Band 6 Sister/Charge Nurse

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Luton; Hybrid; GBP 34,000 - 46,000; Full time

Job summary

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Deputy for the Senior Sister to support clinical leadership in a busy neonatal/intensive care setting. You will supervise and teach nursing and student staff, ensuring adherence to NMC guidelines and Trust policies while fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

You will work with a multidisciplinary team, manage care plans from admission to discharge, and participate in developing tools to improve clinical services across the

Qualifications

• Assess care needs and develop, implement and evaluate programmes of care.
• Supervise and teach staff and students to uphold best practice.
• Work with the MDT and comply with Trust policies and procedures.

Responsibilities

• Take responsibility for assessment of care needs and develop care plans from admission to discharge.
• Lead and participate in setting goals and benchmarking standards of care with staff.
• Disseminate knowledge and share best practice across the unit and Trust.
• Ensure safe use of equipment and maintain accurate documentation.
• Lead on 24 hour cover planning and respond to staffing issues as needed.

Skills

Clinical leadership

Teaching and mentoring

Communication skills

Acute clinical skills

Staff supervision

Education

First level qualification

Current NMC registration

ENB 405 or equivalent

ENB 997/8 or equivalent

CPD awareness

Job description

The post holder is designated deputy for the Senior Sister and is expected to support the Senior Sister in achieving the directorate’s aim and objectives.

The post holder will have excellent clinical skills and knowledge of intensive care, high dependency and special care of the newborn

The post holder will be responsible for the appropriate deployment and teaching of staff and/or students, liaising with other agencies and ensuring that trust polices and procedures are adhered to.

The post holder is responsible for the assessments of the care needs, the development, implementation and evaluation of care without supervision and is required to supervise and teach other nursing and non-nursing staff, acting as a clinical role model.

The post holder will also regularly take charge of the clinical area.

Main duties of the job

Clinical Responsibilities

To take responsibility for the assessment of care needs, development, implementation and evaluation of programmes of care within a family centred partnership, from admission through to discharge, to ensure smooth transition from hospital to home.

To support the Senior Nurse and take a leading role in developing with staff a mechanism for setting goals and benchmarking standards of care. To help and participate in developing tools to improve the quality of clinical services across the department through evidenced based practice.

Disseminate knowledge, experience and expertise to all within the work place inorder to create a culture of sharing best practice.

Support systems for sharing good practice within the Unit, Trust and wider region

To maintain accountability and comply with the NMC Guidelines, local and trust policies e.g. medical equipment policy, medicine policy etc

To be able to work and understand the equipment used on the Unit, including the cleaning of medical equipment and correct reporting of faulty equipment according to the Trust Medical Equipment Policy

To provide professional advice regarding the development and provision ofClient care within the Unit to qualified and unqualified staff

Please see JD and PS for more information.

Working for our organisation

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides hospital services to a growing population of around 700,000 people living across Bedfordshire and the surrounding areas across two busy hospital sites in Bedford and Luton. Both hospital sites offer key services such as A&E, Obstetrics-led Maternity and Paediatrics. You will be joining a friendly, high performing Trust committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of staff. As one of the largest NHS Trusts in our region you will have access to a programme of high quality training and development to help you grow your career. The Trust continues to be committed to delivering the best patient care using the best clinical knowledge and technology available.

Our values

We not only recruit based on qualifications and experience - we recruit individuals who demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our Trusts core values. We achieve this by using values based recruitment. We are dedicated to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone, we are committed to promoting equality and diversity, and creating a culture that values differences.

Please note that vacancies may close prior to the advertised closing date when sufficient number of applications have been received. All new staff will be subject to a probationary period covering first 6 months in post. Travel between hospital sites may be required. Please review all documents attached to ensure you familiarize yourself with all requirements of the job

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Managerial Responsibilities

To lead by example and act as a role model to motivate and maintain moral and good team working.

To organize staff to meet the workload within the department with anappropriate skill mix to ensure 24 hour cover, and manage unexpected staffingissues effectively.

