District Nurse Specialist Practitioner

Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust; Swanage; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust in Swanage, Purbeck, seeks a District Nurse Specialist Practitioner for a fixed-term role up to 12 months. The post will lead community nursing teams and contribute to Integrated Neighbourhood Health initiatives.

You will require strong leadership, caseload management, and decision-making abilities to deliver high-quality patient care in a multidisciplinary community setting.

Qualifications

• Experience at Practitioner Band 5 level with extended roles in community nursing.
• Experience in leading a team in community nursing.
• Ability to develop specialist programmes of care for individuals or groups and provide highly specialist advice.
• Ability to travel using own vehicle for Trust business.

Responsibilities

• Co-ordinate care and workloads for community nursing teams.
• Assess, plan, implement and evaluate specialist treatment and care for a caseload.
• Contribute to development of Integrated Neighbourhood Health initiatives.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Decision making

Caseload management

Team leading

Education

Registered nurse

District Nurse SPQDN

Non‑Medical Prescriber

Tools

Electronic patient records

Data reporting

Job description

Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust

District Nurse Specialist Practitioner

The closing date is 25 November 2026

An opportunity for a Specialist District Nurse Practitioner position in Swanage, Purbeck. This is a fixed term contract for up to 12 months.

We are an integrated team across Purbeck, in our rural locality we work very closely with other colleagues and services to get the best outcome for our patients. There is much focus at the current time on the future of the Integrated Neighbourhood Health which you will be contributing to the development of.

You’ll need a good understanding of the community healthcare agenda; you’ll be using proven excellent communication, decision making and leadership skills. You’ll be supported to provide high quality and critical clinical care, management of team members and caseload management for patients in the community setting. You’ll need experience in caseload management and have a track record of being able to prioritise your work whilst advising others on theirs. The role is diverse, challenging and extremely rewarding.

This is a fixed term role and for those with current NHS service, the role will be offered on a secondment basis only. Please obtain permission to be released on a secondment before submitting an application

Main duties of the job

The role involves being a member of the senior team for the locality, co-ordinating care and workloads, managing and leading the community nursing teams with the guidance and support of the District Nurse Locality Lead and other District Nurse Specialists leading our teams.

To assess, plan, implement and evaluate specialist treatment and care to people on an allocated caseload; promoting independence and autonomy; working within a multi-disciplinary team. Plan, implement and review health improvement programmes in a range of settings.

Employment in this post requires an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, which the Trust will cover the cost of.

Please note visa sponsorship for this role is unfortunately not available. Ensure you hold valid right to work in the UK and will not require sponsorship if successful.

About us

At Dorset HealthCare we’re on a mission to empower people to make the most of their lives through our outstanding, joined-up healthcare services. We’re a dynamic, forward-looking Trust, running 12 community hospitals, specialist inpatient facilities and a wide range of integrated community and mental health services for a population of almost 800,000 people.

We do things differently here - it’s one of the reasons the CQC rated us ‘outstanding’ in 2019. It’s also why 95% of patients across our services say they have a good or very good experience of our services and 89% of staff feel they can really make a difference. Whether you’re looking to work with us in one of our bustling market towns, vibrant urban locations, thriving seaside spots, or among the rolling hills of Dorset, there are lots of ways you can make a difference in our communities.

Our 7,000-strong workforce is at the heart of what we do and our success is a testament to our brilliant people. We’re all about building a workplace for the future, we believe in equal opportunities and we celebrate diversity. We’re an inclusive workplace, where everyone is welcome, everyone can be authentic, and we are all encouraged to be the best version of ourselves.

Working with us you’ll be part of a strong team, challenge yourself, build a career, and teach us what we don’t know. And you’ll be working towards our vision to be better every day through excellence, compassion and expertise in all we d

Job responsibilities

For the main duties and responsibilities for this role please read the attached job description and person specification. When completing your application please ensure your supporting statement reflects the criteria set out in these documents by showing how your experience and skills apply to this post.

We understand that AI can be a useful tool when completing your application. However, we are seeing an increasing over-reliance of AI tools, which can negatively affect your application as it reduces a candidates individuality, and makes it difficult for us to gain a clear and authentic understanding of your experience, skills, and in turn your suitability for the role.

All submissions must be truthful and if you do use AI, it should only be used to enhance your application and not create your supporting statement in its entirety. Your supporting statement should be in your own words and must accurately reflect your personal experience and achievements. Where we have concerns that AI has been used to generate content that misrepresents your experience and suitability for the role, we may withdraw your application.

As part of our vision to have a skilled, diverse and caring workforce, Dorset HealthCare offers support for people getting into work. We offer an employability service to support individuals with application writing, interview skills and other employment support. If you would like or know of anyone who would value this support, please do contact [e-mail]

Person Specification

Knowledge, Skills & Training

• Non‑Medical Prescriber (if professionally appropriate)
• Membership of the relevant Professional Body
• Learning and Assessing in Practice Qualification or equivalent practice assessors training
• Registered practitioner SPQDN qualification or a strong desire to achieve this.
• Strong leadership skills demonstrated in Practice
• All extended clinical skills in place for district nursing
• Knowledge and understanding of Trust Strategy relevant to role
• Evidence of recent professional development

Job Specific Experience

• Minimum of experience at Practitioner Band 5 level with extended roles for community nursing, preferably with experience of leading a team in this environment
• Experience of specialist working and gained knowledge such as frailty, long term conditions, leadership, deteriorating patient
• Experience of managing change
• Experience of developing specialist programmes of care for an individual or groups of patients/clients and of providing highly specialist advice

Managerial/Supervisory Experience

• Experience of providing clinical supervision for other colleagues and interested in other's professional development
• Compassionate Leadership informs practice
• Experience of devising and delivering training

Information Technology

• Experience of using electronic patient / service user record systems and being able to teach others
• Able to analyse data and produce reports
• Ability to use multiple electronic systems/portals/devices for managing teams and patient care, and communicating with colleagues
• commitment to working in an agile way and encouraging others to do the same

Personal Qualities / Attributes

• Experience of planning and organising complex activities, e.g. organise own time and that of other colleagues and learners, planning off duty rotas and undertaking discharge planning involving co-ordination with other agencies.
• Is able to communicate effectively at different levels of the organisation and with staff, patient/service users, visitors or external organisations both verbally and in writing in the exchange of highly complex, sensitive or contentious information which may require the use of negotiating and/or persuasive skills.
• Able to analyse and assess situations and to interpret potentially conflicting situations and determine appropriate action, where there is a range of options and judgement is required.

Additional requirements

• Demonstrable skills in written and spoken English to a standard which enables the post holder to carry out the full range of duties and responsibilities of the role effectively.
• Subject to the provisions of the Equality Act, able to travel using own vehicle on Trust business.

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.

Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust