Job summary
The post holder is an experienced Nurse with a minimum of three years experience working as a Nurse Practitioner, acting within their professional boundaries, will provide care for the presenting patient form initial history taking, clinical assessment, diagnosis, treatment and evaluation of care. They will demonstrate safe, clinical decision-making and expert care, including assessment and diagnostic skills, for patients within the general practice. The post holder will demonstrate critical thinking in the clinical decision-making process. They will work collaboratively with the general practice team to meet the needs of patients, supporting the delivery of policy and procedures, providing nurse leadership. In order to work at this level NMC requirements for advanced practice must be met.

Duties and Responsibilities
Clinical Practice

• Assess, diagnose, plan, implement and evaluate treatment/interventions.
• Assess, diagnosis, plan, implement and evaluate interventions/treatments for patients with complex needs
• Proactively identify, diagnose and manage treatment plans for patients at risk of developing a long-term condition (as appropriate)
• Diagnose and manage both acute and chronic conditions, integrating both drug- and non-drug-based treatment methods into a management plan
• Prescribe and review medication for therapeutic effectiveness, appropriate to patient needs and in accordance with evidence-based practice and national and practice protocols, and within scope of practice
• Work with patients in order to support compliance with and adherence to prescribed treatments Provide information and advice on prescribed or over-the-counter medication on medication regimens, side-effects and interactions
• Prioritise health problems and intervene appropriately to assist the patient in complex, urgent or emergency situations, including initiation of effective emergency care
• Support patients to adopt health promotion strategies that promote healthy lifestyles, and apply principles of self-care
• Promote and deliver evidence-based care for patients presenting with all conditions
• Working autonomously at other GP practice sites covering General Practitioners/Nurse Practitioners absence and sickness, you may be working in isolation

Communication

• Utilise and demonstrate sensitive communication styles, to ensure patients are fully informed and consent to treatment
• Communicate effectively with patients and carers, recognising the need for alternative methods of communication to overcome different levels of understanding, cultural background and preferred ways of communicating
• Anticipate barriers to communication and take action to improve communication
• Maintain effective communication within the practice environment and with external stakeholders
• Act as an advocate for patients and colleagues
• Ensure awareness of sources of support and guidance (eg PALS) and provide information in an acceptable format to all patients, recognising any difficulties and referring where appropriate

Delivering a quality service

• Recognise and work within own competence and professional code of conduct as regulated by the NMC
• Deliver care according to NSF, NICE guidelines and evidence-based care
• Initiate and participate in the maintenance of quality governance systems and processes across the organisation and its activities
• In partnership with other clinical teams, collaborate on improving the quality of health care responding to local and national policies and initiatives as appropriate
• Support and participate in shared learning across the practice and wider organisation
• Use a structured framework (e.g. root-cause analysis) to manage, review and identify learning from patient complaints, clinical incidents and near-miss events
• Assess the impact of policy implementation on care delivery
• Monitor and develop the performance of the GPN team in accordance with local policies
• Approve the performance of the team, providing feedback as appropriate
• Understand and apply legal issues that support the identification of vulnerable and abused children and adults, and be aware of statutory child/vulnerable patients health procedures and local guidance
• Ensure the whole team have skills and knowledge regarding domestic violence, vulnerable adults, substance abuse and addictive behaviour. Provide guidance and support to ensure appropriate referral if required.

Leadership, personal and People development.

• Take responsibility for own learning and performance including participating in clinical supervision and acting as a positive role model
• Support staff development in order to maximise potential, be actively involved in staff appraisal
• Lead the Nursing team and ensure support structures are in place for the smooth running of the practice
• Take a lead role in planning and implementing changes within the area of care and responsibility
• Work with the practice management to ensure sufficient staff of appropriate ability, quality and skill-mix are available to meet current and future service delivery.
• Promote the role of the Advanced Nurse Practitioner in general practice

Team Working

• Understand own role and scope and identify how this may develop over time
• Work as an effective and responsible team member, supporting others and exploring the mechanisms to develop new ways of working
• Delegate clearly and appropriately, adopting the principles of safe practice and assessment of competence
• Prioritise own workload and ensure effective time-management strategies are embedded within the culture of the team
• Work effectively with others to clearly define values, direction and policies impacting upon care delivery
• Discuss, highlight and work with the team to create opportunities to improve patient care
• Manage and lead on the delivery of specifically identified services or projects as agreed with the practice management team
• Agree plans and outcomes by which to measure success

Management of risk

• Manage and assess risk within the areas of responsibility, ensuring adequate measures are in place to protect staff and patients
• Ensure appropriate supervision of safe storage, rotation and disposal of vaccines and drugs
• Ensure the nursing team undertakes mandatory and statutory training requirements
• Apply infection-control measures within the practice according to local and national guidelines
• Interpret national strategies and policies into local implementation strategies that are aligned to the values and culture of general practice

Managing Information

• Review and process data using accurate Read codes in order to ensure easy and accurate information retrieval for monitoring and audit processes
• Understand responsibility of self and others to the practice and primary care trust regarding the Freedom and Information Act
• Monitor and confirm that the nursing team are receiving and processing data and information in an agreed format Collate, analyse and present clinical data and information to the team
• Communicate essential financial restraints with the team and discuss with them ideas for effective and efficient working within these constraints

Learning and Development

• Undertake mentorship for more junior staff, assessing competence against set standards
• Disseminate learning and information gained to other team members in order to share good practice and inform others about current and future developments (e.g. courses and conferences)
• Provide an educational role to patients, carers, families and colleagues in an environment that facilitates learning

About us
IntraHealth is one of the UK’s leading provider of NHS Primary and Community Care services. We serve a range of patients across our three divisions of Primary Care (general practice), Pharmacy and Clinical Services which includes anticoagulation monitoring, patient medication reviews and childhood immunisation programmes.

We also provide management and clinical support to other GP practices and NHS bodies. We are a well-established organisation having provided NHS services for 19 years. Our team is made up of GPs, Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANPs), Nurses, Pharmacists, Health Care Assistants (HCAs) and local administration teams supported by a centralised back office function; providing finance, HR, administration and data analysis support.

We operate NHS services across the North East, North West and Yorkshire.

Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential

• Relevant nursing/health degree
• Clinical supervision training and experience
• Mentor/teaching qualification or equivalent experience
• Extended/Independent Nurse Prescriber

Desirable

• Registered first level nurse MSC or equivalent/Degree

Experience
Essential

• Minimum 5 years post registration experience
• At least 3 years recent primary and community nursing experience
• Nurse-led management of minor illness.
• Nurse-led triage
• Compiling protocols and clinical guidelines
• Leadership in quality initiatives such as clinical benchmarking
• Leading a team

Desirable

• Project management
• Working with community development initiatives
• Health-needs assessment

Attitudes
Essential

• Self-directed practitioner
• Highly motivated
• Flexibility
• Enthusiasm
• Team player
• Ability to work across boundaries
• Management of patients with long-term conditions
• Management of patients with complex needs
• Accountability of own role and other roles in a nurse-led service
• Local and national health policy
• Wider health economy
• Clinical governance issues in primary care
• Patient group directions and associated policy
• Communication skills, both written and verbal
• Communication of difficult messages to patients and families
• Negotiation and conflict management skills
• Change management skills
• Teaching and mentorship in a clinical setting
• Advanced Clinical skills

Desirable

• Knowledge of public health issues
• Understanding of clinical governance issues in primary care
• Able to identify determinants on health in the area
• Knowledge of public health issues in the area
• Demonstrate an understanding of the data protection act and patient confidentiality, clinical and information governance and Caldicott requirements

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.

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

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