Staff Nurse Band 5

Tobe responsible for the delivery of the highest standards of specialistpalliative care, support and advice to patients.

Main duties of the job

Having knowledge of, and abide by, the NMCCode: Standards of conduct, performance,and ethics for nurses and midwives.

To maintain confidentiality in respect ofinformation concerning patients and their relatives at all times.

To effectively assess, plan, implement, andevaluate the care for each allocated patient as determined by thenurse-in-charge.

To ensure effective communications with theMedical Team and other health care professionals when providing individualisednursing care.

To ensure effective communications with theClinical Director

To set the highest possible standards of careconsidering the holistic needs of the patient and his/her family/carer.

About us

Willowbrook Hospice is a purpose built independent hospice opened in 1997. It is an adult hospice caring for patients with specialist palliative care needs, serving the community of St Helens and Knowsley. It was built with the support of local people.

Willowbrook hospice is not just a building, it is a way of caring for people. The Hospice works to improve the lives of people who have a life-limiting or terminal illness, helping them to live well before they die.

Willowbrook Hospice not only takes care of peoples physical needs but looks after their emotional, spiritual and social needs as well. It also supports carers, family members and close friends, both during a persons illness and in bereavement.

Job responsibilities

To develop specialist knowledge toprovide advice and counselling skills to patients and carers on the holisticneeds which arise with terminal illness.

To ensure the needs of the bereaved arefully met by the most appropriate individual or external agencies ifrequired.

To participate in areas of nursingresearch and be able to apply the findings of pertinent research and nursingpractice, to the workplace.

To adhere to and ensure that therequirements are achieved.

To demonstrate organisational/timemanagement skills relevant to the position.

To be able to recognise and respond tostress and anxiety in self, colleagues and volunteers.

To deal promptly and sensitively withcomplaints, resolving where possible, and referring to the Senior Nurse incharge.

To liaise with all externalorganisations as appropriate in undertaking care management of patients.

To have knowledge of current Fire andHealth and Safety Policies and ensure they are practiced correctly.

To be actively involved with staffmeetings, working parties and liaison with voluntary and multi-professionalservices as required.

To participate in discussions duringmulti-professional ward meetings presenting patients as appropriate.

To be involved and have knowledge ofaudit and continuous quality improvement.

To ensure that all Hospice supplies areused effectively and economically at all times.

To maintain a personal commitment to theexpansion and development of professional skills and knowledge in line withNMC requirements and those developments related to annual individualperformance review, taking ownership for own development needs.

Understand and comply with the policiesand practices of the organisation.

The post holder will observe theorganisations No Smoking policy.

You are required on an annual basis toattend and comply with the mandatory training requirements, plus any othertraining as deemed appropriate.

Maintainconfidentiality in respect of all information

To be an effectiverepresentative of Willowbrook Hospice and to act at all times in aprofessional manner, promoting a positive company image.

Undertake any other dutieswhich commensurate with the post at the request of the IPU Manager or otherWillowbrook Hospice Manager.

This is an outline of the post holdersduties and responsibilities. It is notintended as an exhaustive list and may change from time to time in order tomeet the changing needs of Willowbrook Hospice.

It is the responsibilityof all employees to support Willowbrooks vision of promoting a positiveapproach to diversity and equality of opportunity, to eliminatediscrimination and disadvantage in service delivery and employment, and tomanage, support or comply through the implementation of Equality &Diversity Strategies and Policies.

It is the responsibilityof all employees to work with managers to achieve a healthy and safeenvironment, and to take reasonable care of themselves and others. The postholder must safeguard the welfare of patients, visitors, staff andvolunteers in accordance with Health & Safety regulations under theHealth & Safety At Work Act 1974.

The prevention and control of infectionis the responsibility of everyone who is employed by WillowbrookHospice. Employees must be aware ofinfection control policies, procedures and the importance of protecting themselvesand others in maintaining a clean and healthy environment.

This post is subject to anenhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and iscovered by the Exceptions Order of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

Person Specification Personal Attributes

• Able to take initiative and lead by example in a professional role
• Able to interact with other members of the multidisciplinary team
• Demonstrate a flexible and adaptable approach
• Able to be self-reliant and motivated
• Be committed to developing self
• Able to encourage and enhance performance in others
• Able to act calmly and thoughtfully in stressful situations

Skills

• Able to communicate effectively with patients, carers, families, and care professionals in difficult situations
• High standard of record keeping
• A good level of IT literacy, with the ability to learn new computer skills
• Able to reflect upon clinical skills
• Possess empathy skills
• Able to undertake full internal rotation of shifts and work flexible hours to meet service needs.
• Physical capability of performing the role and carrying out responsibilities required by the duties of this post. This includes the wearing of personal protective equipment
• Counselling skills
• Experience of Clinical audit

Qualifications

• Foundation course-specialist palliative care / end of life care
• Spiritual Care Training
• Bereavement Training

Experience

• Genuine interest in Palliative Care
• Ability to demonstrate development of clinical expertise in symptom control
• Committed to furthering professional skills & development
• Clinically up to date in general nursing care
• Experience of working in a multi-professional team
• Understanding of the nature of palliative nursing
• Knowledge of clinical governance requirements
• Ability to deputise effectively for Senior Staff Nurse
• 12 months post registration experience as Staff Nurse
• Experience working with volunteers

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.