Advanced Clinical Practitioner

Job responsibilities

The post holder is expected to be able to:

Hold sole responsibility for a range of duties, relevant to post.

• Works unsupervised, clinically examining and assessing patients and initiating any appropriate action.
• Make independent, autonomous clinical decisions relating to patient condition and treatment / care. May require minimal support and will be expected to obtain support from GPs to make decisions, which may be outside their scope of clinical knowledge.
• Exercise significant discretion in the delivery of this role, being guided by policies and procedures and implementing appropriate action in order to achieve expected results. Proposes and implements appropriate changes to policy / service provision as consequence of interpretation of local and/or national guidance/research findings.

Core Duties and Responsibilities

Advanced clinical practice / direct patient care

• Takes responsibility for providing care and treatment in line with current evidence base, at an advanced clinical practice level, demonstrating the ability to make critical judgements and problem-solving, regarding patient pathways, on a daily basis, for a distinct caseload of patients.
• Initiates and carries out highly complex patient assessment, analyses and interprets results, using highly developed advanced knowledge and skills that includes comprehensive patient history and health assessment, physical examination, clinical measurements using advanced clinical skills, detailed medicines history, undertaking and interpreting range of tests / investigations.
• Prescribe and review medication for therapeutic effectiveness, appropriate to patient needs and in accordance with evidence-based practice and national and practice protocols, and within scope of practice
• Discusses and agrees assessment outcomes with patients, carers and other health professionals, to enable them to make informed decisions regarding treatment and care, and initiates appropriate, timely consultation and/or referral, when more expert input is required
• Rapidly and continuously evaluates patients changing condition and response to therapeutic interventions and modifies plan of care for optimal patient outcome

Communication and relationships

• Establishes and maintains excellent communication, with individuals/ groups, providing and receiving highly complex, sensitive and/or contentious information and exploring complex issues across a wide range of care options and decisions
• Uses highly developed communication skills to provide guidance, advice and support to the patient/carer regarding management of their health/illness condition and its impact on patients/carers life
• Communicates complex, very sensitive, sometimes distressing information to patient/carer using empathy and reassurance; identifies and overcome barriers to understanding as appropriate
• Provides verbal and written information to patient, to enable them to give informed consent for treatment and obtains written consent for specified procedures, using highly developed specialist knowledge
• Establishes supportive partnerships with patients/carers and communicates with them, sometimes in highly distressing or emotional circumstances, which may involve imparting bad news
• In all aspects of work, challenges and demonstrates an ability to work autonomously across organisational and professional boundaries
• Establishes and maintains local and regional network of contacts sharing good practice, innovative ideas, promotes developments.

Leadership personal and people development

• Acts as a visible advanced practice role model by demonstrating high standards of care having both advisory and clinical input into care and treatment.
• Acts in such a way as to be a credible, effective leader, demonstrating values-based clinical leadership, on a daily basis.
• Take responsibility for own learning and performance including participating in clinical supervision and acting as a positive role model
• Support staff development to maximise potential
• Encourage others to make realistic self-assessment of their application of knowledge and skills, challenging any complacency or actions that are not in the interest of the public and/or users of services
• Critically evaluate and review innovations and developments that are relevant to the area of work
• Enlist support and influence stakeholders and decision-makers to bring about new developments in the provision of services
• Contribute to the development of local guidelines, protocols and standards
• Maintain effective communication with those responsible for the overall commissioning and procurement process
• Maintain active involvement in the planning and processes of practice-based commissioning or similar initiatives
• Promote the role of the advanced nurse practitioner in general practice

Education /Professional

• Actively engages in continuous professional development in line with advanced clinical practice role and service development, maintains a suitable CPD record and ensures adheres to revalidation requirements
• Develops and delivers relevant specialist teaching for all disciplines and levels of staff, patient and carer groups within Trust, in relation to own area of expertise. This will include development of links with other organisations.
• Uses high-level communication skills and contributes to wider development of those working in their area of practice by disseminating best practice, regionally, nationally and internationally.
• Generates and applies new knowledge to own and others practice.

Evaluation and research

• Initiates, facilitates and leads change at individual, team, Practice levels, in order to improve practice and health outcomes, consistent with national and international standards.
• Continually evaluates and audits practice at individual and systems levels, selecting and applying valid and reliable approaches and methods, appropriate to needs and context, and acts on findings.
• Frequently critically appraises and synthesises outcomes of relevant research and evaluations and applies them to improve practice.
• Regularly involved in the initiation and implementation of research and clinical audit activities in own area and takes action, based on results of these activities, to ensure patient care is optimised

Delivering a quality service

• Recognise and work within own competence and professional code of conduct as regulated by your registered body i.e. NMC/GPhC/HCPC
• Produce accurate, contemporaneous and complete records of patient consultation, consistent with legislation, policies and procedures
• Prioritise, organise and manage own workload in a manner that maintains and promotes quality
• Deliver care according to NSF, NICE guidelines and evidence-based care
• Assess ...