Community Clinical Nurse Specialist

Job summary: To provide specialist palliative nursing care to patients and their families within a service that works every day, by phone, by visits and advising and teaching others within the community and at our community unit locations. Safeguarding responsibilities: To demonstrate a commitment to keeping adults and young people safe To report any disclosure made to you to the appropriate person To report any safeguarding concerns in the workplace to the appropriate person To maintain an awareness of the hospices policies in relation to safeguarding Key responsibilities: To work within a team providing specialist palliative care to patients, within a community setting, community care units and care homes. Supporting carers and other providers delivering care, through the advice line, training and education. To undertake in-depth holistic assessments of patients with palliative care needs, regardless of their diagnosis, and plan care to meet patient outcomes. To provide information,
advice, psychological and spiritual care to patients, their families and carers, liaising and referring on as necessary to appropriate healthcare professionals in the Hospice, hospital and community. To visit patients and families when a specialist consultation is needed and the patient is unable to travel, or seeing patients in the community clinic. To provide telephonic support to patients, families and other professionals provided during working hours. To attend and participate in multi-disciplinary palliative care meetings around patient care management, and present patients at the community MDT and to the caseload reviewer. Provide a rapid response service for patients needing urgent specialist care. Providing care as needed such as drugs, position changes and interventions, if appropriate to improve the comfort of the patient, or advising others to do so. To represent the Hospice and patients at meetings, as required. To maintain and promote effective and efficient working
and communication with all involved in the patient, to ensure appropriate sharing of information. To provide support and expertise to other professionals, as required, acting as a role model and a resource providing expert knowledge and support. To supervise junior roles to be responsible for supervision, annual appraisals and delegation of workload. To comply with relevant drug policies, including Non-Medical Prescribing and legislation concerning drugs and administration. To attend Gold Standard Framework (GSF) meetings. To have an understanding of safeguarding principles and be able to apply these within everyday practice and intervention/within your role. To work with the Community CNSs and Team Leader, to plan and implement change and development within the Community Service where this would increase effectiveness and efficiency of practice. To work with the Head of Therapy & Community Care Units and the Community Team Leader, to plan and implement change
and development within the Community. To work as part of a team to ensure the priorities of the service are met especially in times of absences and high demand. To adapt to the pressures of changing demands, day-to-day. To manage patient caseloads, ensuring good communication, planning and reviews. To participate in education and training. To maintain patient statistics, and comprehensive patient records. Making sure that other nurses are able to carry on with the caseload easily in your absence, when needed. To participate in the development of clinical standards, research and clinical audit, working within the Clinical Governance Framework of the Hospice and in palliative care in general. To record all equipment loaned out, ensuring records are kept up to date and that equipment is returned. To work autonomously making decisions, but seeking advice from colleagues or/and senior clinical team, as needed. Responsibilities for all staff: Act as a positive
ambassador for St Elizabeth Hospice Where the postholder is a member of a professional body, comply to the professional standards set by that body. Ensure registration is current and practice continuous professional development. Because of the special nature of the hospice and its work, the postholder may on occasion be asked to undertake other duties to help maintain our high standards of care and engagement.