Lead Specialist Practitioner (Community Nursing)

Job overview

We are looking for applicants who can provide strong clinical leadership and support safe and effective care for service users.

The post holder will utilise their enhanced assessment skills to support decision-making and be competent and confident across areas of practice that include but are not limited to wound care, end of life care, prescribing, diabetes management, and medication administration.

The post holder will work closely with the Operational Team and other senior nurses in the team to share responsibility for organising the day-to-day running of the caseload, managing emerging risks, supporting effective reporting and governance and agreeing service transformation priorities.

The post holder will support staff development in the service by providing mentorship and supervision to pre and post registered nurses.

You will need to be highly motivated and enthusiastic, have excellent communication, negotiation and interpersonal skills and an ability to challenge practice as needed. You will be able to demonstrate competence in core community nursing clinical skills and a willingness to learn and share knowledge.

Main duties of the job

The successful candidate will be those one who is keen and willing to work within Community Nursing service delivery model and develop the role further to support our teams.  You will be expected to foster good relationships with both internal and external partners, along with other members of the MDT.

Oversight of the running of the District/Community Nursing caseload and development of staff within the team, working alongside the Operational Lead/Manager and Education Lead.

They will provide enhanced holistic nursing care to housebound service users utilising enhanced assessment skills; decision making; prescribing and freedom to act as a Specialist Practitioner.

Being a senior member of the community nursing team they will share clinical knowledge, expertise and advice and provide mentorship and supervision to pre and post-registration nurses in the community nursing team.

Working closely with other MPFT services and external partners to support the development and delivery of effective care pathways. Supporting the delivery of place based care within the attached locality.

To contribute to service/policy development through active membership on working parties or professional forums. To be aware of national and local policy that impacts upon the health and wellbeing of service users.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To provide face to face nursing care, assessing, planning, implementing and evaluating care and treatment for housebound service users with complex physical, psychological and social needs.

• Managing and co-ordinating a caseload of service users with complex physical health needs that require multi-systems health assessment; have multiple co-morbidities and may have social and mental health needs that influence their treatment plans. This may at times include co-ordination of MDT meetings.

• To work closely with the service users, their carer’s and families ensuring that they have the tools to manage and monitor their own condition where appropriate and have robust management plans in place to recognise deterioration and access appropriate care.

• Have an understanding of the demographics and population profile of their attached PCN/locality. Acting as a key stakeholder working with system partners to ensure the physical health needs of the population are met and work to prevent unnecessary admissions to hospital.

• Collaborate with the Clinical Education Lead in developing training and practice. Providing support, mentorship and assessment of pre and post-registration nurses within the team, to develop their competence and skills. Including induction and preceptorship of new staff.

• Provide consistency through collaborative clinical leadership to their team with Community Education Leads across the care group. Embedding a learning culture underpinned evidence based practice.

• Takes a lead in specialist areas and complex caseload management, providing advice and support to others to undertake community nursing care, including but not limited to:

• Promoting independence/self-management
• Maintaining safety including/safeguarding awareness/incident reporting
• Improvement in health and wellbeing including mental health
• Interventions in disease/condition management
• Prevention and reducing of health inequalities
• Admission avoidance including frequently users of acute services
• Supported early discharge from hospital (appropriate to the service)
• Case management/ treatment /care plans
• Palliative and end of life care
• Complex decision making
• Management of complex wounds

• Will utilise a range of available and emerging technology to support the service user to manage and monitor their condition; including virtual consultations and remote monitoring.

• To monitor the skill mix in the team to enable safe delegation of nursing care in line with NMC guidance. Working closely with the operational lead for the team to support effective workforce planning.

• The post holder will participate in service developments as a member of the community nursing team and wider primary care network, and will be a key stakeholder in the development of place based partnership working.

• Oversee the caseload to improve the quality of care for patients, ensuring that this is driven by patient outcomes and feedback; evidence based clinical practice that supports the national quality agenda. Ensuring actions of the caseload review process are carried out.

• Work in collaboration with Operational and General Managers providing clinical expertise and decision making support as part of the leadership team to ensure best practice and patient safety are be maintained.

• There will be no responsibility for finances other than to make efficient use of resources and to consider cost effectiveness when developing treatment plans and prescribing medication.