Job Description

Job Details
Staff Nurse
Job Title:
Medicine & Emergency Care/ Emergency Surgery &
Business Unit:
Elective Care
Location: Trustwide

Grade: Band 5
Main Purpose of the Job

 To assess, plan, implement and evaluate nursing care working as a member of the
ward team under the direction of the Ward Manager
 To be responsible for the organizing and co-ordination of nursing services in the
ward/dept in the absence of senior staff on a regular basis.
 To exercise accountability as set out in the NMC Code of Professional Conduct
 To be responsible for all nursing care standards and to maintain high clinical
standards

Dimensions

 To provide nursing care to a caseload of patients and to provide verbal and written
handovers to nursing colleagues and the multi disciplinary team
 When responsible for the ward/dept to ensure that individualised programmes of
care are formulated and carried out fully for each patient on the ward/dept (up to 30
patients in a ward area)

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Organisation Chart

Ward Manager
Band 7

Deputy Ward Manager

Band 6

This Post

Domestic HCA’s & Support Ward Clerk

Workers

Knowledge, Skills, Training and Experience

ESSENTIAL:
 General Registered Nurse with NMC
 Thorough understanding of contemporary nursing issues, i.e. CNO 10 key Roles
 Extended scope of practice skills, eg venepuncture
 Able to manage a ward/department area for a period of a shift
 Mentorship skills
 Ability to communicate with staff at all levels
 Ability to communicate with MDT
 Ability to work as member of a team
 High level of personal motivation
 Must be flexible to meet the needs of the service

DESIRABLE:
 NST 307, ENB 998/730 or equivalent
 D32/33 or equivalent
 Post Registration qualification in specialty
 Diploma/degree in nursing
 Leadership skills
 Basic IT skills

Experience can be considered as comparable to qualifications quoted but should be

clearly detailed on the application in order to demonstrate equivalence

Key Result Areas

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Patient/Client care:

 To assess, plan, implement and evaluate programmes of care in partnership with the
patient and the multidisciplinary team
 To promote health with all patients and carers
 To deliver governance standards in line with the ‘Essence of Care Standards’ and the
Trust’s Governance framework
 To respond to enquiries from relatives and carers, deal with concerns and actively
problem solve to improve the patients experience
 In the absence of senior staff to take charge of the ward or department managing skill
mix, rota’s, workload and case mix to the dependencies within the ward environment.
Ensure appropriate use of physical and budgetary resources
 Act as named nurse / team leader managing patient care from admission to discharge.
Actively instigating discharge involves liaising with MDT’s and outside agencies
 Comply with all appropriate codes of conduct.
 Comply with responsibility to safeguard children and vulnerable adults, ensuring
attendance at appropriate training.
 Take personal responsibility for putting the person receiving care first, and to
challenge poor care/practice, doing so as soon as any shortcomings are seen.
 Demonstrate the compassionate values and behaviours needed for dignified care

The Trust is committed to Support employee health and wellbeing

Under NICE guideline on ‘Workplace health: Management practices, and

Recommendations’ the Trust is committed to offering employees help and encouragement
to build supportive relationships.

Policy and Service Development:

 To adhere to Trust Policies and Procedures

 Contribute and implement Policies within own work area and propose changes. Ensure
new and junior members of staff are aware of them
 Act as Link nurse and contribute/comment on the development of new policies

Financial and Physical Resources:

 To utilise resources effectively using evidence based and best practice

 Report the failure or mechanical problems of any items of equipment in line with the
Medical Devices Policy
 In line with the ward/dept regular system for supplies, order stock and non stock items
including medicines
 In the absence of the Ward Manager or deputies when altering duty rota’s in periods of
short term absences, consider skill mix changes and additional temporary staffing
cover
 Manipulation of fine tools / materials where accuracy is important e.g. calculation+
reconstitution of drugs, venepuncture and cannulation
 Regularly handle patient money and valuables
 Responsible the safe use of equipment other than equipment which personally use

Human Resources:

 In line with the NMC Code of Conduct take part in the wards training and education
programme
 To support education, training and supervision programmes for junior members of staff
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 Act as a mentor to pre registration and post registration nursing students
 To conduct appraisals to junior members of staff
 Undertake continuing professional development, including mandatory and statutory
updating, maintaining a portfolio

