Bank Hospice Nurse (Ward)

St Nicholas Hospice Care; West Stow; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Part time

Job summary

St Nicholas Hospice Care seeks enthusiastic Bank Hospice Nurses for Sylvan Ward on a bank contract. You will provide direct nursing care on the ward, support palliative and end of life needs, and work within a multidisciplinary team to plan discharges.

Essentially, you will demonstrate compassionate, evidence-based practice, maintain documentation, and support families through bereavement and difficult conversations as part of a values-led service.

Qualifications

• Adult Registered Nurse (Active NMC registrant)
• Relevant Diploma or Degree in Nursing
• Desirable: qualification in palliative care or long term conditions
• Teaching and Assessing qualification (ENB 998, Practice Assessor, or similar)
• Essential: commitment to CPD and ongoing development
• Essential: able to work flexibly including unsocial hours

Responsibilities

• Plan and provide direct nursing care for patients on Sylvan Ward, ensuring interventions are based on assessment and evaluation
• Demonstrate competence in specialist palliative and end of life care
• Maintain high quality care by following SNHC guidelines and best practice
• Provide clinical support and advice by telephone during out of hours
• Work with MDT to develop care plans for discharge
• Delegate care within MDT and ensure safe nursing practice
• Support patient safety through risk assessment and mitigation
• Support patient autonomy and involve relatives where appropriate
• Maintain accurate patient documentation at all times
• Demonstrate compassionate, values-led care and MDT collaboration

Skills

Communication skills

Palliative care knowledge

Medication safety

Safeguarding

Team support

Problem solving

Learning mindset

De-escalation

One team approach

IT literacy

Outlook

SystmOne

Education

NMC registered nurse

Nursing diploma/degree

Tools

SystmOne

Outlook

iRota

Job description

Job summary

We are looking for enthusiastic Bank Hospice Nurses to work in our inpatient unit, Sylvan Ward, on a bank contract basis

Main duties of the job

• The provision of specialist palliative and end of life nursing care, primarily on Sylvan Ward
• The delivery of a holistic model of care, which supports the psychological, emotional, social and spiritual needs of the patient
• Participation in the assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation of person centred nursing care for patients
• Awareness of the importance of supporting family members through periods of death, dying and bereavement
• Working effectively with MDT colleagues, delegating duties according to the skills and knowledge of junior team members
• To actively support and model the SNHC Values: Compassion, Accountability, Respect, Equity

About us

St Nicholas Hospice Care is a successful charity serving the local area of West Suffolk and Thetford. Every year we support nearly 2,000 local people, delivering care across multiple settings. Our services are not just for patients, but for their family and friends too, and include everything from specialist medical care to bereavement support and practical help

Why Choose Us?

• Supportive, Multidisciplinary Team: Work alongside experienced nurses, healthcare assistants, specialist doctors, allied health professionals, and dedicated volunteers
• Calming, Holistic Setting: Our 12-bed Sylvan Ward is set in peaceful gardens, offering a tranquil space for palliative care with activities like afternoon teas, pizza nights, and donkey visits

Our 12-bed unit is a well-supported setting where you work alongside a multidisciplinary team of Registered Nurses, Health Care Assistants, specialist Medical team and Allied Health Professionals. Additionally, our volunteers bring plenty of positivity and invaluable support to our ward. This diversity of skills, knowledge and experience is fundamental to excellent care, and the wards friendly and supportive atmosphere

As an employee, you will have access to:

• Free onsite parking
• Onsite catering
• Access to Blue Light Card scheme with a range of discounts

Job responsibilities

Clinical Care

• Plan and provide direct nursing care for patients on Sylvan Ward, ensuring that interventions are based upon assessment and evaluation
• Demonstrate sound clinical competencies, skills and knowledge in relation to specialist palliative and end of life care
• Ensure that clinical quality is evident within care delivery, by adhering to evidence based interventions, working to SNHC clinical guidelines and best practice
• Provide clinical support and advice by telephone, during out of hours periods, acting within the limits of own expertise and experience and signposting for advice, as required
• Working with MDT colleagues, develop plans of care to support patient discharge
• Effectively delegate care within the scope of expertise of MDT colleagues and with an understanding of registered nurse accountability
• Promote patient safety with the use of dynamic risk assessment, mitigating identified risk and escalating this as appropriate
• Support and promote patient autonomy by working in partnership to agree care needs and treatment plans, with an awareness of the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005
• Demonstrate collaborative working by seeking the support of internal and external clinical expertise, as appropriate
• Maintain accurate and timely patient documentation at all times
• Demonstrate a compassionate and values-led approach to care delivery and MDT interactions, at all times
• Demonstrate high level communication skills, recognising the impact of loss, grief and bereavement upon the patient and their family, utilising the skills across the MDT to support these
• Communicate effectively with all members of the multi-disciplinary team
• Demonstrate an awareness of risk and ability to act upon this by managing this and reporting, as appropriate
• Ensure awareness of clinical risk management processes, including the use of RADAR to log incidents for investigation

Leadership and management

• Act as a professional role model at all times
• Utilise opportunities to share clinical expertise, knowledge and skills with colleagues and learners, both formal and informal
• Act as a Shift Co-ordinator to direct clinical care and support operational decision-making such as planning patient admissions and supporting discharges
• Demonstrate willingness to participate in initiatives which support team working and resilience, such as reflective practice and group supervision

Professional Development

• Consider learning and development needs and participate in opportunities to support these
• Demonstrate willingness to participate in initiatives which support own practice and wellbeing, such as clinical supervision and reflective practice
• Undertake any reasonable additional responsibilities which enhance own learning and practice, and which support the clinical team and patient care

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Adult Registered Nurse (Active NMC registrant)
• Relevant Diploma or Degree in Nursing

Desirable

• A qualification in palliative care or long term conditions, or willingness to work towards this.
• Teaching and Assessing qualification (ENB 998, Practice Assessor, or similar)

Experience

Essential

• Able to demonstrate commitment to continuing professional and development
• Enthusiasm for specialist palliative care

Desirable

• Clinical experience and experience of palliative care
• Good knowledge of palliative care theory and practice

Skills and Abilities

Essential

• Excellent communication skills
• Awareness of the principles of palliative care and a commitment to work towards these
• Awareness of the principles of safe use of medication, including the management of controlled drugs
• Understanding and awareness of safeguarding principles
• Proven ability to support team members at all levels
• Ability to recognise and learn from mistake
• An open approach to learning and development
• Willingness to challenge poor practice
• Understanding of the value and importance of volunteers
• Contemporary evidence-based clinical skills and knowledge
• Willingness to extend own practice by learning
• Ability to remain calm during times of heightened emotions and use skills to de-escalate these situations
• Willingness to learn skills which support a one team approach to care, to support business continuity
• Working with staff across organisational and professional boundaries
• IT literate, including Outlook emails, iRota and electronic patient records (SystmOne).
• Good understanding of high quality care
• Ability to problem solve to support clinical and organisational need.
• Ability to work full roster (including unsocial hours)
• Robust understanding of equity, diversity and inclusion, recognising the needs of others without judgement or prejudice

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.

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).