District Nurse - (Band 7)

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

GENERAL DUTIES:                               

Clinical Responsibilities 
*    Provide quality clinical assessment and reassessment of need and plan care to ensure 
    individual patient care is met within the home environment.
*    Enable patients with complex care needs and their carers to develop their knowledge and understanding about their health and well-being and to be as self-managing as possible.
*      To liaise with medical and nursing colleagues and workers in other statutory and voluntary organisations for the benefit of the patient and their family.
*    To be aware of the needs of the patient and his/her family, and liaise with medical and nursing colleagues and workers in other statutory and voluntary organisations for the benefit of the patient and their family.
*    Participate in the development of support worker roles to meet the care needs of patients and service users, and in the allocation of Individual Clinical Skills.  Support and encourage staff to undertake National Vocational Qualifications.
*    Ensure completion of patient records in accordance with NMC guidelines for record keeping for End of Life Strategy to promote continuity of care and ensure a quality service is delivered.
*    Comply with the requirements of the Caldicott Report, the Data Protection Act, Access to Health Records Act and subsequent legislation issued in relation to confidential data.  Ensure staff practice in accordance with these guidelines.
*    Maintain awareness of care developments to enable the continued provision of quality care.  Participate in clinical benchmarking, for example using the ‘Essence of Care’ toolkit, ensuring examples of good practice is shared.
*    Develop working relationships between Primary and Secondary care to provide coordinated quality care.
*    To interpret to the patient and family (after consultation with the Medical Practitioner and District Nurse) the implications of the medical diagnosis and reasons for treatment.

Management / Leadership Responsibilities
*    Monitor, identify and profile the overall health needs of the community
*    Provide nursing support for trained staff and support workers within the team.
*    Demonstrating effective working relationships and communications, between all grades of staff and professional groups, working within a multi-disciplinary team.
*    Initiate and support developments in practice to reflect the health needs of patients, the Local Delivery Plan (LDP) and the wider modernisation agenda.  .
*    Contribute to planning and delivering service improvements, and to explore new and innovative ways of working together across organisational boundaries to deliver patient focused services.
*    Ensure developments are supported in practice through the development and dissemination of policies, protocols and clinical guidelines.
*    Encourage and support staff to seek the views of patients and the public regarding service provision.
*    Address the concerns of patients and service users, and respond to their suggestions for local quality improvements.  Participate in the management of complaints through local resolution and in accordance with the Trust complaints procedure, liaising with the Team Leader, Community Services Manager, Complaints Manager and PAL’s co-ordinator where appropriate.
*    Maintain a safe working environment, being aware of the necessity to comply with Health & Safety regulations.  Support the Team Leader to ensure risk assessments are undertaken and documented in accordance with Trust procedures.
*    Promote a risk-aware culture within the team, ensuring all staff are aware of and understand the Trust Risk Management Procedures.  Participate in ensuring the seven pillars of clinical governance underpin current services and service developments.
*    Ensure risk incidents are reported in accordance with Trust procedures, and agree actions with appropriate members of the team in response to these.
*    Ensure equipment held within the team is maintained according to manufacturer’s specifications and necessary repairs are undertaken.  Support the Team Leader in ensuring staff and service users are trained and supervised where appropriate in the correct use of equipment.
*    Ensure appraisals and personal development planning takes place in accordance with knowledge and skills framework and relevant Trust policy.  

Education and Training
*    Promote a positive learning environment.  Facilitate and participate actively in teaching programmes for qualified staff, students and other members of the multi-disciplinary team.
*    Promote and lead evidence-based practice and assist staff in the utilization of research to support patient care.  Support and encourage staff to undertake research, audit and project work, alerting people to findings and implications.
*    Develop own clinical and professional skills through the identification of performance objectives with the Team Leader, and engage in the continuing personal development planning.  Participate in performance review and appraisal utilising the Knowledge and Skills Framework and online tool.
*    Support Team Leader in utilisation of information from staff appraisals and personal     development plans to ensure future training and service needs are recognised.
*    Support staff to receive appropriate educational opportunities in line with their personal development plan, and promote a culture of continuous professional development through lifelong learning.  Ensure staff receive mandatory training in accordance with Trust policy.
*    Support the Team Leader in the implementation of practice developments such as the CNO’s 10 key roles, where appropriate.