Job summary
Palliative Care Registered Nurse Part time and full-time positions available

Salary £35,779 per annum

Make a difference every day. At St Catherines Hospice, we provide specialist, compassionate palliative and end-of-life care for adults and their families. Were looking for caring, committed registered nurses who want to deliver excellent, person-centred care in a supportive, multidisciplinary environment, living our values of care, compassion and being committed.

Main duties of the job
As a Palliative Care Registered Nurse, you will:

• Deliver safe, holistic, evidence-based nursing care for patients with palliative needs, working closely with our wider MDT (medical, community teams, pharmacy, AHPs, family support, and volunteers).
• Assess, plan, implement and evaluate individualised care plans focused on comfort, dignity and patient/family goals.
• Administer and monitor medicines in line with hospice policies and NMC standards, escalating changes in condition appropriately.
• Communicate sensitively with patients and those important to them, promoting shared decision-making and advance care planning.
• Maintain accurate, timely documentation on our electronic patient record system and contribute to quality improvement, incident reporting and learning.
• Support safe discharge planning and smooth transitions of care across services.

Contract & pattern: The role requires flexibility across day and night shifts and across clinical services. We are currently consulting with colleagues on future shift lengths and ways of working, so some aspects of the working arrangements may be refined as this develops.

About you
Youll be a nurse who thrives on teamwork, professionalism and compassionate care, and who is motivated to keep learning and improving.

You will need to be a registered nurse with current NMC registration and a commitment to delivering high-quality palliative and end-of-life care.

About us
What we offer

• A warm, values-driven culture with supportive clinical leadership and access to specialist palliative care education and regular clinical supervision.
• NHS-pension transfer eligibility (if applicable) or hospice pension.
• Free parking on site
• Well-being support that includes access to free confidential counselling.
• 36 days annual leave (inclusive of bank holidays) pro rata for part time. All staff receive an additional wellbeing day on their birthday or nearest working day. Access to a buy additional leave scheme.
• Life assurance scheme
• Opportunity to join the blue light scheme and cycle to work scheme.

Job responsibilities
Department: Care Directorate
Location: St Catherines Hospice
Responsible to: Sister/Charge Nurse
Salary: £35,779 per annum

Please note: As we are currently consulting on future ways of working, some role details may be subject to change following the consultation process. Job Summary

The post holder will provide individualised specialist palliative and end of life care to adults with life limiting conditions and support their families within the Care Directorate. Care will be delivered in line with the NMC Code, hospice policies and St Catherines Hospice values of care, compassion and commitment. As the Care Directorate provides services across a 24/7 model, including the Inpatient Unit and community services, a flexible approach is essential. The post holder may be rostered to act as Nurse in Charge, leading the safe and effective coordination of the shift within agreed protocols and escalating to the senior clinical team or on-call manager where required. This role will contribute to teaching, supervision, mentoring, quality improvement and research activity within one of the few University Hospices in the country.

Role boundary and leadership expectation
The post holder may coordinate the shift and act as Nurse in Charge when rostered.

The post holder remains professionally accountable for their own practice and for delegated activity undertaken during the shift.

Guide and support the team of Nursing Assistants and Nurse Associate

Main Duties and responsibilities
Duties include:

1. Clinical Care

• Assess, plan, implement, evaluate and review patient centred care using a holistic approach that considers physical, psychological, social, spiritual and emotional needs.
• Deliver safe, compassionate and evidence-based specialist palliative and end of life care in accordance with hospice policies, procedures and professional standards.
• Identify changes or concerns in a patients condition and discuss these promptly with colleagues, the on-call medical team, Team Leader or senior clinical team as appropriate.
• Check and administer prescribed medication in line with hospice medicines management policies, procedures and protocols.
• Maintain accurate, timely and professional patient records in line with data protection requirements, NMC guidance and hospice documentation standards.
• Promote patient choice, dignity, comfort, privacy and individualised care at all times.
• Support patients, families and carers with sensitivity, including during deterioration, dying, care after death and bereavement-related conversations.
• Comply with registration requirements of the NMC and maintain professional revalidation requirements.

2. Nurse in Charge and Shift Coordination

• Act as Nurse in Charge when rostered, leading the safe and effective running of the shift for that day.
• Allocate work according to patient acuity, dependency, risk, staff competence and available resources.
• Guide and support Nursing Assistants and other colleagues on shift, fostering strong teamwork and consistently high standards of patient care.
• Maintain oversight of admissions, transfers, discharges, bed flow and changing patient needs during the shift.
• Coordinate communication with the multidisciplinary team, community colleagues, external agencies and on-call services to support continuity of care.
• Escalate staffing, capacity, safeguarding, medication, infection prevention, clinical deterioration or other safety concerns in a timely way.
• Ensure effective shift handover and clear communication of key risks, priorities and outstanding actions.
• Act as Fire Commander or undertake other designated safety roles when rostered and competent to do so.
• Work within defined limits of authority, seeking advice and support from the Team Leader, senior clinical team or on-call manager where needed.

