Job summary
An opportunity has arisen to join our dynamic and growing Thoracic Clinical Nurse Specialist team at Bristol NHS Foundation Trust for a one year fixed term maternity leave cover.

You will be part of a well stablished and nationally recognised Clinical Nurse Specialist team , working alongside with the thoracic surgeons and other multidisciplinary lung cancer teams across the South West region to provide efficient , coordinated and excellent care for lung cancer surgical patients.

The job involves working both within the inpatient and outpatient setting. You will be a vital part on the patient lung cancer surgical journey, providing specialist advise and helping patients navigating the pathway.

We are a daily presence on the thoracic surgical ward, providing emotional support to patients and imbedding the principles of enhanced recovery. We also run a nurse led clinic to support patients with ambulatory chest drains and a lung cancer follow up clinic for patients under surveillance following cancer treatment.The team is also heavily involved supporting patients on consultant preoperative and follow up clinics and linking with other teams to ensure a seamless pathway.

The role involves weekly attendance to lung and complex case multidisciplinary meetings to advocate for your patients and ensure a coordinated and well informed decision on their treatment.

Main duties of the job
The thoracic Clinical Nurse Specialist role is varied and constantly developing to meet the speciality needs. You will be part of the wider thoracic surgical team, working closely with consultants in preoperative surgical clinics and ward rounds. but also independently on nurse led consultations.

The role involves working with a large proportion of patients with cancer during the preoperative recovery and follow up phases of their treatment, but also empowering to make well informed choices about alternative non- surgical treatments. The nature of communication required is sensitive and therefore a high degree of empathy and understanding is required. Advance communication skills need to be used to deliver potentially distressing information to patients and carers, and provide them with advice and emotional support in hospital and in the community. The role requires negotiating and supporting patients through healthy choices to help them thrive through their treatment.

You will work cohesively with all members of the multidisciplinary team within this trust as well as referring centres around the South West region, to ensure that the very best services to patients are provided at all times.

As a thoracic Clinical Nurse Specialist you will be using your expertise on thoracic surgery and lung cancer to educate and support patients,their carers and other health care professionals within the inpatient/outpatient settings.

About us
Bristol NHS Foundation Trust brings together more than 28,000 staff to deliver over 160 clinical services across thirteen hospital locations,operatingfrom three main sites at Southmead, Bristol citycentreand Weston.

With an annual turnover of £2.3 billion, we are now one of the largest NHS trusts in the United Kingdom. Our hospitals are spread across Bristol and Weston, join us and you can enjoy the very best of both worlds; city living within a stone's throw of the countryside or beside the seaside, both with easy access to all that the South West has to offer.Bristol NHS Foundation Trust values all people as individuals. As an equal opportunities employer actively working towards a diverse workforce we aim to recruit and retain a workforce which represents the rich diversity of the local population at all levels and are committed to designing our services around the needs of individual patients and those around them. Anonymous information will be used from your application in order to ensure we're meeting our pledge.

Job responsibilities
For a more detailed job description and main responsibilities, please refer to the job description document attached to this vacancy.

Person Specification
Knowledge and experience
Essential

• Appropriate post registration experience in nursing, speciality
• Appropriate proven leadership and management experience
• Proven commitment and experience, evidence in teaching
• Experience as preceptor / mentor
• Experience working with cancer patients

Desirable

• Experience of undertaking research or audit projects
• Evidence of commitment to research based practice or evidence of project work undertaken

Qualifications and Training
Essential

• 1st Degree In nursing or health related subject, willing to undertake/ working towards
• Relevant accredited post registration qualification at level 3
• Qualification in Teaching and Assessing

Desirable

• Willingness to work towards Masters level academic study

Skills and Abilities
Essential

• Organisation and management skills
• Teaching
• Ability to work effectively under pressure
• Ability to problem solve
• Flexibility, adaptability to meet needs of a changing service
• Ability to work alone or as part of a team
• Ability to cope with emotional issues presented in the course of work, and to support others
• Knowledge of national and local specialty specific issues
• IT skills including use of email and Microsoft office packages
• Act as a role model and as a mentor/assessor
• Innovative and participates with practice and policy change
• Awareness of professional responsibilities to self and others
• Commitment to the development and provision of high quality nursing care
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Awareness of current national changes in nursing / NHS

Personal qualities
Essential

• Excellent communication skills
• Enthusiastic and motivated to continuously learn
• Ability to work under pressure

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.

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).