Senior Community Nurse

Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust; England; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A community health trust in the UK is seeking an experienced Senior Community Nurse to manage complex cases within the District Nursing Service. The role requires strong clinical and leadership skills, along with a passion for delivering high-quality community care. Candidates must have at least two years of recent district nursing experience and a commitment to professional development, working effectively with junior staff and demonstrating comprehensive assessment abilities.

Benefits

Flexible working arrangements

Comprehensive mentorship program

Qualifications

• At least two years of recent experience within a district nursing service.
• Proficiency in tissue viability, palliative care, and diabetes management.
• Ability to conduct comprehensive holistic assessments.

Responsibilities

• Manage a cohort of higher-acuity and complex patients.
• Support the Team Leader and provide leadership within the nursing team.
• Deliver high-quality, person-centred care.

Skills

Communication skills

Clinical reasoning

Leadership skills

Complex assessment skills

Education

Registered Nurse

Post Graduate qualification in specialist field or working towards

Evidence of proficiency in core district nursing skills

Job description

Senior Community Nurse

Closing date: 10 December 2025

Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Are you a Registered Nurse looking to take the next step in your career within District Nursing? Do you have at least two years of recent experience within a district nursing service and a passion for delivering high‑quality community care? If so, we have an exciting opportunity for you to join our Warrington District Nursing Service as a Senior Community Staff Nurse.

We are seeking committed and skilled nurses with proven district nursing experience, including areas such as palliative and end‑of‑life care, wound management, and catheter care. In this role, you will be responsible for managing a cohort of higher‑acuity and complex patients, under the guidance of the Team Leader (caseload holder), demonstrating clinical confidence and sound professional judgement.

The successful candidate will bring excellent communication skills, strong clinical reasoning, and the ability to prioritise and manage their own workload effectively. You will be expected to carry out comprehensive holistic assessments, develop and lead personalised plans of care, and provide support, guidance, and mentorship to junior colleagues within the service.

If you are looking for a role that challenges you, develops your leadership potential, and places you at the heart of community‑based care, we would be delighted to receive your application. We are committed to supporting work‑life balance, and all flexible working requests will be considered in line with service needs.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will provide advanced expertise and strong leadership within the District Nursing Team, working alongside the Team Leader to deliver high‑quality, person‑centred care. They will demonstrate an in‑depth theoretical and practical understanding of a wide range of conditions and will be proficient in core district nursing skills, including tissue viability, palliative and end‑of‑life care, and diabetes management. Using specialist assessment abilities and diagnostic reasoning, they will interpret complex clinical presentations, make sound judgements, and implement evidence‑based interventions tailored to the needs of patients with higher acuity and complex conditions. They will plan, deliver, and evaluate holistic programmes of care, maintaining accurate records and ensuring practice reflects current evidence, NMC standards, and professional codes.

In their leadership role, the post holder will act as a visible role model, supporting effective communication across the team, promoting a culture of compassion, professionalism, equality, and openness, and deputising for the Team Leader when required. They will help coordinate the team’s workload, support decision‑making in challenging or urgent situations, and provide guidance, supervision, and mentorship to junior staff, students, and new starters.

About us

Flexible working will be considered for all roles.

Unfortunately, we do not hold a sponsor licence for working visas.

At Bridgewater, our PEOPLE values shape how we deliver our NHS services in your local community.

They help us deliver our mission to improve local health and promote wellbeing in the communities we serve.

After all, values are about people and they were created in partnership with our staff to reflect what they felt was important to them.

Here at Bridgewater our shared values flow through the organisation.

• P Person‑centred – We are passionate about individual needs and promote independence in the healthcare we provide.
• E – Empowered – We empower our people and encourage new ideas to deliver and create improvements in community care.
• O – Open and Honest – We behave in a way that develops relationships based on trust, openness, honesty and respect.
• P – Professional – We support our people, so everyone has the right skills and training to deliver outstanding patient care.
• L – Locally Lead – We are always learning about our communities and show great pride in being a local provider of health and care.
• E – Efficient – We use our resources wisely to provide sustainable and value for money healthcare for our patients.