3. Multidisciplinary Working and Discharge Planning

• Work as an active member of the hospice and wider multidisciplinary team.
• Contribute to assessment, care planning, review and discharge planning discussions.
• Take a lead role in coordinating discharge planning during the shift where appropriate, ensuring communication with patients, families, carers and relevant professionals.
• Liaise effectively with GPs, community teams, hospitals, social care, ambulance services and other partners as required.
• Support safe transitions of care, ensuring relevant information is shared appropriately and in line with confidentiality and information governance requirements.
• Work flexibly across the Care Directorate according to patient need and service requirement.

4. Governance, Safe Practice and Quality

• Promptly report adverse events, accidents, near misses, medication errors and safety concerns through the Vantage system and in line with hospice procedure.
• Support a culture of learning, openness and continuous improvement following incidents, feedback or audit findings.
• Contribute to safer care workstreams, quality improvement, audit, service development and research projects as appropriate to the role.
• Follow hospice policies and procedures relating to medicines management, infection prevention and control, safeguarding, moving and handling, health and safety, fire safety and clinical documentation.
• Maintain a working knowledge of relevant CQC expectations, professional standards and hospice governance arrangements as they apply to the role.
• Identify and escalate risks, including risks related to staffing, patient dependency, safeguarding, clinical care, equipment or the environment.

5. Learning, Development and Supporting Others

• Maintain and update own clinical knowledge and skills to deliver high quality care.
• Attend mandatory training, clinical education and development activity required for the role.
• Participate actively in annual personal development planning, clinical supervision and reflective practice.
• Support the induction, supervision and learning of Nursing Assistants, students, volunteers and new colleagues within agreed competence and role boundaries.
• Share knowledge and contribute to a positive learning environment across the Care Directorate.
• Support community nurses and colleagues under direct supervision or as agreed with the Team Leader or senior clinical team.

6. Communications, Values and Professional Behaviours

• Communicate effectively, respectfully and sensitively with patients, families, carers, colleagues, volunteers and external professionals.
• Demonstrate care, compassion, commitment and integrity in actions and behaviours.
• Promote equality, diversity, inclusion and individual choice in care delivery and team working.
• Maintain professional boundaries, confidentiality and a reliable standard of conduct.
• Be caring, empathic, approachable and willing to work as part of a team.
• Work flexibly and proactively in response to patient and service needs.
• Maintain resilience and seek appropriate support when affected by the emotional demands of palliative care.
• Raise concerns using appropriate routes where patient safety, staff safety or quality of care may be compromised.

Person Specification
Experience
Essential

• Minimum 12 months post-registration experience.
• Experience of prioritising care and managing a patient caseload.
• Experience of working as part of a multidisciplinary team.
• Evidence of supporting safe, compassionate and person-centred care.

Desirable

• Experience of acting as Nurse in Charge or coordinating a shift.
• Experience of palliative care, end of life care, oncology, community or acute care.
• Experience of supporting students, new colleagues, Nursing Assistants or volunteers.
• Experience of contributing to audit, quality improvement or service development.

Personal Qualities and Values
Essential

• Compassionate, professional and values-led approach.
• Flexible and proactive working style.
• Calm and approachable manner under pressure.
• Commitment to personal and professional development.
• Understanding of and demonstrable commitment to the Hospices values as a framework for decisions, actions and behaviours.
• Commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.

Desirable

• Interest in teaching, research, safer care initiatives or quality improvement.

Key Skills and Abilities
Essential

• Ability to act as Nurse in Charge within agreed protocols when rostered.
• Ability to prioritise workload, make appropriate clinical decisions and escalate concerns effectively.
• Basic understanding of medicines commonly used in palliative and end of life care.
• Professional, sensitive and clear verbal and written communication skills.
• Good IT skills and ability to maintain accurate electronic records.
• Ability to support colleagues and promote effective teamwork.
• Emotional resilience to work effectively in a palliative care setting, including care of patients who are dying and care after death.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and professional boundaries.
• Physical ability to safely move and handle patients, with appropriate training, equipment and reasonable adjustments where required.

Desirable

• Good knowledge of pain and symptom management.
• Good understanding of health and safety issues in a clinical environment.
• Understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and its application in care decisions.
• Full UK driving licence and access to a car where required for role deployment.

Qualifications
Essential

• Registered Nurse on the NMC register.
• Evidence of continuing professional development.
• Willingness to complete role-related hospice training and competencies.

Desirable

• Palliative care qualification, diploma or willingness to undertake.
• Mentoring, teaching or assessing qualification or experience.
• Advanced communication qualification

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).

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.