To be aware of the Unit’s resources, ensuring safe and economical use required meeting patient needs and evaluation of their effectiveness

To assist the Senior Nurse, set goals to manage and minimise risk in the investigating patient complaints, accidents and incidents reporting and to take corrective actions to prevent recurrence.

Accurately obtain and analyse statistical data and information for the area ofpractice, and ensure its storage onto IT systems where appropriate.

Ensure compliance with trust policies and procedures amongst the multidisciplinary team.

To assist the Senior Sister in monitoring sickness absence levels, e.g. Sickness reporting and Return to work interview

Take effective measures for the safe use and storage of medical equipment and its maintenance

Attend and actively contribute to relevant meetings.

To be actively involved in sharing good practice and promoting these acrossthe multi disciplinary team.

Communication

To work cohesively as a team in providing a smooth transition from hospital to home for infants and their families, adopting effective and efficient discharge planning at all times.

To maintain clear, accurate, legible contemporaneous patient documentation at all times.

To ensure and maintain an effective communication within the multi-disciplinary team to achieve an optimum level of service to the patients and families.

To attend IT training in order to be able to use the hospital patient information management system, email, intranet and the internet for work-related resources.

Professional Development and Education Responsibilities:

To attend in-house educational sessions, including updates on breast feeding initiatives, safeguarding, safe equipment use, resuscitation and life-long learning sessions. Keep up-dated by utilising the available educational resources on the Unit and within the Trust.

To take responsibility for your own personal and professional development.

To attend and contribute to unit and Trust meetings and keep updated on new changes of practice

Maintain annual statutory training requirements, including safeguarding children and Resuscitation.

To facilitate ongoing learning and professional development of junior staff, in conjunction with the sister/charge nurse.

To participate in maintaining and supporting a stimulating unit learning environment

To teach and act as a facilitator / mentor / preceptor and be a learning resource to less experienced staff, including pre and post registration nursing students.

To participate in annual Individual Performance Reviews (IPR) and be appraised annually

To be responsible for own learning needs and ensure that professional development is planned.

To maintain a professional profile as a record of own development and experience/qualification.

To contribute to research and development programmes within the unit in order to promote good practice

Professional and legal Responsibilities

To maintain confidentiality at all times.

To promote awareness and compliance amongst colleagues regarding trust policies, procedures, guidelines and standards, taking active steps to keep informed and updated.

To update own knowledge and skills in order to develop professionally and to contribute to the improvement of the service.

Uphold the principles of the NMC code of professional conduct.

Comply at all times with the regulations issued by the trust especially those governing health and safety at work and to ensure that any defects which may affect safety at work are brought to the attention of the appropriate manager.

For more details please see attached JD and PS.

Person specification

Qualifications

• First level qualification and current NMC registration
• Current NLS certificate
• ENB 405 or equivalent.
• ENB 997/8. or equivalent
• Evidence of continuing professional development

Experience

• Able to work under pressure to meet demands of a heavy workload, including organising and prioritising care delivery.
• Participation in standard setting and change management
• Ward management experience and shift co-ordination experience
• Participated in clinical audit

Knowledge

• Awareness of clinical audits and research.
• Knowledge of current development in the NHS. i.e. NHS National Plan, Clinical Governance, Clinical Supervision, NMC Code of Professional Conduct.

Skills

• Ability to manage own caseload and work under pressure.
• Lead by example and motivate others.
• Teaching and assessing skills.
• Acute clinical skills.
• Good inter-personal and Communication skills, including Clear, concise written skills.
• Project leadership and presentation skills.

It is an exciting time to join Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. We run two busy hospital sites in Bedford and Luton. Our 7,500 staff provide high quality care for a growing population of around 700,000 across Bedfordshire and the surrounding areas.

You will be joining a friendly, high performing Trust committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of staff. As one of the largest NHS Trusts in our region you will have access to a programme of high quality training and development to help you grow your career. Travel between hospital sites may be required. We have state-of-the art facilities placing us at the heart of cutting edge health care. The Trust continues to be committed to delivering the best patient care using the best clinical knowledge and technology available.

All new staff will be subject to a probationary period covering their first six months in post.

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.