Dermatology Senior Nurse Manager

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Professional/Clinical

Provide sound clinical leadership and develop standards and support mechanisms for sharing high quality practice within the department and Trust wide.

Ensure that staffing levels are appropriate to patient and departmental need by adjusting duty rotas and developing proposals for changes to skill mix and staff establishments accordingly to run an effective quality service.

Prioritise and delegate workload appropriately whilst monitoring and assessing performance, as well as the work of individuals and teams.

Provide visible, effective clinical leadership and management which foster teamwork across professional and organisational boundaries.

Support the clinical governance leads within the Division by contributing to the development and maintenance of governance processes i.e. investigation of clinical incidents, risk management, policies and procedures.

To have a thorough understanding of immunosuppressive, biological and systemic therapies used within dermatology disease management, including psoriasis, eczema, acne and urticaria.

To provide biologic and systemic therapy monitoring by undertaking clinical assessments of disease activity in dermatology patients, including PASI, EASI, UAS, DLQI and PEST scoring, ensuring timely recording in patient care records and ensuring ongoing monitoring or patients’ eligibility criteria is met.

To respond to queries from patients in regard to biologic and systemic therapies, including delivery of repeat injections and issues relating to efficacy and safety, such as interruptions of treatment at times of inter current illness or prior to planned surgery.

To provide holistic care to all patients, assessing the wider implications of their disease and therapies and supporting patients accordingly.

To recruit, input and monitor patients onto BADBIR where eligible criteria are met.

To liaise and refer patients to other members of the multidisciplinary team, including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, podiatry, dietician and the quit smoking team.

Be competent in assessing patients’ pre biologic therapy. To co-ordinate and undertake screening tests for co-morbidities (such as tuberculosis) and interpret and act on results, in liaison with clinical colleagues.

Advise on disease and symptom management for patients within the speciality, in an outpatient setting. Evaluate response to interventions and cascade to relevant colleagues.

Support patients to self-manage their condition where deemed appropriate. Provide education for those who will need guided support to self-manage and those who will need ongoing face to face support. Be responsible for educating and teaching patients to safely self-administer injection therapies when necessary.

Identify and use educational strategies to deliver information to patients and carers. Participate in the development of patient focused education including training to support self-management and health promotion activities.

Ensure a smooth transition through the systemic therapies to biologics (according to NICE guidelines).

To keep up to date with newly licensed therapies through continuing professional development, including research. Undertake clinical competencies relevant to this specialist service and demonstrate expertise through NMC revalidation and at yearly appraisal.

To oversee recording of patients initiated onto high cost record ‘blue teq’. Review process yearly and attend high cost drug meetings if requested.

To communicate regularly with the high cost drug pharmacist and Biologic Lead Consultant to ensure that cost effective prescribing practices and being adhered to and proactively sought.

Support the Head of Nursing and General Manager in the management and investigation of complaints and concerns identified in their area of responsibility supporting changes in practice as required.

To act as a role model and work within legislation and Trust procedures, ensuring the compliance of all staff working within the unit.

To demonstrate politeness, courtesy and sensitivity in dealing with patients /clients, visitors/relatives and colleagues, maintaining good customer relations.

Manage own workload autonomously, providing assessment, diagnosis, treatment and information for patients.

Manage Finance

Secure effective resource allocation for departments activities and quality initiatives, including the updating of departmental capital and revenue equipment replacement plans at regular intervals to maintain continuity of service.

Monitor and control the use of department’s resources by ensuring that costs are contained within allocated budgets whilst achieving maximum value for money on all expenditures and implement a robust system for exception reporting. Monitor and control the use of department’s resources by ensuring that costs are contained within allocated budgets whilst achieving maximum value for money on all expenditures and implement a robust system for exception reporting.

Manage Strategy

Promote the organisation’s Trust values and annual objectives, with particular reference to the Divisional business objectives, service strategies and developments.

Contribute to the creation, implementation and evaluation of the Divisional service plans by reviewing performance against organisational objectives, identifying cost pressures and exceptions and proposing service developments to the Divisional Management Team.

Contribute to the implementation and evaluation of Divisional service strategies and contracts by establishing systems to monitor performance at departmental level.

Manage People

Work at all times within the NMC Professional Code of Conduct for nurses taking accountability for professional action and ensure that other nurses within Dermatology do the same.

Ensure nurse practice in the dermatology service is in line with trust requirements.

Lead, negotiate, supervise, participate in, and manage nurse-led clinic services in relation to the specialty.

Participate in the training and assessment of dermatology nursing staff, ensuring competency in line with agreed trust documentation

Assess and monitor risk in own and others practice and challenge practice where appropriate.

Exercise sound leadership and inspire colleagues, to improve standards and quality and to develop professional practice.

Be aware of and keep up to date with current dermatology research and nursing practice issues in general.

Take a leading role in the application of evidence-based practice within the specialty in conjunction with relevant professional colleagues.

Recruit and select staff by defining future personnel requirements, determining specifications to secure quality people, and assessing and selecting candidates against Trust Values and organisational requirements.

Develop and implement accessible clinical supervision for all staff.

Monitor and evaluate sickness/absence trends and act accordingly in line with Trust policies and procedures.

Work collaboratively with the Human Resources Department to proactively manage poor attendance, lateness, capability and performance issues in line with Trust policies and procedures.

Develop individuals and self to enhance performance to achieve organisational objectives and divisional service strategies.

Plan, allocate and evaluate work carried out by individuals and self. Undertake role mapping to establish the levels of competence for all grades of department staff.  Develop and implement a performance appraisal system supported by a dynamic development programme to meet staff training needs.

Create maintain and enhance effective working relationships by involving and informing staff of service developments, performance against actual plans, and future plans – honestly, timely and sensitively.

Ensure staff comply with Trust policies and procedures at all times and take appropriate disciplinary action to deal with staff who disregard these obligations in the course of their employment.

Develop and maintain a robust system for checking professional registration of nursing staff on appointment and annually thereafter comply with Trust policy.

Attend Trust and Directorate management meetings ensuring that essential information is cascaded to staff at department meetings and that staff concerns and good ideas are acted upon

Manage Information

Maintain records of patient information ensuring they are written in an accurate, legible and timely manner according to Trust policies, procedures and guidelines ensuring relevant clinical findings, decisions made, information given to the patient and any treatment, drugs or dressing prescribed are documented.

Update patient information leaflets effectively involving the public and users of the service.

Co-ordinate the review, development and audit of research-based policies within area of responsibility working with the relevant professional colleagues.

Seek, evaluate and organise information for action by analysing data relating to utilisation of resources, identifying work flow patterns and making recommendations to effect changes to meet service demands within existing constraints.

Exchange information to solve problems and make decisions by networking with wards / departments within and outside the Division and the Trust.

For full details of the duties associated with this role, please see attached Job Description.