Children\'s Community Nurse - Childrens Community Nursing in Crawley

The post is a nursing role within Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust (SCFT) Children's Community Nursing Service (CCNS), focused on the clinical and associated public health nursing of children, young people and families. The Service is working towards 7 day working. The Children & Young People's (CYP) Community Nurse (CN) will contribute to the development of the local Children's Community Nursing Team and countywide CCNS together with the Team Lead and senior nurses, helping to ensure that policy and practice is developed and delivered in line with Trust and national best practice standards.

The post holder will have a key role in delivering specialist community children's nursing for the children and young people on the CCN caseload. They will provide up-to-date knowledge and skills for the nursing management and care of children in the community setting. They will liaise with clinical experts for the provision of specialist knowledge, skills and leadership as required. As a Registered Nurse - Child, they will promote the health and wellbeing of children and their families and ensure the provision of high quality, safe nursing care to children and families on the caseload. They will work closely with other health professionals within the Trust and across the health economy, as well as with statutory and third sector agencies.

Main duties of the job

• Deliver and help maintain excellent nursing care and practice standards within the CCNT, helping to review where needed.
• Work together with the CCN Team Lead to help ensure the consistent delivery of safe quality nursing care for children on the caseload.
• Help implement and write children's clinical policies and standards, maintaining other standards and clinical policies in line with SCFT requirements, helping to evaluate and adjust as required, in partnership with Team Lead, Matron, Heads of CCNS and other senior CCNs.
• Help manage development and performance within the CCN team and ensure together with Team Lead that appraisals for junior staff are completed annually and ensure feedback on performance is given at regular intervals throughout the year.
• Educate and support junior staff/peers offering leadership surrounding continual professional development and performance of best clinical practice.
• Ensure health records are maintained and compliant with Trust policy and keep accurate, legible, contemporaneous records and written reports as required.
• Assist the Team Lead, Safeguarding Team and Head of CCN Service in co-ordinating child protection processes in accordance with Trust policy whilst supporting junior staff in understanding and exercising the Trust safeguarding policy and Sussex procedures.
• Maintain and help to analyse relevant service data which will demonstrate activity of the team and assist with identifying service needs and possible developments.

Job responsibilities

• The CCN is required to educate and clinically support staff to meet the needs of individual children acting as a specialist practitioner in the community setting.
• Where the practitioner holds a current Nurse Prescribing for Community Practitioner (V100) qualification the practitioner may prescribe within the limits of their professional competency and Trust guidelines.
• Practitioners at this level assume responsibility for planned teaching of nurses and health care assistants, associate practitioners and students, and will help ensure the mentorship and supervision of students.
• The post holder will protect, safeguard and promote the well-being of children in accordance with The Children Act (1989 & 2004) and Working Together to Safeguard Children (HM Gov 2013).
• Manage the delivery of quality nursing care, support, information and advice, for a delegated CCNT caseload, helping to ensure that appropriate resources are available to assist in providing this care.
• Support and educate staff offering clinical specialist knowledge and skills for the delivery of nursing care for children in the CCNT caseload.
• Maintain excellent communication channels with service stakeholders.
• Engaging in cross boundary partnership working including the child and family/carer, to help develop seamless care provision.
• This includes working with health care, social care and education as well as relevant charities including the local hospices.
• Help develop, implement and review clinical protocols and standard operating procedures which assist in delivering safe care and best nursing practice.
• Develop clinical skills and knowledge within the team, ensuring the relevant clinical skills required for management of safe nursing care are maintained.
• Provide teaching regarding the use of equipment and treatment regimes in the community for children, families/carers and staff involved.
• Ensure concise and accurate documentation of care interventions, including telephone advice and support are documented and recorded.
• Act as a resource and role model of children's community nursing specialist practice to all other professionals and work colleagues.
• Attend essential and relevant clinical practice updates in tertiary centres and special interest groups both within the Trust, locally and nationally to help develop and contribute towards establishment of clinical practice standards.
• Participate in nursing research and audit projects pertinent to clinical community practice in conjunction with CCN services quality and standards forum.
• Ensure when aware of clinical incidents in practice that these are reported via the correct channels and assist with the implementation of relevant recommendations.
• Regularly evaluate the clinical effectiveness of care and in consultation with Team Lead and senior nurses in the wider CCN service, make adjustments where appropriate in order to make the best use of team and SCFT resources.
• Develop, implement, and evaluate guidelines/teaching tools for children/families/colleagues, healthcare professionals for use within the CCN service for care of identified health needs and promotion of well-being.
• Take part in the on-call rota in order to provide 24hr direct nursing support for end of life care and on call system.
• Take part in the 7 day working rota as the Service evolves.
• Staff may be required to work anywhere in West Sussex and Brighton and Hove in order to meet the needs of the commissioned service.

Person Specification

• Qualifications and/or professional registration
• Registered Nurse - Child or Registered Sick Children's Nurse
• BSc in Specialist Practice in Community Health/Specialist Practitioner Children's Nurse or recent evidence of working towards specialist qualification in community nursing
• ENB 998 / Mentorship module or equivalent
• Postgraduate Module/Diploma in relevant subject e.g., Intensive Care of Children, Safeguarding Children, Physical assessment
• Nurse Prescribing for Community Practitioners (V100)

• Experience
• Significant post registration relevant clinical experience at band 5 or above
• Experience of working autonomously managing a caseload of children in a community setting and/or on a children's ward
• Experience of teaching / health promotion
• Experience of planning, managing and helping co-ordinating programmes of care in collaboration with other allied health, social, education and volunteer agencies
• Evidence of a range of clinical competencies appropriate to the role
• Evidence of post registration professional development within the last three years
• Experience of working with children and families/carers at the end of life.
• Experience of clinical supervision
• Experience of clinical audit

• Skills and knowledge
• Proficient clinical assessment and care planning skills
• Understanding of common care pathways and nursing care needs across tertiary, local hospital and community settings.
• Good understanding of children's communication, physical well-being & emotional needs; can identify their changing individual needs and preferences and promote independence.
• Communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate and engage with staff, children and families who may be experiencing difficult circumstances or distressing news
• Ability to prioritise own workload and maintain quality care in times of pressure
• Ability to help develop, set up and implement new working practices, structures to support them, and evaluate processes once implemented and initiate support.
• Ability to demonstrate knowledge of child and adult safeguarding and take appropriate action to safeguard
• Awareness of professional responsibilities and boundaries
• Interest in and working knowledge of IT and new technologies
• Able to work collaboratively with multi-disciplinary interagency teams and to liaise effectively with a wide range of stakeholders.
• Ability to organise and respond efficiently to complex information/ distressing news, understanding when they need to seek supervision or assistance
• Ability to multitask.

• Other requirements
• Ability to travel as required to meet the needs of the service on a daily basis.
• A full valid driving licence and access to a car to use regularly for business purposes is essential (unless you have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010).

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.