Job responsibilities

Clinical

• Demonstrates a detailed theoretical and practical knowledge of common aetiologies, pathologies, conditions, and presentations involving a critical understanding of theories and principles.
• Be proficient in core skills required to deliver care within a district nursing service such as tissue viability, palliative end of life care, diabetes management.
• Demonstrate innovative and specialist skills required for assessment and interpretation of complex patient conditions and determining the appropriate course of action.
• Select methods and tools to holistically assess, plan, implement and evaluate in a complex patient condition.
• Analyse and act appropriately in complex situations and escalates wherever applicable e.g., to District Nurse Coordinator, Team Leader, Safeguarding Lead, GP.
• Make judgements on complex facts requiring interpretation and comparing treatment management options ensuring clinical reasoning is reflected accurately in case records.
• Prioritises their own workload and supports the Team Leader with allocation and workload management of the wider team, within agreed objectives deciding when to refer to others as appropriate.
• Approach each individual with care, compassion and sensitivity ensuring that these values are reflected in all areas of practice including the management of any complaints and compliments.

Leadership

• Deputise for the Team Leader at internal and external meetings when required.
• Support the Team Leader in developing effective lines of communication that ensures that the team are aware of the Trust’s strategic direction and local business plan objectives and performance targets.
• Ensures that a professional service and image is maintained at all times, thereby acting as a role model to all staff promoting a positive image of community nursing.
• Provides a leadership style which is underpinned by strongly held values around equality, diversity, and openness; effectively builds and maintains relationships with the wider team, management teams and other key individuals across the organisation.
• Provide an educational role for patients, carers, and new team members.
• Demonstrates the ability to delegate, organise and prioritise workload to ensure the safe delivery of care to an identified cohort of patients including the management of referrals and discharges using locally agreed support mechanisms e.g., on‑call manager and making judgements in complex situations.
• Demonstrates clinical leadership, initiative, and creativity in identifying and supporting projects inspiring others to be positive in their contribution to continuous improvement.
• Demonstrates resilience when responding to challenge, change and complex or difficult situations.
• Ensures that all objectives, for self and those directly supervised by the post holder, are clearly defined within the wider Directorate framework and in line with Trust’s objectives, using the appraisal process as a vehicle for this.
• Takes responsibility for their own and others health and safety in the working environment.
• To support the Team Leader in the management of higher acuity patients and leading on the assessment care planning and ongoing management of an identified cohort of patients.
• Collaborate with primary care, secondary care and social services and other colleagues to plan and implement treatment as required.

Learning and Development

• Undertakes any training required to develop and maintain their proficiency in response to changes in service delivery or new and emerging techniques and demonstrate competence within professional body requirements.
• Reflects on and evaluates own practice and identifies areas of development by setting appropriate objectives via appraisal and clinical supervision.
• Conducts research projects, or other research and development activity, appropriate to clinical area.
• Undertakes supervision and is responsible for teaching and training both inside and outside work area.
• Supporting the Team leaders with the learning and development of others including students and preceptees providing supervision and mentorship to junior staff.
• Support the Team Leader in reporting and investigating complaints and incidents.

Partnership and Team Working

• Actively develops and maintains effective clinical and corporate working relationships both within and outside the Trust.
• Explores the potential for collaborative working and takes opportunities to initiate and sustain such relationships to improve and develop service delivery.
• Actively contributes to the multi‑disciplinary team supporting the patient including communication with external care providers, voluntary support services and other agencies; acting as a credible source of information for other agencies/professionals involved in the care as required.

