Newborn Hearing Senior Screener - INTERNAL

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

1.   Communication and Relationship Skills

·       Provide and receive routine information requiring tact or persuasive skills or with barriers to understanding e.g. give information to new parents shortly after birth about newborn hearing screening with sensitivity.

·       Information provided may need to be conveyed via an interpreter if dealing with foreign languages or deaf parents using British Sign Language.

·       Adapt communication style to ensure that parents receive the information required, but this is delivered sensitively taking into account their individual needs (e.g. cultural beliefs, surrogacy).

·       Provide results to parents about the outcome of the hearing screen and next stps; this may cause parents to become anxious and upset.

·       Ability to be empathetic when dealing with anxious parents e.g. babies in Special Care Baby Units (SCBU) or babies with special needs.

·       Liaise with other professions to obtain and convey information both within the hospital and community setting; e.g. confirming if baby is suitable for screening, identifying safeguarding issues that may affect the delivery plan, providing updates to GPs/Health Visitors on status/results of hearing screening at their request.

·       Build effective interpersonal relationships with colleagues in maternity units, SCBU and community clinic venues to support timely delivery.

·       Will ensure that screener colleagues are aware of the need to adopt barrier-nursing procedures when in receipt of information on patients who are an infection-risk.

·       Ability to provide constructive feedback to Screeners following individual Peer Review in a motivational and re-assuring manner.

·       Ability to convey to Screeners specific improvements which could be made to their screening technique in a sensitive and non-contentious manner and identify any training that may be required.

·       Feedback to local managers and Programme Co-ordinators on performance of screeners as part of the Peer Review process,  conducting this in a structured and constructive way, utilising a variety of communication mechanisms including verbal and via email.

·       Directly deliver training to new screeners as part of their induction, including providing direct and supportive feedback and documenting progress in the trainees log book.

·       Provide support and encouragement to other screeners undertaking the Level 3 Diploma.

2.   Knowledge, Training and Experience

• Successful completion of appropriate Level 4 qualification within 18 months in post.

·       Level 3 Fundamentals of Health Screening and NBHSW service specific diplomas

·       Willingness and commitment to undertake further in house or external training.

·       Good interpersonal and communication skills for communication with parents at a sensitive time.

·       Ability to liaise with health professions when conveying information both within the hospital and community setting.

·       Awareness of child protection issues and adhere to local procedures.

·       Awareness of infection control policies and procedures.

·       Ability to communicate with parent to elicit information.

·       Ability to organize and prioritise work.

·       Ability to work as a team and with a flexible approach to adapt to the constantly changing demands of the programme.

·       IT skills and competence in the use of the NBHSW IT package.

·        Organisational skills to arrange clinic appointments.

·       Ability to gather and accurately record clinical and test data relevant to the screening process.

·       Ability to fault find on screening equipment and take remedial action, including for equipment where Screeners have been unable to identify and resolve fault in line with local protocols.

·       Implementation of screening protocols.

·       Judge appropriate timing of screen e.g. to fit in with visitors and other procedures.

·       Knowledge and experience of post natal ward/SCBU processes in other hospital sites, in order to provide effective support to colleagues in training.

·       Maintain current knowledge and application of infection prevention and control policy and practice, through annual mandatory updates and role specific training which supports the maintenance of safe environments,  particularly in areas where clinical care is delivered.

·       Regularly undertake statutory and mandatory in-house training on a range of topics, ensuring that own compliance is maintained.

·       A commitment to life long learning and supporting screeners in achieving their learning

·       Mentoring and Assessing NBHSW screeners undertaking the Level 3 Diploma in Screening

Experience:

• Experience of working as a fully qualified Screener for a minimum of 6 months and undertaking screening tests and related administrative tasks to a high level of competency, as demonstrated by routine competency checks.
• Experience of the working patterns of all regional sites.
• Experience of working with parents.
• Experience of working with small babies.
• Experience of working as part of a team.
• Experience of working alongside health professionals.
• Experience of routine QA tests screening equipment.

3.   Analytical and Judgemental Skills

·       When carrying out Peer Review for screeners the post holder will be expected to make a judgement on their performance and when required draw up suggestions for remedial work in conjunction with local managers and Programme Co-ordinator.

·       When monitoring the progress of newly appointed screeners, the postholder will be expected to make a judgement on their performance, draw up suggestions for remedial work or consolidation of learning and feedback to local managers.

·       Will be expected to make judgements around faults with screening equipment and determine when to contact the equipment manufacturers following fault reporting procedures.

·       Complete technical QA of screening equipment

·       Will make a judgement from a range of options within tightly defined SOPPS, e.g. observe impedances on screening equipment to determine whether to pause/cease test.

·       Use judgement to prioritise screening delivery, e.g. decide order of babies screened and when to delay screening due to family dynamic/when baby is unsettled or unwell/when mum unwell.

·       Use judgement to confirm who has parental responsibility when seeking consent for screening.  Additionally, to assess whether the person consenting has demonstrated a full understanding of the screening process so that screening can continue or escalation is required (e.g. for mental capacity/best interest assessment).

·       Will liaise with Health Visitors, Social Services and other relevant individuals and agencies on senstive and confidential issues relating, for example, to child protection and adoption and fostering arrangements

·       Will liaise with SCBU to sort out day-to-day problems and will inform Newborn Screening Operations Manager when these require more strategic input.

4.   Planning and Organisational Skills

·       Plan and prioritise daily routine from multiple screening lists to ensure all eligible babies are accounted for, and monitoring/deferring screening for babies who are unsuitable (e.g. very premature babies on SCBU).

·       Plan daily travel arrangements to attend community visits on time, with correct equipment, consumables and records required.

·       Plan clinics - send out appointment letters and ensure room availability.

·       Plan community visits for screening colleagues to mothers in community.  Adjust plans/appointment arrangements if appointments are cancelled at short notice.

·       Plan shadow training for newly appointed screeners.

·       Plan rota to ensure screener cover is provided on wards and clinics at local sites and/or regional sites.  Ensure the inclusion of 1 day per week of protected time to complete Senior Screener (non screening delivery) duties.

·       Plan peer review schedules in conjunction with NSOM/ROM/ANSM/PC

·       It may be necessary to carry out peer reviews at other sites across Wales.  Therefore, travelling to other sites across Wales will be essential and the post holder, in conjuction with the ROM/Newborn Screening Operations Manager, will need to ensure/plan adequate screening cover at their base site during these times.

·       Lead on specific tasks as directed by the Programme Co-ordinator, Newborn Screening Operations Manager/ROM and/or Assistant Newborn Screening Manager.

5.   Physical Skills

·       Standard keyboard skills for entering data and producing appointment letters.

·       Ability to drive to community visits on a daily basis, transporting equipment.

·       Use of small equipment requiring a level of manual dexterity on a daily basis (e.g. placing earbud tips on hearing test equipment for babies).

·       Ability to travel to and work at other local regional sites and provide cross cover across Wales as and when required.