Band 5 Recovery Nurse

NHS; Greater London; On-site; GBP 37,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Theatre nurse to oversee recovery unit care and contribute to peri-operative patient management in London. You will assess, develop, implement and evaluate nursing care for recovering patients within a busy unit.

The post holder will supervise and teach junior staff, ensuring high standards while working with a supportive multi-disciplinary team. A full shift pattern including nights and weekends is required.

Qualifications

• Registered Nurse on the NMC register.
• Evidence of post-registration professional development.
• ODP qualification.

Responsibilities

• The post holder is responsible for the assessment of care, development, implementation and evaluation of the care given to patients within the Recovery Unit.
• Is expected to supervise and demonstrate their skills to new and junior members of the staff.
• Assist with the efficient running of the Recovery Unit

Skills

Theatre nursing

NMC Code knowledge

Patient confidentiality

Teamwork

Education

Registered Nurse on the NMC register

Evidence of recent and ongoing professional development

ODP

Job description

Our current vacancies

If you want to be part of the Royal Free London team, search our current vacancies below to find the job for you.

Site Hadley Wood Hospital Town High Barnet Salary £36,943 - £44,900 per annum inclusive of HCAS (pro rata) Salary period Yearly Closing 04/10/2026 23:59

Our trust has over 17,000 staff serving 2 million patients every year. It comprises Barnet Hospital, Chase Farm Hospital, the Royal Free Hospital, North Middlesex University Hospital and more than 30 services in the community. This larger scale organisation provides an unprecedented opportunity for us to continue our pioneering work, particularly in finding ways to deliver even better care to our patients.

Our mission is to deliver world class care and expertise in our clinical services, underpinned by world class teaching and research and we will continue to measure our progress against our five governing objectives: excellent outcomes, excellent patient and staff experience, excellent value for taxpayers’ money, being safe and meeting our external duties, and building a strong organisation.

Everyone is welcome at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. We're proud of our diversity and we continue to undertake new initiatives to advance equality for LGBT+, BME, gender equality, staff carers and people with disabilities and lived experiences to promote good relations and understanding between our staff.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a set of technology that can perform various tasks that typically required human intelligence. Your application is your opportunity to demonstrate to us how you meet the requirements of the role. We recognise that AI tools can support accessibility, equity and confidence for applicants.However, it’s important that examples and responses genuinely reflect your own experience and abilities, as these will be explored further during the selection process. AI must not be used to provide misleading or false information during any stage of the application journey. Further guidance can be found in the NLPSS Applicant Toolkit https://royalfree.pagetiger.com/cuuomnr/1 .

Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust is committed to ensuring that its recruitment processes are carried out with integrity, transparency, and fairness for all applicants. To help maintain these standards, we ask candidates to provide accurate and truthful information throughout the recruitment process.

If incorrect or misleading information is identified, this may affect the progression of an application, any employment offer, or continued employment. As part of our due diligence, the company may verify the information provided by applicants and take appropriate act ion where necessary.

We do not charge applicants any fees at any stage of the recruitment process, including applications, interviews, sponsorship arrangements, pre-employment checks, or employment offers. All vacancies are advertised through TRAC/NHS Jobs and candidates are assessed solely on their skills, qualifications, experience, and suitability for the role. If you are asked to make a payment in connection with an NHS job opportunity, please treat this as suspicious and contact the organisation directly using the details published on our official career's website

The postholder will be expected to consistently demonstrate behaviours aligned to the Trust’s shared commitments, embedding compassion, inclusion, integrity and excellence in their day-to-day practice.

He / she is expected to supervise and teach unqualified staff
with the support and supervision of more senior members of
the team.

He / she is expected to develop the skills needed for patient
care within the peri-operative area.

Main duties of the job

The post holder is responsible for the assessment of care, development,
implementation and evaluation of the care given to patients within the Recovery Unit.

Is expected to supervise and demonstrate their skills to new and junior members of the staff.

Assist with the efficient running of the Recovery Unit

Working for our organisation

The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK’s biggest and most innovative trusts. Across four main hospitals, our dedicated army of staff care for over 1.6 million patients, treat more than 200,000 in A&E, deliver over 8,000 babies and carry out more than 17 million tests.

