Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Professional/Clinical Responsibilities

• Act in accordance with the General Dental Council, (and other)

Relevant professional codes of practice and statutory guidelines and be accountable for your actions at all times.

• Work clinically for at least 90% of contracted hours

• Work with the Senior Staff to ensure high standards of clinical care are

Delivered to patients

• Undertake appropriate training and practice to ensure you have the right skills and are competent.
• Are responsible for keeping the environment clutter free, clean and raising issues of concern in the interest of staff and patient safety.

Information Management

• Input, store and provide information and data using agreed procedures and in line with Trust Policy and Data Protection and Confidentiality Legislation.
• Uses appropriate methods to obtain and record data when required
• Stores data and information safely and in a way that allows for retrieval within appropriate time-scales

Education and Professional Development

• Continue own personal professional development and actively participate in activities for further professional development as agreed with the Dental Nurse Manager, and which are in line with the current practice of dentistry, teaching and legislation.
• Prepare and participate in the annual performance review and appraisal.
• Ensure continuous update of knowledge and training in medical devices, including working knowledge of the dental chair, dental chair accessories and other dental equipment.
• Reflect on performance within own role and professional boundaries and maintain a professional portfolio to reflect evidence based practice.
• Undertake Trust mandatory training e.g. fire, basic life support, manual handling etc
• Keep up to date with developments and participate in practical dental  training sessions, where available.
• Generate and use appropriate learning opportunities and apply own learning to the development of the dental service
• Actively promote the workplace as a learning environment. Encouraging everyone to learn from each other and from good practice.
• Alert Senior Clinicians and the Dental Nurse Manager to issues which may affect learning, development and clinical performance.
• Provide support and guidance to members of the  team when the need arises and at the appropriate time.
• Implement learning and development programmes that are consistent with good learning practice and are in line with current legislation, policy and procedure.
• Keep up to date with current legislation
• Monitor the effectiveness of programmes and use the outcomes to suggest changes to improve future training delivery..

Communication

• Communicate with a range of people on a daily basis some of whom may have communication barriers.
• Act as a role model for effective communication to junior staff and feedback to line manager when communication is considered inappropriate.
• Assist with communication problems which may be presented by patients or their relatives and help the dental undergraduates to resolve these issues.
• Communicate with patients and their relatives in a polite and confident manner
• Develop and maintain communication with people, staff and multidisciplinary teams about difficult matters and/or in difficult situations.
• Disseminate information to staff, patients and dental undergraduates, where necessary.

• Participate in departmental team meetings and promote own thoughts and ideas
• Liaise with Clinicians, and the Dental Nurse Manager on matters relating to dental undergraduate clinical training and support

Health, Safety and Security

• Maintain knowledge of Health and Safety regulations, including COSHH and its application in an Outreach setting, infection control policies, fire regulations, medical emergency procedures, and incident reporting.
• Develop, promote and maintain an environment and culture that improves health, safety and security.
• Identify processes and systems which promote own and others health, safety and security in the work environment.
• Take appropriate action when there are issues with health, safety and security.
• Make the Dental Nurse Manager aware when there are persistent issues which put health, safety and security at risk; ensuring that all trainees engage in appropriate exercises and training to update and extend knowledge and skills

Service Improvement

• Contribute to the development of clinical governance.
• Participate in reviews of current systems and approaches, identifying and evaluating areas for potential improvement and suggesting ideas for changes to the Dental Nurse Manager and Senior clinicians.
• Participate in team meetings and present ways of implementing improvements in the quality and delivery of dental services.
• In conjunction with senior colleagues in the interdisciplinary team, be aware of the need for change, the implications of any change and be an effective change agent.