NursingNetUK

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The post holder has responsibility for the critical care unit in the absence of the Band 6, utilises the unit’s  resources to promote excellence in practice and promotes and expedites quality issues relevant to the service.
Acts as an expert within the specialism of critical care. Empowers the nursing staff and other allied health care professionals to develop the highest possible levels of clinical skills and facilitates communication with all care  groups

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Organises the daily operation running of the critical care unit to meet the needs of the service. Coordinates care delivery with an ability to change the care pathway management as required within the critical care unit clinical management plans.

2. Responsible for the care and treatment of all patient care delivery within the critical care unit when in charge of the shift through the development and delivery of patient care pathways and when the
patient’s level of critical care dependency changes. Performs clinical care using the NMC code of professional conduct Trust & unit guidelines or clinical management plans agreed with the primary clinician.

3. Ensures that communication is effective enabling that communicative issues in the sending and receiving of such information is conveyed and received in such a manner as to foster excellent relationships between clinicians, allied health care professional, patients and relatives. In addition the post-holder must be able to effectively use verbal and non-verbal communication skills successfully to convey the information.

4. Maintain own specialist knowledge and clinical skills within the field of critical care nursing participating in direct patient care and uphold evidence of PREP as required by the NMC. The post-holder must be
able to demonstrate dextrous skills during clinical practice and the capability to manage periods of intense physical effort during the shift.

5. The post-holder will be able to underpin applied theoretical knowledge to practice utilising analytical and judgemental skills in a variety of situations to determine direct patient care. The ability to concentrate on tasks for unpredictable periods of time is essential for this post.

6. Participates in quality initiatives and audit as necessary with supervision of senior critical care staff.

7. Accountable for the safe use of medical devices for all personnel within the critical care department during the shift.

8. Responsible for the clinical supervision of all staff working within the critical care unit for the duration of the duty. This responsibility will include, education and training, CPD, discipline, sickness.

9.Participates in the resource management of appropriate management information systems covering patient data and manpower activities.

10. Maintains patient records to ensure information is accurate and up to date for future reference and complies with the Data Protection Act, prepares care plan to ensure the delivery of effective patient care.

11. Participates in audits and research to fulfil the requirements of the organisation and the critical care unit.

12. Provides effective support mechanisms to staff, relatives and patients during distressing and stressful circumstances.

13. Responsible for COSH within the critical care unit and is expected to be frequently exposed to unpleasant working conditions but responsible for promoting a safe environments for staff patients and visitors to the critical care unit.

RISK MANAGEMENT & NHSLA GOOD PRACTICE

Risk Management involves all staff identifying circumstances and practices which put patients at risk of harm, and then acting to both prevent and control these risks.

Staff are required to improve the quality of care by identifying, reporting and analysing actual and potential adverse events through the trust’s Clinical Incident Reporting system.

Central to every clinician’s practice should be the control and reduction of risk by changing clinical and organisational practice in order to eliminate or reduce adverse events.

All clinical staff are required to familiarise themselves with the Trust’s Clinical Risk Management Strategy and all other Clinical Risk policies and guidelines, including the Trust’s Complaints Procedure. (These documents are available on the Trust’s Intranet Site).

RISK MANAGEMENT, HEALTH AND SAFETY

All employees of the Trust have a statutory duty of care for their own personal safety and that of others who may be affected by employee’s acts or omissions. Employees are required to co-operate with management to enable the Trust to meet its own legal duties and to report any circumstances that may compromise the health,
safety and welfare of those affected by the Trust undertakings.

This requires the following:

Compliance with the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety Regulations 1999 and any other relevant safety regulation.

Being familiar with and following the provisions of the Trust’s Health and Safety Policy and all other policies, procedures and safety rules of the Trust and your specific work place

Co-operating with all measures the Trust takes to maintain a safe working environment. This includes using manual handling equipment, wearing personal protective equipment, etc.

Compliance with all instruction and training given by members of the Trust relating to health and safety.

Bringing to the attention of the Trust any situation considered to be a serious and imminent danger; also reporting any other perceived shortcoming in the Trust’s health & safety arrangements.

INFECTION CONTROL

It is the responsibility of all staff, in accordance with The Health Act 2006, to:

Ensure high standards of hand hygiene and that good practices in infection control are promoted and maintained in their area of control

Co-operate with all efforts to reduce and/or eliminate the risk of spread of undesirable/infectious organisms

Adhere to the appropriate policies regarding screening, admission and transfer of potentially infectious patients

Report to their Manager and Occupational Health all incidents of sharps injuries where the sharp is contaminated with blood or serum.

Participate in any screening programmes initiated by the Director of Infection Prevention and Control 

Protect the health and safety of patients and other staff by informing their Manager and/or Occupational Health before reporting to work with transmissible harmful/potentially harmful conditions

INFECTION CONTROL
It is the responsibility of all medical staff, in accordance with The Health Act 2006, to:

Ensure high standards of hand hygiene and that good practices in infection control are promoted and maintained in their area of control

Co-operate with all efforts to reduce and/or eliminate the risk of spread of undesirable/infectious organisms

Adhere to the appropriate policies regarding screening, admission and transfer of potentially infectious patients

Report to their Manager and Occupational Health all incidents of sharps injuries where the sharp is contaminated with blood or serum.

Participate in any screening programmes initiated by the Director of Infection Prevention and Control

Protect the health and safety of patients and other staff by informing their Manager and/or Occupational Health before reporting to work with transmissible harmful/potentially harmful conditions. Infection control should be routinely covered within the annual appraisal process.