Community Nurse Specialist Team Leader – Access Team

Clinical practice Act as a clinical resource for less experienced / non-prescribing colleagues Manage and coordinate the advice line, supporting patients living in the community Take and analyse a clinical history in a relevant succinct and logical manner Independently assess the patients needs, identify their priorities and work with the patient and family towards achieving them Use physical assessment and clinical reasoning skills as part of patient assessment and to support clinical advice, professional communication and documentation.

Perform Independent Prescribing within area of competence once registered as an Independent Prescriber with the Nursing and Midwifery Council and practice according to local policy. Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of the options for achieving control of symptoms and ability to advise the primary health care team Demonstrate an ability to explore the personal resources of families/carers in order to facilitate, where possible, that patients are cared for in the place of their choice Support and coach carers at home so help manage a deteriorating relative Recognise the impact of caring for dying patients on yourself, internal and external colleagues and offer / seek support Safely administer prescribed subcutaneous medication in the community.

Recognise and appropriately escalate palliative care and oncological emergencies Bring closure to the nurse-patient relationship and provide for a safe transition to another care provider as appropriate Support palliative care meeting work and attend and present at MDT meetings Communication KSF 3 Can develop and maintain communication with people about difficult matters and/or in difficult situations Maintain high standards of integrity when communicating with patients and the wider public Manage complex communication issues with patients and families as a lone worker in the community and during advice line calls Structure patient assessments using appropriate questioning, avoiding jargon, using familiar language, at patients own pace Record concisely, accurately, confidentially and legibly the appropriate elements of the history, results of investigations, problems identified and management plan Break bad news in steps appropriate to the understanding of the individual and be able to support distress and have discussions around prognosis and future care options Demonstrate an understanding of the need to involve patients and carers in decision making, offering them informed choices, respecting their views Use the Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment (ReSPECT plus) process and form to support the documentation and communication of the patients preferences and clinical recommendations for emergency care and treatment Demonstrate skill and sensitivity in working with families facing loss Manage dissatisfied patients/relatives, anticipating potential problems and managing expectations.

Investigate and respond to complaints, incidents, and concerns. Provide feedback to others on their communication. Personal and People Development KSF 3 Develop oneself and contribute to the development of others Take responsibility for identifying and meeting own development needs Generate and use appropriate learning opportunities and apply own learning to development of practice Assess how well last years objectives were met and help set new ones for the year ahead Apply evidence to patient care Use strategies to develop own resilience Practice effectively, using reflection to support practice improvement, this maybe with colleagues and/or be engaging with clinical supervision Support CNS Access team to identify and address their own development needs Support and enable the CNS Access team in addition to the wider clinical teams to apply their developing knowledge and skills Actively provide learning and development opportunities to others including supervising new staff and clinical placements Actively contribute to the evaluation of staff learning and development opportunities and relate this back to current education opportunities Ensure all supervised employees have annual appraisals and personal development plans in place and comply with statutory and mandatory training.

Become a Designated Prescribing Supervisor (DPS) after practising as an Independent Prescriber for at least one year Become a Designated Prescribing Practitioner (DPP) after practising as an Independent Prescriber for at least three years and having carried out the DPS role Health Safety and Security KSF 3 Promote, monitor and maintain best practice in health, safety and security including issues specific to lone working Identify and manage risk at work and help others to do the same Ensure staff work in a way that complies with legislation and hospice policies and procedures on health, safety and risk management Carry out and support others to carry out risk assessments Assess work area to make sure it is free from risks and conforms to legislation and hospice policies and procedures on health, safety and risk management Take the appropriate action when risk is identified Identify and action ways of improving health, safety and security Service Improvement KSF 3 Appraise, interpret and apply suggestions, recommendations and directives to improve services Identify and evaluate potential improvements to the service Discusses improvement ideas with appropriate people and agree a prioritised plan of implementation to take forward agreed improvements Present a positive role model in times of service improvement Support and work with others to help them understand the need for change and to adapt to it Enable and encourage others to suggest change, challenge tradition and share good practice with other areas of the organisation Evaluate changes and suggest further improvements where needed Write and give feedback on draft policies and procedures Governance, Quality and Improving Clinical Practice KSF 3 Contribute to improving quality Promote quality approaches, making others aware of the impact of quality Understand own role, its scope and how this may change and develop over time in a developing organisation Review effectiveness of own team, helping and enabling others to work as a team Prioritise own workload, managing own time in a manner that maintains and promotes high quality Evaluate the quality of own and others work, raising quality issues and related risks with the appropriate people Support changes in own area to improve the quality of systems and processes Take appropriate action when there is a persistent problem with quality Contribute to, support and develop audit and research projects.

Contribute to the ongoing appraisal, evaluation and development of the Community Nurse Specialist Service. Equality and diversity KSF 3 Promote equality and value diversity Interpret equality, diversity and rights in accordance with legislation, policies, procedures and good practice Actively act as a role model in own behaviour, fostering a non-discriminatory culture Promote equality and diversity in own area, ensuring policies are adhered to Manage people, applying internal processes in a fair and equal way Leadership and management KSF 2 Manage a small team and lead by example Take ownership and prepared to be held accountable Role model ethical behaviours Identify and act upon current opportunities to make improvements Develop and communicate standards and expected levels of performance Delegate effectively, developing team members Support the evaluation of strategic aims within own delivery area