Clinical Nurse Specialist - Hepatology

Job overview

This is an exciting opportunity to join the busy Gastroenterology Department at Dorset County Hospital. This is a newly developed role to support the hepatology function within the department.

The key responsibilities of the job are:

To care for patients with chronic liver disease and those with drug and alcohol addiction problems

To manage the patient caseload, in collaboration with the multi-disciplinary team, including the transfer of patients between providers

To deliver all care within services care pathways and organise all appropriate investigations and tests and review results as required.

Main duties of the job

Please refer to attached job description, but key outcomes are:

To be responsible for and participate in the full range of Hepatology clinics (face-to-face and virtual / telephone) in secondary care and in the community.

To oversee ascites management in the community, including ascitic sampling and paracentesis

To review inpatients as required in the ward setting.

To maintain accurate and confidential patient health care records and to submit statistical returns for the purpose of auditing and monitoring.

To assess the need for specific investigations to aid diagnosis, such as CT, Abdominal Ultrasound, Chest X-ray, Gastroscopy, Blood Tests, ascitic sampling and Elastography/Fibroscan

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please refer to the attached job description. The key purposes of the job are:

To provide specialist nursing expertise, facilitating evidence-based patient centred care for patients within Hepatology

To work with the Gastroenterology consultants to lead and manage the Hepatology nursing service in Dorset County Hospital

To facilitate patient empowerment by enabling Hepatology patients to manage their condition effectively and independently preventing complications and improving quality of life.

To be a resource to other health care personnel and to plan, deliver and evaluate programmes of education and development for Hepatology care, including ascites management and hepatocellular carcinoma screening.

To carry out specific physical examination, using clinical skills developed through specialist training.

To carry out fibroscanning, using clinical skills developed through specialist training. If legally authorised, independently prescribes medication based on efficacy, safety, and cost effectiveness.

To contribute to safe and effective patient care by incorporating the use of non-Medical prescribing competencies in relation to the specific patient cohort and scope of this role in accordance with national guidelines, evidence-based practice and local Trust policies

To secure blood samples from difficult to bleed patient and to undertake femoral blood tests as required (with appropriate training)

To deliver ascitic sampling and paracentesis for inpatients and outpatients