Our size, scale and influence offer you unrivalled career opportunities and a forward-thinking approach to working that works around your lifestyle. From flexible hours and generous benefits, to next level training, we make it easier to take your career to the top.

For more information please follow link https://www.royalfreelondonjobs.co.uk/

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see attached Job Description for more information about this role and working at royal free London NHS foundation Trust

Person specification

Education & Professional Qualifications

• Evidence of recent and ongoing professional development
• Registered Nurse on the NMC register. Holds appropriate level for the area of specialty
• Registered Nurse / ODP

Skills and aptitudes

• Awareness of clinical issues within the theatre department
• Aware of developments within profession
• Able to work as part of a team within set boundaries
• Demonstrates a genuine interest and has awareness of issues in specialty
• Knowledge of the NMC Code of Professional Conduct
• Awareness of current nursing and NHS issues
• Excellent verbal, written and interpersonal communication skills
• Evidence of working cooperatively in a multi-disciplinary team
• Ability to work with minimal supervision
• Knowledge and understanding of confidentiality

Others

• Ability to work full shift pattern including rotation, nights, twilight shifts, weekends & bank holidays as relevant to area

Royal Free Shared Commitments

• Demonstrable ability to meet the Trust shared commitments.

Experience

• Experience of theatre nursing
• Post registration experience working in an acute hospital setting
• Experience working with acutely ill patients
• Evidence of teaching and assessing
• Ability to utilise pre registration

Personal qualities and attributes

• Flexible and adaptive to changing situations
• Willing to develop perioperative practice
• Highly motivated towards theatre nursing
• Maintain professional image / attitude at all times
• Patient centred in all aspects, acts as an advocate for patient
• Non-judgmental attitude
• Ability to accept criticism constructively/aware of limitations
• Ability to cope with highly pressurized environment within area of specialty
• AT* - Apprenticeship Training. Where AT* is entered next to the job title indicates that this vacancy is for an apprenticeship role.
• By applying for this role, you accept if successful, that your personal data may be transferred from the Trust to another NHS organisation where your employment transfers within the NHS.This is in accordance with the streamlining programme which aims at saving you time and improving efficiencies within the NHS when your employment transfers.Therefore we require you to complete your stat and Man e-learning modules prior to joining our organisation.
• If you are an EU/EEA citizen who does not have EU Settlement or Pre-Settled status, you will require a visa to work in the UK.
• You must already have the right to work in the United Kingdom or fully meet the eligibility criteria for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker visa route. We welcome applications from candidates who require visa sponsorship; however, we can only consider these where all UKVI requirements are met. Before applying, please ensure that both you and the role satisfy the relevant UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) points‑based system criteria, as applications that do not meet these requirements cannot be progressed. For more information about the criteria, please click here
• If you are offered a role with one of the NLPSS partner trusts, as part of pre-employment checks youridentity and right to work documentation will be verifiedremotely (in most circumstances), using a certified identity verification service provider TrustID. You will be asked to capture an image of the relevant documents as well as a “selfie” using your smartphone/tablet (if available) for facial matching. TrustID will also perform a digital address check using Trunarrative and Equifax, which is a soft check and does not leave a footprint on your credit rating. For more information, visit www.trustid.co.uk
• The Trust uses electronic new starter forms on Trac to collect personal details. Information collected is securely stored and used to set up the employee record on the ESR HR system.
• The Trust will request a DBS(CRB) if post involves regulated activities. The Trust is compliant with the Disclosure and Barring Service Codes of practice and the Rehabilitation of offenders act.
• By applying for this post you are agreeing to Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.
• Please be aware of scams – unless specified above, we will only communicate with you via @recruit.trac.jobs or nhs.net e-mails and we will never ask you for any payments.

Applications are welcome from people wishing to job share or work flexible patterns. We are committed to equal opportunities.

Please note:

• Due to the high number of applications that are received for some posts we may close this vacancy before the advertised closing date.
• Only those candidates who clearly demonstrate how they meet the person specification will be shortlisted for this job.
• Interview arrangements will be communicated via email so please check your email regularly following the closing date.

Please be advised that due to exceptionally high demand, all Royal Free accommodation is at full capacity and waiting lists are being held. Average waiting times are 12 months. Please do not rely on Trust accommodation when you commence your role and ensure you investigate alternative accommodation for your arrival.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Application numbers

This vacancy may close early if it receives a high number of applications.