Speciality Nurse for Dermatology

This will necessitate a degree of autonomy and advocacy toensure the delivery of appropriate care.Contribute to the management of a caseload of patients within specialityand prioritise workload to meet patient and service need.Use knowledge of the speciality and treatment to support the developmentof personalised care pathways for individuals and assist with holistic needsassessment, planning and evaluation of care and all care interventions.Act as a patient advocate to facilitate the process of shared decision makingin respect to health, choice of treatment and care.

Evaluate response tointerventions and cascade to relevant colleagues.Support patients to self-manage their condition where deemed appropriate.Provide education for those who will need guided support to self-manageand those who will need ongoing face to face support.Assist in the development and delivery of nurse led or parallel clinics in linewith National guidance and local service need.Act as a resource providing specialist advice and support across serviceboundaries to ensure optimum liaison and co-ordination of care.Undertake clinical competencies relevant to this specialist service todemonstrate expertise in extended nursing roles.

Assess and assist inmanaging individual psychological reactions to diagnosis, treatment andassociated side effects.Management & LeadershipAct as a role model demonstrating high standards of holistic care andprovide clinical leadership to others across the organisation.Provide support to ensure public and patient involvement is embeddedwithin the sphere of practice.Participate in the recruitment and selection of staff where required.Assist in setting measurable outcomes for the service and continuousevaluation of practice supporting changes where necessary.Contribute to the clinical governance agenda.Participate in operational and strategic planning for the development anddelivery of the specialist service.

Support service improvement activities.Attend Trust senior nurse meetings and contribute to the agenda andstrategic nursing vision.Represent the Trust by contributing to and participating in meetings locally,regional and nationally relating to the speciality.Contribute to an annual service review, gathering information to support theannual report.Assist with complaint investigation and ensure appropriate escalation.CommunicationTake personal responsibility for ensuring effective communication betweenall service providers.Act as a role model for excellent communication skills.Demonstrate empathetic interpersonal and communication skills insupporting, informing and advising patients and carers through diagnosis,treatment, disease progression, prognosis and supportive and palliativecare where applicable.

This will involve occasionally imparting significantnews or supporting patients and carers during and following suchconsultations.Effectively and sensitively communicate complex and sensitive informationto emotionally distressed patients and family/carers at key points along thecare pathway on a frequent basis.Refer to other health professionals and outside agencies to ensure optimumcare and ongoing support for individual patients/carers, and to ensure the seamless transition from primary to secondary care appropriate to patientsindividual needs and circumstance.Maintain links with local and national organisations, which support the careof patients within this speciality.EducationIdentify and use educational strategies to deliver information to patients andcarers.Participate in the development of patient focused education includingtraining to support self-management and health promotion activities.Assist in the development of other professionals by contributing to Trustwide specialist education and training.Support the delivery of formal and informal teaching initiatives as part of theTrusts education strategy as agreed with the appropriate senior nurse toensure practice development, staff empowerment and improved care forpatients.Act as a mentor/clinical supervisor as appropriate.Take personal responsibility for life-long learning and personal developmentthrough clinical supervision and appraisal.

Actively engages with learningand development opportunities needed to work as an advancing practitionerand take appropriate action to ensure these needs are met.Quality, Audit, Innovation and ResearchAssist in the development of written patient information and use existingappropriate resources to inform users, according to individually assessedneed.Work within the NMC code of professional conduct.Contribute to the development of policies and clinical guidelines to supportthe specialist service.Collaborate with other MDT members to develop and update multiprofessional Trust operational policies and guidelines.Maintain patient records and ensure an effective documentation system toreflect the activity and delivery of specialist nursing care.Promote the service where applicable.Use creative reasoning, experience and vision to support advancement ofcare.Develop new skills in response to emerging knowledge and techniques.Supports management of change as required.Maintain membership and attendance at national and local forums tonetwork and debate issues to inform the specialist nursing role and servicedelivery where applicable.Assist with the collation of data to provide evidence of productivity,outcomes and quality through audit and research.Contribute to the identification of patients eligible for trial entry.

ClinicalMaking clinical decisions for a defined patient group.May be an independent prescriber for a defined patient group orundertaking medicines management including use of a patient groupdirection (PGD).As per band 5 role frequently without close direction.- Phototherapy- Wound-care- Assisting surgery- General advice and support to patients / families / carers- Administration of medicines- Patch testing- Treatment counselling- Topical treatment / bandaging- Camouflage advice- IontophoresisLower risk, less invasive skin surgery proceduresPhotodynamic therapyDisease or therapy focused nurse led follow up clinics with protocole.g. wound care, biologics, isotretinoin LeadershipLeader of a small teamShowing initiative in change managementActive participant in quality improvement projectsEducationFormal teaching sessions for other staff within the organisationInvolvement in patient /public information initiativesResearchAware of the literature around practiceUsing literature to inform practiceAware of literature searching and reviewingUndertaking audit