Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical Responsibilities

• Address the needs of individuals to bring about improvement in the health and wellbeing of patients through the delivery of evidence based care.
• Manage a designated group of patients on a shift by shift basis.
• Model excellent practice through the development of effective assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation of care.
• Articulate source of evidence on which care is based.
• Articulate the decision making process underlying the management of own time and the patient workload.
• Use available technology and patient record and parent/carers knowledge to identify changes in condition of the child and initiate appropriate action whilst reporting changes to the appropriate individual.
• Include children and carers as participating partners in planned care activities.
• Initiate and develop plans for health promotion with individuals involving parents/carers and multidisciplinary teams.
• Demonstrate involvement in a multi-disciplinary approach to patient care.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the importance of nutrition to the health and well-being of children.
• Demonstrate an awareness of the needs of all children in designated area and communicate these to other members of the multi professional team.
• Demonstrate competency in specific clinical skills appropriate to the area this may include venepuncture, cannulation, ECG recording, and sweat testing.
• Support people’s equality, diversity and rights in accordance with UHSussex policy.

Communication

• Maintain effective communication with carers about routine and daily activities of the children in designated area.
• Negotiate sensitively with children and their carers particularly if there are any barriers to understanding.
• Behave in a consistent manner with children and their carers, multi-disciplinary team and the public.
• Communicate with children in a manner appropriate to their age and stage of development and their carers.
• Articulate current status of all children in their care to nurse in charge on each shift, if in charge then to the children’s services bleep holder as required and to the multi-disciplinary team.
• Demonstrate use of basic IT skills to complete details of admission/discharge of patients.
• Write precise, accurate and timely nursing records.
• Listen actively and respond appropriately to information given.
• Take part in and leads shift handovers ensuring relevant detail is communicated to the team.
• Recognise when own and other’s (staff, children and carers) behaviour is not acceptable and take action to address this effectively.

Management/organisation

• Maintain an age and development appropriate environment that promotes safety, security and optimal health for the child and his family.
• Undertake a designated link nurse role for the clinical area as required.
• Take part in mandatory audit as designated by Ward Manager, e.g. Essence of Care.
• Take part in Unit meetings.
• Demonstrate prudent use of resources in (stores, disposable equipment).
• Demonstrate an awareness of resource procurement for the children in their care.
• Take part in effective partnership working to facilitate timely transfers and discharges of children in accordance with UHSussex policy.
• Liaise effectively with colleagues, the multi disciplinary team and other departments to enable timely management of patient throughput.
• Prioritise care and delegate duties to other staff as appropriate.
• Lead the shift on a regular basis and in the absence of a more senior nurse.
• Prioritise care and delegate duties to others as appropriate ensuring they are supervised taking into account knowledge, skills and abilities of others.

Education and Training

• Accept responsibility for maintaining own professional development.
• Attend statutory and mandatory training days as required by UHSussex.
• Maintain up to date knowledge on issues pertaining to child protection.
• Undertake further training to enable development of role.
• Take part in own appraisal and the mentorship of others.
• Provide a learning environment for other staff/children/carers with a requirement to supervise and assess students on ward placement.  (Undertake further competency based training in order to achieve this.)
• Teach and assess staff, students ,children and carers using a competency based framework following appropriate training.

Service Development

• Contribute to the implementation of the National Service Framework for Children.
• Take part in the UHSussex strategy for nursing.
• Adhere to Trust policies pertaining to Infection Control.
• Support people’s equality, diversity and rights in accordance with UHSussex policy.
• Complete locally agreed competency programme.
• Take part in the Essence of Care (Department Of Health).
• Contribute to the implementation of National Institute for Clinical Excellence guideline recommendations.
• Demonstrate an understanding of clinical governance.
• Adhere to UHSussex Core Values

Please see attached Job Description for full details