Critical Care Outreach Specialist Nurse

St. Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust; Sefton; On-site; GBP 36,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is seeking an experienced critical care nurse to provide leadership and advanced clinical practice in the critical care setting. The post requires autonomous decision-making, high-level collaboration with the MDT and rapid response in emergency cases.

The role includes supervision of PICC/line inserters, ALS/ILS/alert training, and sepsis screening within the first hour to guide prompt treatment.

Qualifications

• Registered Nurse with a first level nursing degree and NMC registration.
• Commitment to CPD and ongoing professional development.
• Experience in acute/critical care settings with sepsis management.
• Ability to work in a MDT and to prioritise clinical priorities.

Responsibilities

• Perform autonomous assessments of critically ill patients and plan, implement and evaluate care.
• Provide care of level 2 and 3 patients when ICU admission is not available.
• Collaborate with MDT to meet critical care needs.
• Coordinate and maintain effective communications between critical care and wards.
• Manage complications from VADs including infections, thrombus, and device issues.
• Autonomous decision making for PICC/Midline referrals including OPAT and TPN.
• Supervise and educate new PICC/line inserters within the team.
• CPR / Advanced Life Support provider as part of the cardiac arrest team.
• Initiate sepsis screening to detect early signs and ensure timely treatment.

Skills

Venepuncture Competency

Cannulation Competency

Effective communication

Interpersonal skills

Prioritise workload

Change agent

Electronic patient record

Education

First level Nursing Degree

Registered Nurse with NMC registration

Advanced Life Support (ALS)

Intermediate Life Support (ILS)

ALERT / equivalent course

Tools

EPR/EPD systems

Job description

Job overview

The post holder must be an experienced critical care nurse with detailed knowledge and skills to act as a positive role model through the provision of effective professional leadership and demonstration of competent, accountable clinical practice. The post holder must be competent to work under emergency situations within the MDT and able to prioritise their skill set for the needs of the patient needs.

An Enhanced DBS Certificate with Adults' Barred Lists is required for this post.

Main duties of the job

• Perform autonomous comprehensive assessments of critically ill patients, plan, implement and evaluate care delivery according to changing health needs and varying levels of complexity.
• Provide appropriate care of level 2 and 3 patients delivering treatment and monitoring in ward areas/departments if admission into critical care is not available or inappropriate.
• Work collaboratively with other professionals and agencies to ensure patients critical care needs are met.
• Co-ordinate & maintain effective communications between critical care, and other ward/departments, managing conflicting views where necessary.
• Effective management of complications, which may occur during and/or post insertion of VADs including; blood stream and exit site infection, thrombus, arterial puncture, nerve damage, malposition/migration of VAD tip, fracture/sever, occlusion and withdrawal occlusion.
• Autonomous decision making regarding the clinical priorities of those patients referred to the PICC/Midline referral service including chemotherapy, OPAT and TPN
• Delegated responsibility for supervision and education of new PICC/line inserters of the team and other inserters within the trust prior to sign off from MET lead.
• CPR / Advanced Life Support Provider as part of the cardiac arrest team.
• Initiating sepsis screening to detect early signs of sepsis in patients allowing prompt treatment and decisive medical management within the first hour of red flag sepsis.

Working for our organisation

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 10,500 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.

We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.

Our services:

Acute Care

Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.

Primary Care

Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.

Community Services

Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.

Specialist Regional Services

We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.

Achievements:

• Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
• Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
• National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please ensure you have read through the attached Job Description and Person Specification before submitting your application.

Advertising date: 15th September 2026

Closing date: 30th September 2026

Shortlisting date: W/C 5th October 2026

Proposed Interview date: W/C 19th October 2026

Please note, this post may close earlier than advertised if a sufficient number of applications are received.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Registered Nurse
• First level Nursing Degree
• Evidence of continuing professional development
• Intermediate Life Support
• ALS/ILS/ALERT course or equivalent
• Advanced Life Support (or working towards)
• Clinical assessment level 6 (or working towards)

Desirable criteria

• Post reg qualification (Management of deteriorating patient or clinical examination/assessment and diagnostics) Level 6

Knowledge & Experience

Essential criteria

• Must be able to demonstrate excellent communication and negotiation skills.
• Able to demonstrate knowledge of NMC professional standards for practice contained within the code
• Research awareness and commitment to evidence-based practice
• Experience of clinical risk assessment & management of identified risk
• Understanding key features of Clinical governance
• Liaise with MDT members
• Demonstrate organisational leadership skills
• Ability to organise/prioritise workload
• Relevant skills in relation to risk management
• Able to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team
• Evidence of good sound clinical knowledge and judgement in acute situations
• Experience of providing and receiving complex, sensitive information

Other

Essential criteria

• Periods of strenuous activity EG Cardiac compressions
• Frequent sitting or standing in a restricted position; occasional moderate effort for several short period.
• Continuous concentration as dealing with acute situations
• Decision making and time management in line with the deteriorating patient and escalation plan.
• Frequent concentration required for drug calculation and administration
• Dealing with frequent interruptions and competing demands
• Occasional distressing / highly distressing or emotional circumstances. Deals with patient complaints, conveys unwelcome news, complaints, concerns arising from incident communicated to patients and relatives
• May come into contact with Human bodily fluids
• Working in ward environment providing direct clinical care

Skills

Essential criteria

• Venepuncture Competency
• Cannulation Competency
• Ability to communicate effectively (written, verbal and non-verbal communication) with patients/relatives and carers and all members of the multi-disciplinary team
• Excellent Interpersonal skills with the ability to network and build relationships at all levels
• Excellent organisational skills - prioritise and coordinate own workload
• Ability to de-escalate and elevate complex situations
• Ability to act as a change agent
• Computer literacy e.g., experience of electronic patient record

Desirable criteria

• Porta Cath Competency
• Cortrack & Bridle Competency
• Arterial Blood Gas Competency

Thank you for considering an application to work for Mersey West Lancashire NHS Trust. MWL is an exciting and forward-thinking NHS Trust who are one of the best places to work for in England.

Given sometimes we receive a high volume of applications to work for us, please be aware, that we may close a vacancy earlier than stated should a sufficient number of applications be received from which a shortlist can be confirmed. Therefore, you are advised to apply at your earliest convenience.

The Trust may contact you during the recruitment process for your feedback on your experience. We always aim for continuous improvement in our practice.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

We actively cultivate a professional environment of fairness, equality, dignity, and respect for all individuals. We welcome individuals from all backgrounds and value the unique skills, perspective and experience you bring. We are grounded in the belief that diversity enhances our collective strength, fostering innovation and excellence within our workforce. We welcome all applications irrespective of people's race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion/belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.

As a Disability Confident Leader, we commit to offering an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

If you are having difficulty completing an online application, or require any disability reasonable adjustments, to the application process, please contact