Cardiac Rehabilitation Practitioner- Harefield Hospital

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Main tasks and responsibilities

Patient/customer care (both direct and indirect)

• To be professionally and legally responsible for all aspects of your work, including the management of patients in your care.
  
  
• To be able to carry out and prioritise daily, your own designated clinical caseload, working as an autonomous practitioner, with regular supervision from your supervisor.
  
  
• Using clinical reasoning skills, be able to undertake competent re-assessments of patients completing exercise classes in line with department and professional standards. To discuss appropriate onwards exercise with patients prior to discharge.

• To assist senior colleagues in assessing routine patients as required.
• To follow departmental and trust policies with regards to documentation of all patient interventions and conversations.
  
  
• To use good communication skills to identify lifestyle goals with individual patients and to progress these as appropriate, with supervision in more complex situations.
  
  
• To use clinical reasoning, and understanding of the medical diagnosis and knowledge of treatment options to progress patients individual exercise programs following department and professional guidelines.
  
  
• Supervise patients using the cardiac rehabilitation gym or community site, ensuring that individualised exercise programmes are completed safely, observations are recorded accurately and appropriate changes are made for future classes.

• To be competent in giving exercise advice to routine patients in line with national recommendations, to explain rationale behind exercise advice and be able to prescribe appropriate home exercise for patients.

• To monitor patients home exercise programmes, with supervision of senior exercise professionals for more complex patients.
  
  
• To monitor and evaluate treatment to measure progress, and to ensure the effectiveness of the intervention.
  
  
• To be able to identify problems and modify treatments in routine cases but with support of senior staff in more complex cases.
  
  
• To determine the patients understanding of the exercise intervention in order to gain valid, informed consent and to be able to work within a legal framework with patients who lack capacity to consent to treatment.
  
  
• To assist in the cardiac rehabilitation classes under the supervision of a senior exercise professional and to lead routine classes (if appropriate based on qualifications) following successful completion of competences.

• To provide informal support and counselling to patients and their families with guidance from senior staff as appropriate.

• To provide education to patients both prior to discharge and during their outpatient rehabilitation sessions under the guidance of senior staff for more complex patients
  
  
• To keep and maintain comprehensive written/computer records of assessment and treatment according to department standards.

Service / Policy development 

2.0     To undertake evidence-based projects and propose improvements to service delivery and clinical practice.

2.1     To assist in updating department guidelines in conjunction with senior colleagues.

2.2     To comply with Trust clinical guidelines and your relevant professional codes of practice at all times.

2.3     To be responsible for personal Continued Professional Development (CPD) by the use of self education, reflective practice and active participation in the in-service training programme and to maintain a CPD portfolio in accordance with your relevant professional standards.

2.4     To be involved in the education of more junior staff, students and peers with the support of a senior colleagues.

2.5     To participate in the appraisal system as appraisee and be responsible for fulfilling agreed objectives and personal development plan.

2.6     To work towards completing ACPICR competences.

2.7     To attend mandatory training, manual handling, health and safety, immediate life support, infection control as specified in Trust and departmental policies.

2.8     To abide by the Trust’s core behaviours for staff and all other Trust policies including standing financial instructions, research governance, clinical governance, patient and public involvement, codes and practices, and health and safety policies.

People management

3.0     Be an active member of the cardiac rehabilitation department.

3.1     Be an active member of the rehab and therapies directorate.

3.2     To supervise assistants/assistant practitioners and assist students where appropriate.

3.3     To make appropriate referrals to other cardiac rehabilitation centres and to other members of the multidisciplinary team as appropriate, with guidance from senior colleagues.

Communication

4.0     To use a range of verbal and non-verbal communication tools when communicating with patients/carers to make the most of the patient’s rehabilitation potential. This will include communication with people with complex communication difficulties such as dysphasia, deafness or speaking English as a second language or who have difficulty accepting their diagnosis.

4.2     To maintain close working relationships with all members of the cardiac rehabilitation team.

4.3     To talk to relevant medical staff and other health care professionals who may be in direct contact with the post holder with regard to patient care.

• To meet with other professionals as necessary to discuss patient care.

4.5     To attend relevant meetings as required.

4.6     To contact cardiac rehabilitation/exercise instructors outside the Trust to ensure a smooth discharge plan where appropriate

4.7     To report all complaints and adverse clinical incidents to the immediate senior member of staff as soon as possible and document accordingly. This should help the development of clinical reasoning and coping strategies for different clinical situations

4.8     Participate in regular supervision sessions.

Resource management

5.0     To be responsible for safely using exercise equipment, inducting patients to it’s safe use, and reporting any problems with the equipment to senior colleagues in a timely manner. 

Information management

6.0     To provide comprehensive written/computer records of assessment and treatment according to department standards.

6.1     To keep up to date with, and provide accurate data required for collection of performance indicators and other statistical information as required, in consultation with senior staff.

Other duties

To undertake any other duties commensurate with the grade as requested.