Innovation and Quality

• Implements, monitors, and maintains agreed standards of care, reporting to the Team Leader/District Nurse Coordinator when standards are not met.
• Implements policies relevant to service area and supports the Team Leader to ensure team members are aware of policy requirements.
• Identifies areas for improvement within own team and proactively addresses these with the support of the Team Leader/District Nurse Coordinator within the overall organisational governance frameworks and corporate objectives reflecting the changing needs of the population, local and national initiatives.
• Actively works to continually improve the quality of own service area within the overall organisational governance frameworks and corporate objectives e.g., through audit or suggesting changes to practice.
• Contributes to and undertakes clinical audit.
• Works with District Nurse Coordinators, Team Leaders, and other key colleagues to identify, manage and minimise risks within the overall organisational risk‑management frameworks. This includes understanding and applying knowledge of clinical role in safeguarding and an active involvement in incident management processes.
• Acts as an advocate for patients and their families/carers recognising the boundaries of their clinical knowledge; liaising and referring on to others services/agencies as required.
• Ensures that patient experience is core to all clinical care delivered and gaining support from the appropriate corporate teams as required.
• Actively ensures completion of required data in a timely manner to meet the Quality Framework requirements, outcome measures and best practice standards in order to deliver an effective, high‑quality service.

Please see full job description attached.

Person Specification

Sponsorship

• Do you have the right to stay and work in the UK without sponsorship (share‑codes will be checked if applicable).

Experience

• Experience in the clinical field or a closely related clinical area as part of a wider multidisciplinary team – Minimum 2 years.
• Experience in supervising and delegating to other members of staff.
• Experience of clinical leadership skills e.g., leading/supervising junior staff and students.
• Working in community setting.
• Working in primary care‑based teams.
• Experience of acting in an advocate/champion role.

Skills and Attributes

• Specialist assessment, planning and evaluation skills.
• Complex analytical and creative problem‑solving skills in unpredictable situations.
• Leadership skills and excellent decision‑making capabilities.
• Competent IT skills in order to collect and interpret data, present reports, and compile simple presentations.
• Effective verbal, non‑verbal and written communication skills including communicating complex or potentially distressing information to patients / carers and managing conflict when appropriate.
• Reflective practice skills able to give clear and effective feedback.
• Able to research, understand and evaluate evidence in order to contribute to practice development.
• Experience in research and/or clinical audit.
• Workload management including delegation of tasks and day‑to‑day team leadership.

Attitude and Behaviour

• Displays care, compassion, sensitivity, and responsiveness to other peoples feelings and needs.
• Able to work as part of a team, co‑operating to work together and in conjunction with others and willing to help and assist wherever possible and appropriate appreciating the value of diversity in the workplace.
• Able to develop, establish and maintain positive relationships with others both internal and external to the organisation and with patients and their carers.
• Able to work under pressure, dealing with peaks and troughs in workload managing unpredictable service demands.
• Positive and flexible attitude to dealing with change explore new ways of doing things and approaches.
• Able to respond to the changing needs of the patient in a proficient and timely manner.
• Demonstrates values consistent with those of the Trust.
• Ability and willingness to adopt a flexible approach to work on the occasions it may be required.
• Ability to travel independently.

Relationships

• If you are related to a director, or have a relationship with a director or employee of an appointing organisation, please state the relationship.

Knowledge and Understanding

• Detailed theoretical and clinical knowledge appropriate to District Nursing service.
• Knowledge of relevant current issues in health and social care, ethics, and innovation.
• Demonstrates awareness of limits to knowledge base.
• Application of clinical governance and quality measures in practice.

Qualifications

• Registered Nurse.
• Post Graduate qualification in specialist field or working towards.
• Evidence of proficiency in core skills required for delivery of care within a district nursing service such as tissue viability, palliative care, diabetes management.
• Mentorship qualification / skills and/or experience or committed to undertaking appropriate mentorship programme.
• Evidence of continual professional development.
• Mentorship qualification or equivalent.
• Non‑medical prescribing.
• Clinical examination.
• Clinical Skills.
• Tissue Viability.
• Palliative Care.
• Diabetes management.
• Frailty.

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.

Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust