Job overview

The dermatology nurse specialist will function as part of the dermatology nursing team within the dermatology department under the supervision of a dermatology clinical lead.  The post holder will be responsible for the assessment and delivery of care needs within the nurse-led services specifically in biologics. The post holder will be required to teach, support and develop patients and junior staff as well as assist with the efficient running of the service. To ensure continuity of care, the post holder will follow-up patients in the outpatients’ clinics and where appropriate, refer into the community.

To undertake skilled and specialist support work with patients following guidelines which have been agreed and set by the British Association of Dermatology/ Royal College of Nursing in conjunction with the service management team.

To be responsible for own caseload (treatment/liaison/reports/MDT) progressing and amending treatment programs within agreed parameters as necessary. This may involve making clinical judgments.

Main duties of the job

•    To assist the dermatology team to provide a high-quality patient-centred service
•    Act as an ambassador to the trust at all times
•    Responsible for the assessment of care needs; development, implementation and evaluation of programmes of care.
•    Be responsible for the dermatological interventions for all those patients on your caseload, and work under indirect supervision. The more complex cases may require joint working with your senior colleague.
•    Implement the appropriate dermatological nursing intervention independently and supervise others in the role – allergy testing, Photodynamic therapy, Occlusive bandaging.
•    Provide and receive complex and/or sensitive information from patients and carers, i.e; breaking bad news, explaining complex procedures and expected outcomes.
•    Perform more complex elements of patient assessment from admission through to discharge. Plan and deliver high standards of care to individuals and groups of patients.
•    To demonstrate initiative and the ability to recognise/identify changes in a patient’s condition/treatment and report promptly to the senior registered nurse and medical staff as appropriate
•    Counsels, advises and educates patients/carers with dermatological conditions to facilitate coping strategies/lifestyle changes.
•    To accurately record all patient assessment, plans and intervention in the medical notes and on Cosmic
•    Ordering blood investigations, interpreting and acting on results

Working for our organisation

Our Organisation 
The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT) provides a full range of general acute, outpatient and diagnostic services at The Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, the Herts and Essex Hospital in Bishop’s Stortford, and St Margaret’s Hospital in Epping.
 
We employ 3,500 staff and serve a local population of around 350,000 people living in west Essex and east Hertfordshire, centred on the M11 corridor and the towns of Harlow, Bishop’s Stortford and Epping. Our extended catchment area incorporates a population of up to 500,000 and includes the areas of Hoddesdon, Cheshunt and Broxbourne in Hertfordshire.
 
Our Values
The Princess Alexandra Promise to our patients as identified by our 3 values which will contribute to improving our patient experiences:
 
Patient at heart – Always holding the patient and their wellbeing at the centre of our thoughts and efforts
 
Everyday excellence – Sharing and celebrating our successes, being honest when we get it wrong, giving us the ability to learn from both
 
Creative collaboration – Knowing strength comes from diversity, we combine our experiences, skills and talents, working together to find new and better ways to care
The Trust believes in investing in all our staff and rewarding high standards of care whilst building for excellence and in return we expect our staff to uphold the Trust values to the highest level.