Job summary
An exciting opportunity has arisen to join us and work within a friendly, supportive and innovative team on Acute Medical Short Stay Unit (AMSSU) at Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

The unit admits patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week from the Emergency Department & Medical Same Day Emergency Care (MSDEC) and Acute Medical Unit (AMU)

The primary role of AMSSU is to provide investigation and treatment for medical conditions as well as providing on going care and facilitating safe transfer and discharge out of the Department. We work closely with the Emergency Department, MSDEC and AMU, in order to improve and maximise patient flow.

We are passionate about improving our service and delivering high quality, individual care to our patients. Our staff are at the centre of everything we do. We engage with, and invest in, our nursing teams, creating an environment where all staff feel valued. We offer support throughout your time with us, with regular personal developmental reviews and individual objectives to support professional and personal development within the department.

Main duties of the job
The successful applicant will be required to work and manage all areas within the department and demonstrate a professional manner, clinical expertise and good communication skills in all aspects of their work. You must be comfortable working in a busy environment, juggling the different demands typical of a nursing role, managing flow from AMSSU to the rest of the hospital and must possess the courage to do what is right for our patients. You will be required to support the ward manager with staff development, appraisals and sickness management. Ideally, the successful candidate will need a mentorship qualification to undertake and support student nurses on the unit.

About us
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is a large acute and specialised hospital trust that provides a range of local acute services to the residents of Worcestershire and more specialised services to a larger population in Herefordshire and beyond.

The Trust operates hospital-based services from three sites in Kidderminster, Redditch and Worcester

Our workforce is more than 7,000 strong, and our caring staff are recognised as providing good and outstanding patient-centred care. You could be one of them.

We are committed to recruiting the best people to work with us. Our values, which we ask all staff to demonstrate, underpin our everyday work and remain firmly at the heart of all we do.

Being open and honest
Ensuring people feel cared for
Showing respect to everyone

We are committed to developing a culture of continuous improvement by embedding the principles of our Improvement System.

We are proud to have achieved Timewise accreditation - this means we are committed to embedding flexible working within our organisation as a flex positive employer.

DBS Checks and Costs
Any applicants who are offered posts requiring a DBS check as part of their employment check will have the cost of this check (at the current rate) deducted from their salary. Please see link in Supporting Information section for more details on DBS checks and costs.

