Associate Pain Specialist Nurse

The Associate Pain Specialist Nurse will work alongside the Lead Nurse for Pain Management and Pain Consultants, gaining specialist experience in pain management while helping in the provision of expert nursing interventions for patients and contributing towards the development and implementation of inpatient pain services in line with national priorities.

The team provides a five-day-a-week service to inpatient patients at Whittington Hospital including post-operative patients, trauma patients and a wide range of patients having acute and acute on chronic pain. The team works in close co-operation with, and supports other clinical, nursing, medical and managerial colleagues. You will ensure effective communication throughout the Trust to develop and build working relationships with the MDT to facilitate high quality ‘best practice’ and evidence-based innovative care and management of patients with pain.

You will be responsible for contributing towards the day-to-day operational delivery of the Pain Services; therefore, you are expected to provide a visible, reliable and accessible leadership presence to whom patients and staff can turn for assistance, expert advice and support. Demonstrate good time management and organisational skills to deliver a flexible service that responds appropriately to unpredictable needs in line with professional codes of conduct and local policies and guidelines.

• Develop knowledge of the different therapeutic interventions and strategies that can be utilised in the management of acute and/or chronic pain conditions and teach patients and relatives about their condition, treatment, and self-help options.
• Carry a caseload and be responsible for providing specialist clinical advice and support to, and liaising with staff, patients and carers.
• Contribute to the management of inpatient pain referrals received daily from different sources to ensure that patients are reviewed in a timely manner.
• Make evidence-based, appropriate, and timely decisions about the management of patient care, by conducting assessment, planning and provision of specialist nursing advice and carrying out specialist nursing procedures in line with professional codes of conduct and local policies and guidelines within the wards, A&E and Acute Ambulatory Care, liaising with senior colleagues as required.
• Will be required to work in a clinical role alongside the pain team and will, in collaboration with the other clinical nurse specialists, train nursing staff in the care of patient and use of different pain management devices such as PCA, epidural analgesia, rectus sheath and other continuous nerve block infusions.
• Improve and maintain standards of care within the specialty by clinical supervision and self-reflection, using this to improve care and practice.

Whittington Health serves a richly diverse population and works hard to ensure that all our services are fair and equally accessible to everyone. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the way we look after our staff. We aim to employ a workforce which is as representative as possible of this population, so we are open to the value of differences in age, disability, gender, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, race, sexual orientation, and religion or belief. The Trust believes that as a public sector organisation we have an obligation to have recruitment, training, promotion and other formal employment policies and procedures that are sensitive to these differences.

• RN Degree in Nursing
• Registered Nurse in NMC
• Demonstrable evidence of post registration educational continuing development
• Practise Supervisor and Assessor Course
• Teaching qualification
• Pain-related post-graduate course
• Recovery course / Critical care course/Advance Physical Assessment

• Band 5 or higher with extensive relevant post-registration experience in an acute care area or pain management (A&E, AAU, Surgical Wards, ICU/HDU, Recovery)
• Experience of using IT to support clinical practice.
• Evidence of participating in the planning of patient care including working with MDT
• Experience in teaching carers, patients and their family
• Good understanding and experience in participating in clinical audit, research and QI projects.
• Evidence of ongoing professional development
• Awareness of national pain guidance and a range of acute and chronic pain management strategies
• Awareness of the barriers of pain management for patients who belong in the vulnerable group
• Knowledge and understanding of current issues and developments in pain management
• Knowledge of critical analysis to provide evidence-based practice in pain management
• Experience and participation in formal and informal teaching of students and colleagues; a practice assessor or supervisor
• Experience of caring for patients with pain management pumps such as PCA and epidural.

• Highly motivated and motivating with keen interest in pain management
• Assertive, articulate and confident communicator
• Reliable, flexible and ready to step up when need arise
• Creative lateral thinker
• Recognises own limitations

• Evidence of good interpersonal skills.
• Mature and sensitive approach to difficult situations.
• Ability to work independently while maintaining a team approach as a team player.
• Ability to manage own time and caseload
• Demonstrable evidence of leadership and change management skills.
• Counselling skills

To comply with the Trust’s Safeguarding Children and Adults policies, procedures and protocols. All individual members of staff (paid or unpaid) have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.