People at the Heart. One Team. Your Career at WWL.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Duties and Responsibilities
Planning and Organisational Duties

• Plan and organise the day-to-day management of the Emergency Care Centre in the absence of the Senior Sister, by co-ordinating the activities of the team and deploying resources effectively.
• To undertake additional training to develop extended skills as appropriate e.g. nurse generated x-rays, and PGD’s, clinical examination skills, digital nerve blocks, suturing, reduction of cerain digital dislocations and interpretation of certain diagnostic tests.
• Allocates / deploys staff, both medical and nursing in response to service demand and patient needs.
• Organises, reviews and adjusts staff rosters in accordance with departmental requirements.
• Arrange the reception, transfer and discharge of patients in accordance with policies and procedures.
• Responsible for ensuring compliance with local and national targets
• Implements best practice and delivery of a high standard of nursing care.
• Recognise and respond appropriately to issues, which require urgent or immediate attention, reporting to other members of the multi-disciplinary/ senior staff as necessary.
• To ensure patients valuable and belongings are documented and managed in accordance with the Trusts policies and procedures.
• Ensure risk recognition and management of risk in the clinical environment as appropriate.
• Responsibility to keep self organisationally and departmentally updated through attendance at appropriate meeting.
• Seek appropriate advice for clinical and managerial problems beyond your scope of professional knowledge and/or skill.
• Ensure all staff are aware of major incident / decontamination procedure

Communications and Key Working Relationships

• Perform triage and a comprehensive assessment of the patients nursing needs, plan, implement and evaluate care delivery in accordance with their individual health care needs and varying level of complexity.
• Support the delivery of nursing care, ensure safe discharge, referral or transfer to other areas.
• Support the provision of health education during patient consultations.
• Ensure that patients are properly informed about their condition, treatment and expected outcomes.
• Ensure the accurate maintenance of records is compliant with legal, professional and organisational standards.
• Collect, analyse and evaluate information, report and act in accordance with unit protocols and guidelines.
• Maintain effective communication, both written and verbal with all professional colleagues, hospital departments and other agencies.
• Work in close collaboration with members of multidisciplinary team to ensure that patient needs and service demands are met.
• Maintains safe administration of medicines, concordant with the NMC and Trust policies.
• Supervise and direct the work of staff and support workers by taking responsibility in ensuring that instructions regarding ongoing patient care needs are followed.
• Recognise and respond appropriately to urgent and emergency situations.
• Responsibility to maintain their professional accountability and self-development through the practice of safe standards in compliance with the NMC Code of Conduct.
• Records and reports accidents and untoward incidents as per policy and actively carries out steps to minimise further risk as appropriate.
• To ensure effective communication and sensitivity is maintained when dealing with people regarding difficult matters and/or in difficult situations, in highly complex situations with both patients and relatives, e.g. sudden bereavement, violence and aggression.
• To manage highly complex patient needs in resuscitation e.g. trauma, cardiac arrest, thrombolysis, intubated patients, sudden death and paediatric acute illness.
• Support staff in dealing with sudden, traumatic difficult situations.
• Responds to complaints and takes appropriate action.
• To receive patients directly with undiagnosed minor injuries / illness. Assess, diagnose, prescribe and treat those patients consulting with senior colleagues as necessary.
• Ensure effective verbal and written communication both within the department and with relevant external agencies or individuals, ensuring confidentiality is maintained.
• Utilise the trusts IT resources appropriately and in adherence to policies and procedures.
• Maintain legible and accurate records.

Responsibility for Finance

• Contribute to ensuring the effective use of all resources.
• Assist in the maintenance of the stock levels and work within the resources available. Bring to the attention of senior staff any potential efficiency savings or anticipated budgetary pressures.
• Ordering of stock as required.

Responsibility for Human Resources

• Responsible for the day-to-day management and supervision of a group of staff.
• Adhere to Trust policies and maintenance of the professional Code of Conduct.
• Participates in the recruitment and selection of staff.
• Participate in the IPR/PDP process, undertaking the IPR/PDP of staff
• Assist the senior staff in ensuring that all newly appointed staff receive an induction to the department and obtain mentorship as appropriate.
• Act as a role model and leader by means of personal example and direct involvement in the activities of the department.
• Implements the department’s sickness notification policy and assists in the Trusts attendance management policy.
• Ensure that staff understand and adhere to the relevant policies, procedures and guidelines.
• Contributes to the development and the implementation of policies, procedures and guidelines.

Responsibility for Health & Safety

Compliance with the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 – the post holder is required to fulfil a proactive role towards the management of risk in all of their actions. This entails the risk assessment of all situations, the taking of appropriate actions and reporting of all incidents, near misses and hazards, and a statutory duty of care for their own personal safety and that of others who may be affected by their acts or omissions.

Responsibility for Teaching

The post holder will promote life-long learning through the use of appropriate coaching, teaching and assessment in practice:

• Maintain an awareness of current identified best practice within the relevant sphere of nursing.
• Critically analyse research to inform nursing practice and implement such research into care if appropriate.
• Participate in multi-disciplinary audit as required.
• Facilitate a supportive learning environment for all levels of staff.
• Undertake the role of mentor/preceptor/supervisor to other members of the departmental team.
• Assist members of the departmental team to identify their own training and development needs and support them in achieving individual goals.
• Formally assess the competence of staff and students producing verbal and written reports as required by the appropriate agencies.
• Maintain a responsibility to keep oneself updated to ensure competence and develop own clinical knowledge.
• Participate in teaching/training sessions to all grades of staff.
• Act in accordance with the NMC professional code of conduct.