Job responsibilities

• Responsibilities for establishing and maintaining communication and relationship both internally and externally.
• Establish and maintain effective communication and foster good working relationships with all multidisciplinary teams, both internal and external.
• Provide and receive complex and / or sensitive information from patients and staff. For example, breaking bad news to patients, giving complex information about procedures and their outcomes, dealing with performance issues, holding staff meetings. Able to support and talk to distressed patients, visitors, and staff members.
• Responsible for cascading information to ward staff and chairing staff meetings from which minutes are provided
• Make use of electronic internal / external mail and Internet systems as appropriate and necessary.
• Deal effectively with comments, complaints, or incidents that affect staff and users of the ward in accordance with complaints, risk management, or human resources procedures.
• Bring to the attention of the Senior Sister/Charge any factors which may adversely affect patient care or service provision.
• Report all serious incidents to the appropriate Manager/Director within 24 hours; these include Never Events, serious falls, and grade 3 or 4 pressure ulcers.
• Be knowledgeable about the specific care requirements of patients who may be admitted to the area.
• Be knowledgeable about current infection control procedures and policies and ensure all staff and visitors adhere to these at all times.
• Be knowledgeable about the risks of infection and take responsibility for minimising cross infection within the clinical environment, assist in giving information and placing patients appropriately.
• Be knowledgeable about all aspects of Acute Medical care.
• Ensure that patient care is evidence based and that the patients journey is streamlined.
• Use a wide range of knowledge in determining at the time of assessment or admission, the most appropriate and safe patient pathway.
• Identify, assess, and act accordingly at any point on the pathway including discharge when patients are no longer meeting the agreed appropriate and safe patient pathway.
• Assess and act upon potential problems or issues to ensure a safe, effective environment for staff, patients, and visitors.
• Identify, analyse, and act upon staff situations when there is conflict and / or deviation from Trust or local policies and procedures.
• Identify, analyse, action and discuss with Senior Sister/Charge Nurse as appropriate any change management issues that arise. Planning and organisational skills
• Assist in planning of duty rotas or alter planned rotas to ensure maximum service delivery, standards of patient care and human, and resource management. Use e-rostering as it becomes available.
• Assist Senior Sister/Charge Nurse by utilising available resources to ensure safe and effective patient care e.g. periods of unplanned staff absence and / or equipment failure.
• Be aware of Trust financial position and target objectives and ensure that ward area is as effective as possible in meeting these objectives.
• Work with the multi disciplinary team to streamline care and shorten patient length of stay.
• Work with the multi disciplinary team towards protocol led discharge for suitable patients.
• Participate in Directorate/Departmental Sisters meetings
• Be involved in practice development and patient experience issues.
• Oversee set patient care programmes in accordance with agreed policies, using expert nursing experience and skills.
• Ensure that safe and effective nursing care is delivered, this to be in accordance with Trust policies and best practice guidelines, also Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) Codes of Practice and guidelines.
• Act as a role model when carrying out and demonstrating demonstrating nursing care and procedures.
• Ensure all staff carry out all appropriate general risk assessments within 24 hours of admission document and plan care accordingly e.g. manual handling, pressure risks, slips trips and falls, nutrition.
• Ensure clinical staff assess the conditions of patients within the clinical area, ensuring that signs and symptoms are acted upon accordingly and in a timely fashion.
• Ensure clinical area staff effectively manage the admission, transfer, and discharge of patients while incorporating other relevant Trust policies, for example Patients Property.
• Ensure clinical area staff carry out appropriate nutritional risk assessments and follow current policies as indicated e.g. red tray policy, protected mealtimes.
• Ensure clinical area staff participate in delivery of meals to patients and take responsibility for monitoring and recording dietary and fluid intake for group of patients.
• Undertake nurse led services which will include autonomous nurse led discharge within defined protocols where appropriate.
• Supervision of, and participation in the discharge planning system and process and deal with speciality or complex plans of care by liaison with community nursing services and other agencies.
• Work with patients, carers/relatives, nursing and other healthcare professionals in secondary care to promote timely discharge, through appropriate discharge planning.
• Provide telephone advice to patients and / or their carers as appropriate
• Provide expert advice and support to colleagues in the care and management of patients within speciality.
• Actively contribute to the health and well being of patients by promoting health through a number of methods e.g. healthy eating, exercise and smoking cessation.
• Ensure accurate, comprehensive contemporaneous and clear documentation of patients care.
• Ensure that own and others written reports are in accordance with Trust policy and NMC guidelines
• Be familiar with the policy for safe administration of prescribed therapies, including Medicines Management, Intravenous Therapy, Patient Group Directives, clinical guidelines for example Diabetes, Warfarin.
• Demonstrate the ability to safely monitor and provide care for the patient once therapies have been administered.
• At all times act in accordance with Trust policies, procedures and guidelines and NMC Codes of Practice standards and guidelines.
• Be aware of and support policies and procedures existing and being introduced throughout the Trust
• Assist Senior Sister/Charge Nurse by cascading information and new policies and guidelines to staff in the clinical area
• Represent clinical area at forums and meetings as requested by Senior Sister/Charge Nurse.
• Assist Senior Sister/Charge Nurse in staff appraisal and the progress of staff while completing goals and development plans.
• Assist Senior Sister/Charge Nurse in the formulation of induction and training programmes and assist in the delivery of these to staff and learner nurses.
• Undertake agreed mandatory training and to seek out opportunities to enhance knowledge, skills and develop practice.
• Participate in the teaching and development of staff and ensure records kept of all training activities within the department. Ensure these records are sent to the Training department to maintain the ESR (electronic staff record).
• Ensure risk assessment of working environment and conditions, equipment, chemicals and activities is routinely carried out within the department.
• Assist Senior Sister/Charge Nurse by ensuring supplies are managed in accordance with budgetary limits and constraints, including regular stock reviews, to ensure best value from supplies and to set stock limits.
• Work within Productive Ward principles to ensure storage is Well Organised (WOW).
• Assist Senior Sister/Charge Nurse with staff training to ensure they are competent in the use and care of special equipment, maintain details on the Medical Devices register within the ward.
• Ensure that all equipment within the department is serviced and maintained on a regular basis and that records are kept.
• Report and assist Senior Sister/Charge Nurse in management of health & safety issues within the ward area.
• Assist Senior Sister in ensuring an adequate nursing skill mix to cover the 24 hour period.
• Authorised signatory for timesheets on a shift by shift basis.
• Contribute to the drawing up of department budgets, capital bids and new services.
• Inform the Senior Sister/Charge Nurse of any changes, which affect the standards of care, the service delivery, or have an impact on the budget.
• Ensure the ordering, safe custody, usage, and recording of drugs within agreed Trust policy.
• Assist Senior Sister/Charge Nurse in compiling duty rosters and ensuring allocation is organised appropriate to staff experience and skill mix to effectively manage workload and patient dependency.
• Participate in staff recruitment and retention, training and education.
• Assist Senior Sister/Charge Nurse in ensuring an appropriate learning environment, which meets university requirements, and that systems are in place to allow all levels of learner to be taught, supervised and assessed appropriately.
• Assist Senior Sister/Charge Nurse in development of staff induction programmes and ward teaching programmes.
• Assist Senior Sister Charge Nurse in ensuring that systems are in place for maintaining practical schemes for mentorship, preceptorship and clinical supervision.
• Assist Senior Sister/ Charge Nurse in ensuring that preceptorship periods are kept within an agreed timeframe and that accelerated progression is applied as appropriate for newly qualified bad 5 staff.
• Assist Senior Sister /Charge Nurse in ensuring all staff undergo competency assessments both initially (when new to ward) and update these regularly in line with Corporate Nursing recommendations.

Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential

• Registered Nurse on sub part 1 or 2 of the professional register
• First degree or willingness to undertake
• Evidence of continuing education
• NMC recognised Mentorship qualification
• Specific speciality related qualification/equivalent experience

Desirable

• Teaching and Assessing Qualification
• Higher Degree
• Completed leadership & management programme

Personal Qualities
Essential

• Able to work in a team
• Ability to think clearly under pressure
• Ability to provide leadership and support to junior members of the team
• Able to deal with the emotional aspects of the post e.g terminal illness, trauma, chronic/critical illness
• Able to deal with exposure to bereavement and challenging behaviour
• Enthusiastic & assertive. Demonstrates attention to detail
• Motivated
• Able to work under own initiative within boundaries of role

Skills and knowledge
Essential

• Good organisational/time management skills
• Ability to record and deal with accurate facts, figures and information
• Able to interpret and adhere to Trust and departmental policies protocols, procedures and guidelines
• Effective communicator both written and verbal
• Ability to problem solve
• Ability to prioritise work
• Flexible to change in demands of service
• Willing to learn new skills
• Ability to identify personal development needs
• Computer literate
• Ability to support unregistered staff/students
• Ability to identify and manage risk Competent to administer intravenous medication
• NMC Code, its application to practice and requirements of it for own practice and behaviour
• Knowledge of person centred care. Understands actions necessary to promote peoples equality, diversity & rights.

Desirable

• Competent to undertake Venepuncture/Cannulation if appropriate

Experience
Essential

• Can demonstrate a specific interest in area of work
• Experience of managing and supervising staff

Desirable

• Proven knowledge base/experience in speciality
• Experience of appraising staff

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).

We are committed to developing a culture of continuous improvement by embedding the principles of our Improvement System.
We are proud to have achieved Timewise accreditation - this means we are committed to embedding flexible working within our organisation as a flex positive employer.