General Practice Nurse in Bury St Edmunds

You will be responsible for the delivery of practice nursing services to the practice population. You will deliver care within your professional boundaries demonstrating competence in all aspects of primary care nursing duties including chronic disease management, cervical cytology, vaccinations and immunisations, sexual health and contraception, screening, basic wound care and health promotion. You will demonstrate safe, clinical decision making and expert care and will work collaboratively with the general practice team to meet the needs of patients, supporting the delivery of policy, procedures, future practice strategy and provide clinical leadership as required. You will work under the clinical supervision of the GPs/Nurse Practitioners/Practice Nurses and line management of Tower Family Healthcare to help deliver the key elements of the PMS contract. In summary, the practice nurse role is to assess, implement and evaluate programmes of care across the practice population whilst working within the scope of professional practice of a registered nurse and practices autonomously within defined areas of practice and established protocols.

Main duties of the job

• Chronic Disease Management: undertake chronic disease management monitoring clinics (e.g. asthma, diabetes, CHD, COPD, CKD, hypertension, dementia, RA checks) in line with QOF guidelines.
• Vaccination & Immunisations: administer injections under individual prescriptions, or patient group directions such as; providing adult and childhood immunisation service, depo-provera injections, travel vaccinations, school leaver boosters, flu/pneumonia, shingles, whooping cough, HPV, prostap/zoladex injections, B12 injections. Ensure safe storage, rotation, expiration and disposal of vaccines and drugs.
• Health Promotion: smoking cessation advice, healthy eating advice, lifestyle advice (activity, exercise, alcohol), health checks, weight management.
• Sexual Health: giving advice as appropriate, pill checks, coil check, family planning advice, sexual health, breast awareness, incontinence, menopause, HRT checks and refer to the GP as appropriate.
• Wound Management: perform basic wound care as appropriate such as removal of sutures, basic dressings, assisting the GP with minor surgery clinics and coil fittings.

Additional Practice Nurse duties may include: ear syringing, nail clippings, anticoagulation clinics, cryotherapy clinics, cervical cytology, health checks, BP/ABPM, height, weight, BMI, urinalysis, smoking status, chlamydia screening, MRSA swabs, ECG, venipuncture, oral GTT, new patient checks, spirometry with reversibility, inhaler instruction. May be required to undertake home visits.

About us

We are a large General Practice with four branches across Bury, Greater Manchester. We provide services to around 50,000 registered patients, a quarter of the population of Bury. We are a forward thinking General Practice. We have a strong business plan and a clear focus on providing quality primary care at scale, along with innovative approaches to delivering care through new ways of working and digital transformation. We are a training and teaching Practice committed to investing in clinicians of the future. We are also involved in cutting edge clinical research projects to discover and deliver better care that will really make a difference to patients in Bury and further afield. Our clinical team is diverse including GPs and GP Assistants, Practice Paramedics, Pharmacists, Nurse Practitioners, Practice Nurses and highly skilled Health Care Assistants, working closely with a range of additional roles including an Acute Visiting Service and First Contact Physiotherapists. To allow more time to care, our clinical team is underpinned by a very experienced team of receptionists and administrators, as well as a range of in-house corporate functions covering themes such as HR, IT, finance, administration and management support and communications.

Job responsibilities

• Administration and Professional Responsibilities: Participate in the administrative and professional responsibilities of the practice team. Ensure accurate and legible notes of all consultations and treatments are recorded in the patients journal. Ensure the clinical computer system is kept up to date with accurate details recorded. Ensure accurate completion of all necessary documentation associated with patient health care. Attend and participate in the practice meetings as required. Assist in formulation of practice philosophy, strategy and policy. To assist in seasonal and special projects as requested e.g. flu campaign.
• Managing of appointment system: Ensure total familiarity with all appointment systems, including regular and incidental variations. Book appointments and recalls, ensuring sufficient information is recorded to enable retrieval of the medical record. Monitor flow of patients into the waiting room, ensuring the appointment system accurately reflects the arrival of patients. Monitor effectiveness of the system and report any problems or variations to the IT Lead(s).
• Infection Control: Maintain high standards of infection control at all times, protecting patients, self and colleagues. This includes appropriate maintenance of the clinical equipment and stock. Apply infection control measures within the practice according to practice, local and national guidelines.
• Communication: Communicate clearly and effectively with patients and carers, recognising the need for alternative methods of communication to overcome different levels of understanding, cultural background and preferred ways of communicating. Anticipate barriers to communication and take action to improve communication. Maintain effective communication within the practice environment and externally to sustain a high standard, professional approach. Attend and contribute to practice and primary care team meetings. Recognise and work within own competence and professional code of conduct as regulated by the NMC. Produce accurate, contemporaneous and complete records of patient consultation, consistent with legislation, policies and procedures. To uphold confidentiality of patient records and practice information.
• Safeguarding: Understand and apply legal issues that support the identification of vulnerable and abused children and adults, and be aware of statutory child/vulnerable patients safeguarding health procedures and local guidance.
• Leadership personal and professional development: Take responsibility for own learning and performance including participating in clinical supervision and acting as a positive role model. Undertake mentorship for more junior staff, assessing competence against set standards. Support staff development in order to maximise potential. Actively promote the workplace as a learning environment, encouraging everyone to learn from each other and from external good practice. Support and contribute to the teaching of nursing staff/medical students/GP registrars and administration staff as appropriate.
• Teamworking: Work as an effective and responsible team member, supporting others and working with the GP Partners, Practice Manager and nursing team exploring the mechanisms to develop new ways of working. Delegate clearly and appropriately, adopting the principles of safe practice and assessment of competence. Create clear referral mechanisms to meet patient need. Work effectively with others to clearly define values, direction and policies impacting upon care delivery.

Special requirements for the post

• An ability to use your own judgement, resourcefulness, common sense and local knowledge, to respond to patients enquiries and requests while adhering to practice limitations.
• An understanding and acceptance of your own capabilities and awareness of your own limitations.
• Ability to work without direct supervision and determine your own workload priorities.
• Basic keyboard and computer skills.
• Flexibility of working hours.

Person Specification

• Qualifications: Registered first level nurse MSc or equivalent with current registration. Accredited LBC Cytology ECDL. Mentor/teaching qualification Teaching certificate. Clinical supervision training and experience.
• Experience: Minimum 5 years post registration nursing experience. At least 3 years recent primary care/community nursing experience. Demonstrate evidence of experience outlined within clinical practice section of job description.
• Skills: Clinical skills & competency relevant to the practice nurse role. Communication skills written and verbal. Communication of difficult messages to patients and families. Negotiation and conflict management skills. Clinical examination. IT Skills. Teaching and mentorship in clinical setting. Change management.
• Knowledge: In-depth knowledge and management of patients with long term conditions/chronic diseases. Demonstrate knowledge and experience of the practice nurse role. Patient group directions and associated policy. Ability to identify priorities on health in the area. Local and national policy/Wider health economy. EMIS clinical system.
• Other: Full UK driving licence business use. Reliability & commitment to team working. Highly motivated. Flexible and responsive to change week/evening/weekend working. Team player. Willingness to undertake further training. Demonstrates the ability to value the opinion of others. Ability to work within a pressurised environment maintaining a safe, high standard of quality care. Ability to work across boundaries. Ability to undertake stock control.

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.