JOB DESCRIPTION. Staff Nurse Children s Hospice at Home. Head of Children s Services. Director of Patient Care. Dartford

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1 JOB DESCRIPTION JOB TITLE: RESPONSIBLE TO: ACCOUNTABLE TO: HOURS: BASE: Staff Nurse Children s Hospice at Home Head of Children s Services Director of Patient Care Full-time Dartford POST SPECIFICATION: General ellenor is a specialist palliative care provider for adults and children in the North of West Kent, and for children in the London Borough of Bexley and South West Kent. The organisation has in-patient and day therapy facilities at Gravesend, a comprehensive Hospice at Home service for children and adults and a range of outpatient and community services, all supported and delivered through a multi-disciplinary team approach. The ellenor children s team provides specialist palliative care at home. We operate an on call service 365 days a year 24 hours a day for advice, support and emergency assistance if appropriate. Our team includes Specialist Nurses, Nursery Nurses, Health Care Assistants, Youth/ transition worker, music and play therapist, and volunteers who assist and support the family, providing specialist advice and support, short breaks and nursing care where appropriate. Job Summary: Working as part of an integrated multidisciplinary team the purpose of this role is to ensure the highest possible standard of holistic care for children and young people with support for their families and those closest to them; thereby facilitating the optimum quality of life for children, young people and their families with life limiting/ life threatening conditions. This role will be to provide active care to children, young people and their families including the management of distressing symptoms, care through 1

2 death and bereavement and the provision of short breaks through the referral to our short break service within ellenor. This will be achieved in collaboration with children, young people and their families through provision of specialist palliative care nursing interventions based on comprehensive holistic assessment, agreement of goal focused care planning and education and support. Duties and Responsibilities: Clinical Practice 1. To work as part of a multi-disciplinary team providing a high standard of community based nursing care to children, young people and families with life threatening or life limiting illness. 2. Provide a full range of nursing interventions including venepuncture and chemotherapy to enable children and young people to remain at home 3. To ensure that holistic care is family centred, needs led, evidence based and meets all statutory requirements. 4. To provide care which maintains and respects the dignity and wishes of the child or young person at all times. 5. To ensure that equality and diversity are a top priority in the care of children & young people and their families. 6. To ensure the children, young people and families preferred place of care is clearly discussed and identified and advanced care plans are in place wherever possible. 7. To make proactive patient referrals to appropriate alternative internal or external services. 8. To assess, plan, implement and evaluate care plans to meet the diverse and individual needs of children and families, reporting these back to the team as appropriate. 9. To contribute to the care management of families as directed by the Head of Childrens Care and Clinical Nurse Specialists. This includes managing referrals, ongoing and annual reviews, Advance care planning and transition plans. 10. To ensure that all risks associated with care delivery are assessed and managed effectively and that all incidents are reported promptly following the policy and procedure. 2

3 11. To actively promote the rehabilitative and therapeutic approach to specialist palliative care. 12. To participate in a seven day per week operational service including out of hours provision. 13. To support the work of the Respite Team and Transition Worker as part of ongoing service development. 14. Ensure that any Safeguarding concerns are highlighted appropriately to Head of Care and designated Safeguarding lead, ensuring the appropriate actions are followed. 15. To participate in external meetings and reviews including Child in Need, Safeguarding, Education Health and Care Planning meetings. 16. To share professional expertise with the multi-disciplinary team, providing support and training where appropriate. 17. Liaise with all internal and external colleagues to ensure smooth communication of patient information and work collaboratively with other care providers to ensure the needs of the child and family are met appropriately. 18. Act as patient advocate in line with NMC guidance. 19. Ensure all care is documented clearly in the electronic patient notes and completed in line with mandatory legal requirements, in particular that it is accurate and contemporaneous. Also ensure that care is documented in notes held at home. 20. Take an active role in preparation and participation in the weekly MDT patient review meetings. Professional Development, Education and Training To take responsibility for attending Statutory & Mandatory and hospice training in line with organisational policy and current legislation To participate in the ongoing educational programme of the Hospice by attending in-house study days and courses as appropriate. To take responsibility for self development, identifying training and education needs with team leader. To act as a role model for team members and participate in staff development initiatives as appropriate. 3

4 To assist in orientation programmes for new members of staff. To act as a mentor as appropriate. To keep abreast of current advances in nursing practice and research. To take responsibility for his/her own professional updating to maintain clinical competencies relevant to the role of children s Staff Nurse To actively participate in research projects as required. To participate as an active member of any Practice Development Working Parties/Project Teams in an area of clinical interest, thus ensuring that up to date, evidence based nursing practice is achieved and maintained. Audit & Quality To be aware of new developments in children s palliative care. To participate in nursing and inter-disciplinary audit projects. To participate in the hospice Clinical Governance programme. Professional Conduct Each Registered Nurse is responsible for his/her own actions and practice and is accountable to patients and those close to them for the care he/she administers he/she must abide by the code of professional conduct as laid down by the NMC. Internal Communication To promote at all levels, the ellenor vision, values and strategic objectives. To utilise the channels of communication developed across the organisation in order to be fully informed and engaged with service developments. Health and Safety The post holder has responsibility to take reasonable care of self and others in relation to managing risk, health and safety and will be required to work within the appropriate policies and procedures. This job description is not intended to be restrictive, but is an outline of the main duties. The job description will be reviewed periodically to take into account developments in the organisation, department or role General To be aware of the philosophy of ellenor and to behave as a fit representative To abide by the ellenor general confidentiality policy 4

5 To keep abreast of and work in accordance with hospice policies as outlined in the staff handbook, the P Drive and/or policy folders held in each department. To undertake bi-annual performance review when personal development plan will be discussed To attend statutory and specialised training when required Postholder s Name.. Postholder s Signature Date. Manager s Name Manager s Signature.. Date This Job Description will be regularly reviewed 5