act as a role model and support junior staff when required
• Undertake clinical skills including wound care, catheterisation, end of life care, syringe drivers and venepuncture.

Post holders will be available to work Monday to Sunday between 8am and 8pm. A full UK driving license and vehicle for business use if required for this post, however reasonable adjustments will be made for disabled individuals in line with the Equality Act 2010.

Working for our organisation

The Procare Chief Operating Officer is a Nurse by background, who has a real passion for all aspects of Community working. Our board is clinically led with a Director of Nursing and GPs who have vast community experience, ensuring that Procare has the expertise and knowledge base needed to develop sustainable integrated services. With a strong emphasis on high-quality care, patient safety, and a positive patient and carer experience as the core of our strategy, our goal is to ensure excellent care for our local community. We aim to achieve this by creating a supportive and highly skilled workforce, making Procare a great place to work. We are an innovative, ambitious, friendly, and supportive local team. We take pride in our clinically led and flat management structure, which ensures transparent leadership from all directors. We are in search of an individual with the requisite skills and attributes, someone who is pragmatic and solution-focused, and who desires to be a part of our local Community Nursing Services.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Communication

• Communicates effectively with patients, carers, and all members of the multidisciplinary team
• Maintains accurate and legible documentation and clinical records in line with professional and organisational requirements – this includes contemporary paper records and electronic clinical record system, EMIS
• Maintains strong working relationships and communicates effectively with OOH GPs, social services, acute/community hospital colleagues, Hospice
• Communicates effectively with others involved in patient to enable a timely response to patient’s needs
• Actively contributes to the team, working groups and team meetings

Patient Care / Safety / Quality

• Ensures high quality and effective assessment, treatment, implementation, and evaluation of nursing care to patients and carers within their own home setting
• Responsible for the effective triaging of referrals and prioritising of work in line with clinical/patient need across Guildford and Waverley
• Escalates any deviation from the care plan or change in condition to the District Nurse / OOH GP accordingly
• Responsible for the correct use of aids and equipment supplied for patients and carers and for the security, care and maintenance of equipment ensuring standards of infection control and safety are maintained – including equipment loaned to patients
• Undertake all aspects of medicines management related activities in accordance within the company’s medicines policies to ensure the safe, legal and appropriate use of medicines
• Responsible for recognising the needs of the Night service, identifying risk, and making rapid autonomous decisions, escalating to the Team Lead / Service Development Manager as required
• Participates in risk assessment and promotes the safety and well-being of patients, staff and any other persons and ensures a safe work environment

Service Development

• Actively involved in the development and implementation of adult community nursing service developments and initiatives
• Participates in clinical audit and the implementation of changes to ways of working / clinical practice from audit findings, recommendations, and action plans
• Promoting and supports the implementation of innovation and technology within the workplace
• Actively participates in and contributes to meetings and working groups that inform the adult community nursing service and nursing profession
• Acts as a link nurse for defined area e.g. tissue viability, end of life, diabetes, infection prevention and control

Leadership and Management

• Responsible for the ordering and lean stock management of dressings and other equipment
• Ensures that all complaints, untoward incidents, accidents, and areas of clinical risk are identified and reported to the District Nurse and on the electronic incident reporting system (DATIX) in accordance with policy
• Monitors and orders stock levels and equipment in line with budget and lean / efficient principles
• Responsible for the security, care and maintenance of equipment ensuring standards of infection prevention and control and safety are maintained
• Acts as a role model for all 6C’s

Development of self and others

• Accountable for own professional actions in line with the NMC code and local policy and guidelines
• Recognises own limitations in the provision of clinical care and urgency of patient’s needs, referring to other health care professionals accordingly and is accountable for his/her own actions often without direct supervision
• Keeps up to date with professional nursing and regulatory requirements, health care developments, clinical evidence, National Service Frameworks for practice, national and local policies, and guidelines to maintain up to date technical and professional knowledge relevant to the post
• Responsible for the self-development of skills and competencies through participation in learning and development activities and continuing professional development to maintain up to date technical and professional knowledge relevant to the post
• Responsible for completing all own mandatory training within required time frames and for ensuring this is completed for other team members
• Participates in own annual appraisal and objective setting each year
• Access regular 1-1 meetings with line manager
• Accesses, participates, encourages, and facilitates regular clinical supervision and peer review
• Responsible for supervising and appraising team members through annual appraisals, mid-year reviews and within team to develop meaningful and achievable personal development plans and objectives for individuals
• Undertakes supervisor (mentor) training and updates to ensure skills are available to facilitate the teaching and learning experiences for all students, colleagues, visitors, and employees
• Supporting induction, competency achievement, supervision and mentoring of new team members and supporting pre-registration student nurses

Person specification

Qualifications

• Registered Level 1 Nurse with current Nursing and Midwifery Council registration
• Educated to diploma or level 6 / degree level in relevant area
• Relevant community nursing related qualification and experience

Skills, Knowledge & Experience

• Experience undertaking holistic assessments of patients, including those with multiple pathology and complex health and social needs
• Broad range of clinical skills relevant to District Nursing
• Experience prioritising and allocating referrals and visits in accordance with patient clinical need
• Clinically competent in areas relevant to adult community nursing
• A full UK driving license and vehicle for business use if required for this post, however reasonable adjustments will be made for disabled individuals in line with the Equality Act 2010

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration. This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.