Detailed job description and main responsibilities

·         Work in partnership with the multidisciplinary team to ensure the health needs of the children and young people within special schools are met.

·         To autonomously provide and maintain a high standard of nursing care to the children and young people with complex nursing needs attending Special Schools within Croydon through direct clinical nursing care including; enteral feeding, tracheostomy care, seizure management, non-invasive ventilation, administration of medications, intermittent catheterisation and wound care. 

·         Support junior nursing and health colleagues in the delivery of clinical care at St Giles School by undertaking the supervisory role of the Nurse in Charge of the daily clinical shift. 

·         To provide training and supervision to nursing and support staff as delegated by the CNS’s and Matron.

·         To promote the mental, physical and emotional health of children with physical and learning disabilities liaising with parents/carers, teachers and the multi-disciplinary team.

·         To undertake health assessments, to identify the health needs of individual children, implementing and evaluating programmes of care, referring as necessary to other professionals. 

·         Work with parents and specialist teams to produce personalised care plans and risk assessments which are evidence based for pupils with complex health needs and long term conditions. 

·         To ensure effective transition for young people with learning disabilities from children’s to adult services.

·         Ensure the timely completion of Education, Health and Care plans for your allocated caseload.

·         To teach children about their medical needs enabling them to care for themselves and promote their independence.

·         To adhere to all cold chain guidelines and report any concerns immediately and act on concerns reported by junior team members.

·         To follow the Croydon Health Services (CHS) and PAN London Safeguarding Children’s Board procedures to safeguard children, taking on the role of lead professional for children subject to child protection plans or who are looked after and attend a Croydon special school, completing annual health assessments, attending multi-agency reviews, ensuring their holistic healthcare needs are met.

·         Delivery of health promotion and health education within the Special Schools, in conjunction with the National Curriculum. Contribute to the delivery and evaluation of the health promotion programmes within the school. 

·         Ensure that medical devices are maintained as per Trust policy. 

·         To escort children to hospital depending on the severity of their condition, if required. 

·         Ensure that daily safety checks are carried out within the clinical departments to ensure constant delivery of safe nursing care

·         Identify risks and act to reduce and manage these, ensuring effective clinical governance when delivering care within the service, escalating concerns as needed to the Clinical Service Lead.

·         To ensure self and team maintain accurate and contemporaneous manual and electronic records in all aspects of care provision to promote continuity and partnership, in line with CHS policies and NMC record keeping guidelines.

·         Plan and provide appropriate learning experiences for Students offering supervision and development during placements, acting as a mentor and completing relevant documentation. 

·         To utilise research findings and evidence based practice to inform clinical decision making, demonstrating an evidence-based approach to practice to enable the development of a high standard of service provision.

·         Undertake home visits in accordance with the Trust’s Health & Safety Policy, in relation to lone working.

·         Exercise accountability as set out in The NMC Code maintaining personal competencies and ensuring professional development.

·         Work autonomously within trust and professional guidelines with management support as requested within the scope of good management practice using their own professional judgement to identify solutions to a range of day-to-day problems, seeking advice where appropriate from the service lead in the first instance.