Job overview

The Macmillan Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) team for Acute Oncology is looking for a motivated, flexible and resilient band 7 CNS to join our team in a 1 year fixed term/secondment.

The post holder will provide individualised patient-centred care for those who have a cancer diagnosis and have presented acutely unwell as a consequence of their cancer or treatment. The post holder will be supporting patients presenting with a suspected new diagnosis of cancer, as well as managing toxicities both in the inpatient and outpatient setting.

The post holder will also be leading service development and improvement at Royal Sussex County Hospital and Worthing General sites and working collaboratively across the Trust to ensure parity of care across all sites.

The post holder will also be supporting with educational requirements both within the team and in the wider MDT. The post holder will be instrumental in reviewing and improving communication and pathways between the multidisciplinary teams involved in patient care and management.

Please note that if you currently work for another NHS Trust or UHSussex and you are applying to accept this position as a secondment opportunity, before applying you must seek agreement and authorisation from your current Trust/Manager. Secondments can’t be agreed without this approval. If you are unable to gain approval you should refrain from applying unless you wish to take this role as a fixed term position. 

Main duties of the job

• Assessment of cancer patients admitted as an emergency within 24 hours of presentation.
• Perform comprehensive assessment of patients’ nursing and medical needs.
• Assess complex situations and make clinical decisions regarding care.
• Support patients and colleagues at breaking bad news for new diagnoses or progression of disease.
• Support work up and management of patients under the Cancer of Unknown Primary pathway.
• Supporting inpatients and outpatients with diagnosis and management of toxicity.
• Contribute to the personalised care of the patient group.
• Provide appropriate information and advice to patients and others affected by cancer.
• Provide a responsive service to queries and concerns - being able to triage and make appropriate clinical decisions, working within your limitations referring to senior colleagues as necessary.
• Signpost and refer to services appropriately, such as physiotherapy, counselling, and palliative care.
• Provide support and line management to junior members of the team.
• Liaise effectively with members of the multi-disciplinary teams.
• Work effectively and  collaboratively with the CNS teams across UHSx and with our partner organisations.
• Be a support and mentor to junior staff members.
• To actively lead on and contribute to service development - including developing appropriate KPIs that are measurable which demonstrate service improvement.

Working for our organisation

At UHSussex, diversity is our strength, and we want you to feel included to help us always put the Patient First. Your uniqueness and experiences will be part of our creative and innovative community where everyone is encouraged to succeed. We have a range of Staff Networks to help break down barriers, and can offer a buddy to help new members settle in. We’re proud to be a Disability Confident Employer (Level 2) and a Veteran Aware Trust.

We treat our patients and staff with the same compassion and empathy we expect for ourselves. We’re here for them when they need us, and we go above and beyond to meet their needs. This can be seen in our Wellbeing Programme  for staff which is extensive and designed to support you when you need it, including where possible, flexible working to support work life balance - because we know that to look after others we must first look after ourselves. 

As a university trust and a leader in healthcare research, we value learning, teaching and training so that we can be the best that we can be. From the moment you start with us and throughout your career we will help you to grow and develop. We hope that in choosing UHSussex you are choosing a long and happy career where you will be able to see the difference you make and feel valued for all that you do.

We look forward to receiving your application and the start of your journey with UHSussex.