Information Resources:

 To complete patient records data in ward records and patients own records

Research and Development:

 Take part in research and audit projects

Freedom to Act

 To maintain ones own high professional standards and discuss opportunities to

develop clinical practice with the line manager
 Alert the line manager or on call management team of any untoward situation
 To take charge of the management of a group of patients on a regular basis, acting as
named nurse / primary nurse and after a period of training and development regularly
take charge of the ward

Communications and Relationships

Providing and receiving routine day to day information to work colleagues patients and
relatives e.g. notifying staff and changes in patient condition.

Required to use basic tact or persuasive skills with patients or clients as necessary

Required to provide and receive complex or sensitive information. e.g. providing contentious care related information
to patients and relatives

Internal External
Ward Team District Nurses
Senior Nurses Social Services
Doctors Relatives and Carers
AHP
Managers/Directors
Clinical Directors

Work Setting and Review

Work unsupervised to tasks as set by the Nurse in Charge. The Sister / Charge Nurse will
review performance and undertake appraisal.

Individual Responsibilities

The post holder is expected to:

 adhere to Trust policies and procedures and relevant legislation including the
requirements of any professional bodies;
 attend mandatory training as identified by the Trust.

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Confidentiality

All Trust staff and contractors working for the Trust have both a common law duty and a
statutory duty of confidentiality to protect patient (and indeed any personally identifiable)
information and only use it for the purposes for which it was intended. The disclosure and
use of confidential patient information needs to be both lawful and ethical.

Information Governance

Trust staff must keep up-to-date with the requirements of information governance and
must follow Trust policies and procedures to ensure that Trust information is dealt with
legally, securely, efficiently and effectively. It is important that the trust processes
personally identifiable data (PID) only in accordance with its notification to the information
commissioner (accessible via the website www.ico.gov.uk) Staff creating new systems
(e.g. databases or spreadsheets) to process PID therefore need to check with the data
protection officer that this is permissible. Staff must appropriately manage the records they
create or hold during the course of their employment with the Trust, making the records
available for sharing in a controlled manner, subject to statutory requirements and agreed
security and confidentiality policies, procedures and guidelines (e.g. Freedom of
Information Act 2000, Caldicott guidelines). If you are required to make entries into health
records, you must ensure these entries are legible and attributable, and that record
keeping is contemporaneous.

Health and Safety

All managers have a general accountability for ensuring, so far as is reasonably
practicable, the health, safety and welfare of the employees under their direction at work.
 Each employee is responsible to take reasonable care for their own acts or
omissions and the effect that these may have upon the safety of themselves or any
other person.
 Every employee must use safety equipment or clothing in a proper manner and for
the purpose intended.
 Any employee who intentionally or recklessly misuses anything supplied in the
interests of health and safety will be subject to disciplinary procedures.
 Every employee must work in accordance with any health and safety procedures,
instructions or training that has been given.
 No employee may undertake any task for which they have not been authorised and
for which they are not adequately trained.
 Every employee is required to bring to the attention of a responsible person any
perceived shortcoming in safety arrangements or any defects in work equipment.
 All employees are under a duty to familiarise themselves with the risk management
and fire, health & safety policies.
The Trust provides an annual update on governance and health & safety issues to staff.

Risk Management

You are responsible for ensuring that you become familiar with the requirements stated
within the Trust’s risk management strategy and that you comply with the Trust’s risk
management policies and procedures.
Your specific responsibility for risk management will be clarified to you by your head of
department at your local induction.

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Equal Opportunities

The Trust has adopted an equal opportunities policy and all employees must be aware of
their obligations to abide by the spirit and nature of the policy to avoid direct and indirect
discrimination. You are required to attend equality & diversity training, and where
appropriate equality impact assessment training, and cascade best practice to your team.

Safeguarding

All employees have a duty for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and
adults at risk. Staff must be familiar with the Trust’s Safeguarding Policy and the process
for raising concerns about the welfare of anyone with whom they have contact. Staff must
also ensure they receive the appropriate level of safeguarding children and adult training
depending on their role in the Trust.

Induction

All new members of staff must attend corporate induction. