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Job summary

Main area
Intensive Crae
Grade
Band 6
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Part time - 24 hours per week (Long Days / Nights / Weekends / Weekdays / Bank Holidays)
Job ref
249-7416099
Employer
Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Great Western Hospital
Town
Swindon
Salary
£38,682 - £46,580 per annum pro rata
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
24/09/2025 23:59

Employer heading

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust logo

Critical Care Sister / Charge Nurse

Band 6

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is a unique organisation, serving as the sole integrated provider in the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon, and Wiltshire system. Our scope extends beyond boundaries as we oversee adult community services in Swindon and provide acute care from the Great Western Hospital. 

Our 5,500 staff have 1.2m patient contacts a year, with 13,000 operations carried out in our Theatres, around 4,000 babies born, and our emergency attendances are now well over 100,000 per year. Those numbers only tell part of our story about what an exciting time it is to join Great Western Hospitals.

We are cultivating a culture that fosters our ambitions, prioritising equality, diversion, inclusion, wellbeing, and leadership. We aim to create an environment where every member of our team can truly thrive.

The Trust is a Disability Confident Employer; all applicants who have a disability can opt to be considered under the guaranteed interview scheme, which means that, providing they meet the minimum essential criteria for the post, they will be offered an interview. We are also proudly accredited as a Veteran Aware organisation and have signed The Armed Forces Covenant.

If we receive a high volume of applications, we may close adverts prior to the published closing date. Therefore, we advise you to complete and submit your application as soon as possible.

Job overview

Part time - 24 hours per week

This is an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic, experienced, motivated nurse to develop leadership and management skills. 

As a senior member of the Critical care unit team you will be required to co-ordinate the safe delivery of care, daily, to critically ill patients.

The CCU Band 6 sister will be a role model who acts as a clinical expert practitioner providing specialist knowledge and advises nurses, medical staff and other members of the multidisciplinary team working within the critical area. As a 24-hour service provider the post holder is expected to work autonomously, coordinating and managing a defined clinical area without direct supervision ensuring the safe delivery of specialist treatment.

 

Main duties of the job

The post holder will have overall accountability and responsibility for the clinical area when in charge of a shift.

You will  have a specific interest in clinical practice development and in collaboration with the Clinical Educators; you will support staff to develop essential clinical skills and expertise within the intensive care unit.

You will ensure that fundamental needs for individual patients are met and that care is evaluated using evidenced based practice. Participate in operational and strategic development for the clinical area by attending unit and Trust wide meetings and act as a representative of CCU throughout the Trust in Trust champion roles.

Recognise the deteriorating patient and take the lead in the absence of the medical practitioner to ensure appropriate treatment and intervention is undertaken to stabilise the deteriorating patient until medical help is available.

 

Working for our organisation

Our STAR values – Service, Teamwork, Ambition and Respect – are a golden thread running through everything we do. These values serve as a guiding principle, driving us towards our vision of delivering great joined up services to our local community. Whether at home, in the community, or within the hospital, our goal is to empower individuals to lead independent and healthier lives.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

  • Use advanced communication skills to impart sensitive, complex and potentially distressing information to patients and carers providing emotional support, advice and information as appropriate. To provide support and expertise to colleagues when dealing with highly emotional or distressing clinical situations.
  • In partnership with other senior grades, produce, contribute and comment on relevant policies and guidelines and implement them into our own area.
  • Undertake/supervise specific projects/audits related to the professional development of nursing and the care of CCU patients. Assist in the collection of data required for local and national audit.
  • Work in conjunction with external management teams to ensure that all emergency and elective patients are admitted in a timely manner, based on clinical priority so that treatment is commenced promptly. To be responsible for actively managing patient flow within CCU, resolving short-term resource conflicts as they arise.
  • Review and update the live e-roster, allocation and skill mix on a daily basis and make appropriate changes to maintain adequate skill mix and unit cover.

Please see the attached job description for full information. 

 

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • First Level registration
  • Intensive Care Course or equivalent
  • Teaching and Assessing qualification / Mentors & Assessors course
  • Immediate Life Support
  • Paediatric Life Support
  • Management of the critically ill child course or equivalent experience
  • Leadership ability, organised, self-motivated, able to motivate others, innovative and the ability to manage change
Desirable criteria
  • Management Training
  • Relevant Diploma/Degree
  • Advanced life support

Experience

Essential criteria
  • In depth experience in a General Intensive Care unit.
  • Clinical expertise e.g. invasive monitoring and haemofiltration, management of critically ill child.
  • Experience of being the Nurse in Charge and management of a shift on a regular basis on CCU
  • Knowledge and experience of managing resources i.e., people and materials.
  • Experience or sound knowledge of human resources e.g. sickness, appraisal.
  • Demonstrated ability to support colleagues.
Desirable criteria
  • Completion of the unit “Management Development Programme”
  • Experience in writing protocols, guidelines, policies, clinical competencies
  • Proven leadership and management experience in critical care

Employer certification / accreditation badges

NHS Pastoral Care Quality AwardVeteran AwareApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyPositive about disabled peopleAge positiveDisability confident leaderInvestors in People: Goldhttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/kickstart-scheme-employer-resources/kickstart-scheme-brand-guidelinesStonewall equality policy. Equality and justice for lesbians, gay men, bisexual and trans people.Step into healthArmed Forces Covenant

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Emma Shaw
Job title
Critical Care Unit Manger
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
01793607111
Additional information

For further information or to arrange an informal visit please contact:

Emma Shaw – Critical Care Unit Manager

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: 01793 607054

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