Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To ensure safe and effective clinical practice.

• As the visible designated clinical nurse leader set standards of care and professionalism and promote teamwork within a multi-professional environment, demonstrating critical analysis and decision-making skills, leading the delivery of a clinically excellent service, influencing and facilitating change within the ward/department and where appropriate the organisation.
• Act as a change agent, developing clinically effective practice through the effective utilisation and integration of evidence based practice, setting, implementing and monitoring evidence based standards of care, policies, procedures and protocols.
• Ensure a culture of continuous quality improvement through the use of research, audit, patient feedback and reflection on practice by self and other members of the team.
• Promote a clean and safe environment for staff, patients and visitors by ensuring compliance with legislation, policies and protocols including health and safety, healthcare associated infection prevention, clinical governance, including risk management and critical incident reporting and root cause analysis.
• Ensure a high standard of record keeping in accordance with Nursing and Midwifery Council, Health and Care Professions Council, national legislation and local standards.
• Facilitate effective communication with the multi-professional team.
• Assess the risks involved in the care of patients and ensure utilisation of practices and protocols to minimise those risks, including safe use of medical devices. To monitor the standards of care and take appropriate actions when standards fall below expected levels.
• Report incidents and near misses promptly and appropriately and take effective action to minimise future risk.

To enhance the patients experience

• Within sphere of care ensure effective and efficient patient journeys by planning, co-ordinating and monitoring the episodes of care including the smooth transition to other settings, promoting effective discharge and communication with interdisciplinary and interagency teams as required.
• Co-ordinate nursing/midwifery interventions, influence clinical decisions and monitor the quality of patient care provided through using expert clinical knowledge relevant to own field of practice, underpinned by theory and experience.
• Within a multidisciplinary team environment, develop a culture of person-centred care.
• Be highly visible within the ward/department, communicating regularly with patients, relatives and/or carers; promoting a caring environment where equality and diversity issues are respected and patients are enabled to be partners in their care.
• Identify opportunities to develop care and services by ensuring that there are effective systems in place to ascertain patient and carer experience/feedback and ensure complaints are managed in line with organisational policy, including the dissemination of learning points.
• Ensure that everyone within sphere of care is treated with dignity and humanity, understanding individual needs, showing compassion and sensitivity, and provide care in a way that respects all people equally.
• Critically appraise and synthesise the outcomes of relevant research, evaluations and audits and apply the information when seeking to improve practice.

To manage and develop the performance of the team

• Act as a positive role model, creating a supportive ethos to empower staff to contribute to the delivery of excellent person centred care.
• Lead by example, develop self and other staff, and influence the way care is given in a manner that is open and responds to individual needs.
• Ensure nurses and nursing staff take responsibility for the care they provide and answer for their own judgments and actions and carry out those actions in a way that is agreed with their patients, and the families and carers of their patients, and in a way that meets the requirements of organisational policies and procedures, their professional bodies and the law.
• Lead the appraisal process ensuring that personal development plans are consistent with the team’s, ward’s and organisation’s objectives, succession planning, and workforce development and in support of professional revalidation.
• Take all reasonable care of health and safety at work for self, team and others and to co-operate with employers to ensure compliance with health and safety requirements.
• Support the learning and development of all staff.
• Create a learning environment that ensures effective learning opportunities for staff and students including appropriate orientation and induction programmes, a range of clinical support strategies (mentoring, coaching, clinical supervision, action learning and peer review). Plan, monitor and evaluate ongoing mandatory training and relevant education and development opportunities for the team.
• Manage the practice setting, hold a delegated budget and demonstrate effective use of resources and workforce planning by monitoring workload and, through efficient rostering, maintain appropriate staffing levels and skill mix taking account of role and competence of staff when delegating work.
• Manage the nursing/midwifery team, ensuring compliance by self and others with professional standards, legislation, national and organisational policies.
• Lead the recruitment and selection process, attendance management, and performance management ensuring grievance and disciplinary matters within own practice setting are identified, actioned and reported to the appropriate person.
• Lead the team utilising the appropriate Trust policies, procedures or guidelines

To ensure effective contribution to the delivery of the organisation’s objectives

• Network with peers across professional groups promoting the exchange of knowledge, skills and resources.
• To act up in the absence of the Matron
• Attend professional forums and disseminate information
• Work in partnership with a range of clinicians and managers in the planning or development of own service promoting the involvement of patients/public.
• Take a proactive approach to the redesign of clinical services, linked to organisational priorities and in support of improved outcomes
• Support the development and implementation of the Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting Strategy for the organisation
• Within clinical area ensure knowledge of the organisations quality and safety agenda.
• Seek opportunities for personal and team development supporting the research agenda of the organisation
• Develop and maintain a working knowledge of local, national and professional strategy and policy, ensuring that organisational goals are reflected in personal objectives and in ward/department development plans.
• Demonstrate the ability to contribute to policy and strategy development at a departmental and organisational level and, where appropriate, national level.
• Demonstrate by self and through team compliance to the pledges of the NHS Constitution 2012.