Detailed job description and main responsibilities

1. Scope & Range

As per the NMC Code, operational responsibility for the day-to-day clinical management of the Unit and the safe running of the shift, ensuring mechanisms are in place to support, develop and monitor all aspects of care and service delivery.

To take the role of Nurse in Charge on a rota bases as allocated.

Oversee and deliver clinical practice within the designated clinical areas, ensuring that high quality evidence based nursing assessment, care planning, risk assessments, interventions and evaluations for patients is provided.

Being an accountable, candid and responsible point of contact and facilitator for clinical quality, collaboratively responsible for reporting, presenting and acting upon improvement actions (in accordance with internal, Care Quality Commission, Local Authority or Clinical Commissioning Group requirements).

Facilitate a learning environment that coaches and enables others to develop advanced clinical skills e.g. specialist assessment, planning, and evaluation for individuals with a Learning Disability and Autism.

Demonstrate competence in complex decision making, assessment and the management of clinical needs.

Monitor standards, conduct audits and lead innovative processes to improve quality and the operational management of the unit.

Ensuring the team works in accordance with organisational, regional and statutory guidelines, as well as best practice guidance as outlined in formal benchmarks or standards (e.g. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence etc.).

Mentor and teach as required with specific responsibility for the provision of leadership and clinical practice using a ‘just culture’, compassionate management and coaching approach as required to develop and maintain the skills required within a forensic environment.

To rotate and ensure others work with different service users to ensure maintenance of skills and to manage their own wellbeing. Qualified staff are allocated as named nurse for a service user, however, are responsible each shift for their own wellbeing of all of the service users.

2. Clinical Practice Leadership

Ability to administer medicine within relevant Trust and legislative guidance e.g. NMC Standards for Medicines.

Management 2010, the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, MHA 1983.Ensure all others apply these, to support safe practice.

Be a clinical Leader within the inpatient environment, responsible for the shift management and accountable for the quality of all clinical activity within the designated area working independently in the absence of senior management.

Confidential, sensitive and comprehensive, person-cantered assessment of the full range of patient safety and wellbeing needs (includes risk, behavioural and mental state assessments).

Work with the team to ensure that every service user has a SMART, person-centred, evidence-based and holistic care and treatment plan ensuring service users are supported to reach the optimum level of independence and that robust processes are in place to keep such plans under continual review.

Work with the team to ensure that service users are able to take an active role in the assessment, management and evaluation of their care and treatment plan, as well as all relevant risk and personal safety plans.

Enabling service users to be at the centre of their care, ensuring patient and carer participation in decision-making, and promoting health and independence through raising awareness and care navigation to other professionals as appropriate.

As directed, setting and maintaining high standards for the ordering, storing, administering, disposal and recording of service user medicines, including all assessment, monitoring and response requirements related to it (this will be informed by relevant AWP Trust Policies and national standards set by NMC, NICE and the Mental Health Act (1983/2007)).

Support the team to establish, embed and maintain a sustainable programme of psychosocially-informed therapeutic engagement, affording service user’s opportunities for connection, interpersonal understanding and shared personal learning.

Support the team to offer individualised care and treatment interventions based service users’ care plans.

Embed, audit and maintain high standards for clinical record keeping (progress notes, care planning and the full range of service user assessments), actively support team members to meet and build on these standards.

Address concerns, supporting people to resolve problems and overcome barriers effectively.

Using own specialist skills and knowledge, act as a conduit and translator of corporate clinical guidance for the team, actively translating policy and protocol guidance into the clinical setting. Protecting time for clinicians to engage actively with Trust and national policy related to clinical care delivery and safety.

3. Communication & Relationships

Communicate with individuals, carers and other visitors in a courteous and helpful manner, whilst being mindful that there may be barriers to understanding.

Demonstrate those inter-personal skills that promote clarity, compassion, empathy, respect and trust.

Many of the service users will present with wide variety of mental health conditions, which might result in distressing and emotional situations. The post holder will often be required to role model, lead and develop the team’s skills. Supporting the team when these demanding situations occur, utilising de-brief processes and other specialist support as required.

4. Culture of Reflective Learning, Development and Progression Objective

Embedding a reflective learning and development culture, in which team are encouraged to be curious, analytical and constructively critical in their work, providing regular advice and mentoring.

Support students, preceptors and new employees on the unit, utilising mentoring and buddy skills to enable full integration and welcome to the unit.

Ensuring team members have access to ongoing practice development activities in addition to their statutory and mandatory training – this may be in the form of formal learning programmes, or something more local / regional.

Recognize the ward’s function as an educational hub and centre of learning for nurses, occupational therapists, medics, physiotherapists, support workers, nursing associates, paramedics and many more.

Lead by example, motivating and empowering others and promoting positive attitudes, mutual understanding and collaboration between service users, carers and colleagues.

Promote and embed a sustainable culture of continuing professional development and everyday learning by ensuring all team members have access to rigorous formative and restorative clinical supervision and practice development support.

Treat all feedback from any source (e.g. service users, carers, visiting professionals, CQC, CCG etc.) as an invitation to review and maintain high standards, supporting the clinical team to be actively engaged with improvement as a day-to-day activity (i.e. not only in response to formal feedback).

Work within the spirit of everyday learning, and recording / evidencing of development activity for practitioner revalidation.

Form strong professional relationships with colleagues both within and beyond the locality, to ensure the inpatient clinical team is connected to the wider mental healthcare and/or learning disabilities care landscape, including attendance of, and participation in, relevant professional forums (these colleagues may include locality clinical, operational and subject-matter leads, Nursing & Quality, clinical networks, Learning & Development etc.).

For a full list of duties and responsibilities please see attached job description.