Advanced Clinical Practitioner (Community)

Job responsibilities

Clinical Expert Practice Function

To be both professionally and legally accountable for all work undertaken and to practice at an advanced level of professional autonomy and accountability that is within the NMC codes of conduct, hospice policies/protocols.

To utilise advanced clinical reasoning skills and evidence-based knowledge in the management of patients with highly complex presentations/ symptom management and to be clinically competent to utilise expert skills and knowledge in a variety of clinical settings.

To make independent clinical decisions and initiate investigations, care, treatment and technological intervention within an agreed framework.

Undertake non-medical prescribing in accordance with hospice policy.

Develop and conduct skilled nursing intervention for all palliative care patients assessing their symptoms control needs at an advanced level and addressing issues (psychological and coping mechanisms, social/spiritual/practical/ethical needs and quality of life) within the agreed framework. Ensuring working in partnership with a range of health care professionals as required.

To maintain up to date clinical records in accordance with hospice policy and NMC code Of Conduct.

To participate in the development of clinical expertise in palliative care nursing enabling nurses to develop advanced assessment and decision-making skills (including both the inpatient and community CNS Team).

To work in collaboration with clinical teams/general management, in order to ensure there are defined pathways of care for palliative care patients, facilitating a timely transfer between settings/discharge of patients with appropriate follow up services within the community encouraging continuity of care.

The Professional Leadership

Engage with appropriate agencies as a nurse leader in the development of innovative nursing practice and initiatives.

Act in a consultancy role in promoting the development of advanced nursing practice in collaboration with the Consultant Nurse.

To act as a specialist resource for health care professionals and to provide advice and share information both internally and externally to the organisation.

In partnership with the Director of Clinical Services, contribute to the Clinical Governance agenda within the nursing division, with the aim of securing quality improvements within the inpatient units and the community settings, organisation and local health economy- wide basis.

To work collaboratively with the Director of Clinical Services and Executive Leadership Team both within as well as outside the organization to influence the strategic allocation of resources.

To be able to articulate the significance and potential impact of government policies as they relate to practice and future developments. To actively seek opportunities to influence local and national policy development through clear and precise articulation of patient and service requirements/needs.

To demonstrate confident, competence in direct patient care in terms of working as a peer with other consultant colleagues, seeking further expert clinical advice/ assessment as appropriate.

Act as a role model and advisor for nurses within the organisation and the wider arena as appropriate.

Review policies/SOPs as and when needed

Facilitate discussion of contentious issues where there is disagreement about best treatment and care or where best treatment and care is ethically problematic, unknown or unique.

Instigate and manage specialist interventions used in acute/crisis clinical situations with a nurse led specialist clinical focus:

Preventing and recognizing life-threatening complications through rapid assessment and physical examination.

Maintaining health and supporting life, through the instigation and management of complex and specialty directed interventions.

The Education Training and Development Function

To actively support the training and educational lead on the formulation of plans to meet the training and education needs of staff, at an individual, team and an organizational level.

To facilitate new programs of education and training in partnership with the training and educational lead to facilitate changes within practice as and when required.

To provide learning opportunities for nurses and other health care professionals via clinical supervision and mentorship. This includes providing inter-professional support for all appropriate disciplines of staff.

To contribute to the development of the local undergraduate and postgraduate training programs in order to facilitate the advancement of a structured, evidence-based career progression within the palliative care speciality.

To assist Nurse Leaders within the organisation (e.g. Director of Clinical Services) to develop a culture of empowerment for staff to become accountable for their practice through professional education.

To take a leading role in the development of nursing research within palliative care as well as inform and contribute to the organisations Research and Development Strategy. This includes taking a leading role in the development and preparation of research proposals relevant to palliative care services to attract internal or external grants if appropriate and / or offering support or guidance to students or research teams undertaking projects / studies within this specialty.

Service Development

Together with Director of Clinical Services and Executive Leadership Team to participate in the implementation of palliative care strategies across the organisation incorporating national standards into local practice.

To work in partnership with Nursing Leaders to create, develop and implement guidelines and protocols of care relevant to palliative care services patients and ensure appropriate education programs are created in order to achieve the patient / staff requirements.

To develop innovations between the hospice and other agencies to ensure equity and access to the services as per organisations service agreements.

To ensure that the hospice KPIs involving the specialty services are met. Interpreting clinical policy change as it relates to hospice services and keeping the management as well as the clinical team informed.

To respond to palliative care inpatient and community service user feedback by ongoing evaluation and identification of emerging trends, being a key member of any initiative bringing about service change / development / redesign.

To take a strategic view of the delivery of care within the specialty and how other specialties can combine to improve patient experience and outcome.

Communication

To be able to motivate and persuade others through advanced communication skills.

To make all reasonable efforts to resolve verbal complaints as they occur and ensure in-depth knowledge of the hospices formal complaints procedure can be demonstrated as and when required.

To be able to demonstrate an expert ability to communicate highly sensitive / complex information to patients, relatives, carers and other staff, where there may be barriers to communication (e.g. hostility, language or learning difficulties). This must be done ensuring confidentiality at all times and sensitivity to the recipient/s level of understanding and/or knowledge.

Planning and Organisation

To flexibly manage ...