Lead Nurse

Job overview

The Trust's Rehabilitation Service is evolving, and we have a wonderful opportunity for a Lead Nurse Band 6

The team provides 24-hour inpatient support and help to 23 adults with severe and enduring mental illness who have traditionally found it difficult to spend long periods out of other inpatient settings.

The successful applicant will be expected to support the Senior  Nurse in providing leadership, effective resource utilisation, and supervision to the wider, multi-disciplinary team.

The aim is to provide an effective, high-quality, evidence-based rehabilitation and recovery service, which is unpinned by the promotion of a hopeful, compassionate, and expressive environment, offering choice and opportunities and prioritising service users' goals whenever possible.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will:

• Work with the team, driving change and offering assurance that our care meets the standards not only expected of us but that our patients, relatives, and carers deserve.
• Be responsible for establishing operational and clinical service mechanisms that support safe and high-quality care throughout the 24 hours.
• Have opportunities to take the lead on new developments and will be responsible for ensuring that local and national standards and targets are met.
• Be responsible for ensuring that the clinical team operates within established legal and operational protocols and that robust clinical rationales exist for planned and delivered interventions.
• Work effectively within a multi-disciplinary setting and will ensure that effective coordination exists and is maintained between the various stakeholders involved.
• Be part of our bleep-holder role on a rota basis, which lends itself to bed management and support of the Kingsway Campus.
• Deputise for the Senior Nurse where needed.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The post holder will:

• Provide a professional role model for the delivery of high-quality nursing care.
• Ensure evidence-based practice and research awareness is used as the foundation for the assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation of nursing care.
• Maintain and develop knowledge of advances in nursing practice or theory in practice and act as the catalyst for innovation.
• Promote service user and carer involvement and autonomy and ensure that choice are embedded into the philosophy of the clinical area.
• Be responsible for ensuring the Care Programme Approach is applied to    practice and that opportunity is fully provided to support service user/carer involvement in decision making processes.
• Ensure appropriate evidence based clinical risk assessments are     delivered.
• Ensure all service users have an up to date evidenced-based care plan      that meets the needs of service users.
• Ensure legislative requirements are maintained (Mental Health Act,             Medicines Code, Capacity Act, etc).
• Ensure good practice is maintained taking the lead in challenging practice that requires change or development in collaboration with the Senior Nurse/Team Manager.
• Demonstrate competent knowledge in their chosen speciality, ensuring this is disseminated in a constructive and effective way.
• Use effective interpersonal skills that relate to service users, carers and     team members on an equal basis.
• Ensure a multi-professional/agency approach to care is maintained,      valuing the interface of professional roles and responsibilities.
• Promote the use of critical analysis skills and innovative approaches to ensure care is reviewed according to service user needs/perspectives.
• Facilitate service user responsibility and choices for healthy living, and the ability to determine their own lifestyle within the notion of health promotion and health protection.
• Ensure there is an effective system in place for the co-ordination of care (ie named nurse/professional system).
• Have a high clinical profile that includes the provision of  hands-on care, having a global overview of all care packages and clinical activities within a defined area.
• Demonstrate an understanding of leadership/managerial theory and how   they can be adapted according to needs.
• Demonstrate an understanding of management processes and theory.
• Demonstrate an understanding of how to empower all team members to participate in implementing change by using problem solving, considering potential conflicts and planning resolution.
• Proactively manage conflict within a multi-professional team, ensuring the needs of service users are maintained.
• Nurture a culture of respect for others, and an environment that values and is pro-actively respectful of ethnicity, gender, culture and individuality for service users and staff.
• Ensure Trust policies, procedures, and legislative directives are advocated, ie Equal Opportunities, Human Rights Act, Disability Discrimination Act, Race Relations, Sex Discrimination, etc.
• Ensure service users/carers participate in developing and shaping the  service where possible.
• Support the development of the strategy for nursing within a multi-   professional framework.
• Ensure that awareness of clinical and resource management information is used analytically to inform decisions that meet service user, team and   organisational objectives.
• Support Senior Nurse to ensure all resources are managed effectively,  ie financial, staff, equipment, stock control, etc.
• Support Senior Nurse to Develop strategic thinking skills, promoting an umbrella view of clinical situations for the multi-professional team