Job summary
To work as part of Southern Hospice Group multi-disciplinary team providing high quality Palliative and End of Life nursing care for patients and their families in accordance with the NMC guidance and Southern Hospice Group policies and procedures.

Main duties of the job

• Partner with District Nursing teams and Continuing Healthcare funded agencies to support the practical care of patients at end of life in the community
• Assess and monitor changes in a patients condition, advising on complex symptom control measures and implementing changes according to best practice and community and/or hospice policies
• Provide effective and sensitive communication between all community and hospice professionals, as well as patients, carers and relatives
• Administer medicines within assessed competency and hospice guidelines according to the needs of the patient
• Work with patients and families to create management plans addressing their individual physical, psychosocial and spiritual needs reflecting the holistic principles of palliative care and promoting dignity

About us
Southern Hospice Group is the largest group of hospices in Sussex and one of the largest in the UK. We are committed to providing exceptional and compassionate care to adults, children and their families across Sussex. Bringing our teams and resources together as one organisation means we can focus on new and exciting visions and plans for our people and patients and provide even greater opportunities for our workforce.

St Barnabas House provides specialist palliative care to adults in the Worthing, Adur, Arun and Henfield areas through a range of services, including in-patient care and community living well services.

Chestnut Tree House is the childrens hospice for East and West Sussex and South East Hampshire, providing specialist palliative care for children and young people with life-limiting conditions.

Martlets provides essential care to people affected by terminal illness in Brighton and Hove and surrounding areas. Our expert teams provide the very best care and support, helping patients and their loved ones to live life to the full during the precious time they have together.

Job responsibilities
To work as part of Southern Hospice Group multi-disciplinary team providing high quality Palliative and End of Life nursing care for patients and their families in accordance with the NMC guidance and Southern Hospice Group policies and procedures. A key aspect of the role is to:

• Partner with District Nursing teams and Continuing Healthcare funded agencies to support the practical care of patients at end of life in the community
• Assess and monitor changes in a patients condition, advising on complex symptom control measures and implementing changes according to best practice and community and/or hospice policies
• Provide effective and sensitive communication between all community and hospice professionals, as well as patients, carers and relatives
• Administer medicines within assessed competency and hospice guidelines according to the needs of the patient
• Undertake risk assessments in the community to ensure safe practice, including identifying appropriate skill mix and lone worker issues
• Ensure accurate, timely and relevant patient records, in accordance with NMC guidelines
• Actively participate in the development of Hospice at Home Health Care Assistants, carry out 121 meetings and appraisals
• Participate in service development under the leadership of Sister - Hospice at Home and in accordance with the clinical governance framework of the hospice
• Take responsibility of day-to-day operational care provision in absence of Sister - Hospice at Home
• Participate in a 7-day clinical rota Internal relationships
• All hospice clinical and corporate teams
• Registered Nurses, Senior Registered Nurses, Advanced Nurse Practitioners, Clinical Nurse Specialists, Associate Clinical Nurse Specialists, Healthcare Assistants, and Student Nurses in the hospice and community teams
• Medical team
• Multi-disciplinary team

Qualifications
Essential

• A good standard of general education to GCSE level or equivalent
• NMC registration Adult Nurse
• Post graduate palliative care qualification or willingness to work towards

Experience
Essential

• Palliative care knowledge and experience
• Community knowledge and experience
• Awareness, understanding and experience of principles of palliative care
• Recognises the need of evidence-based practice and continued professional development
• An understanding of symptom control in palliative care
• Understanding of clinical governance, knowledge of audit

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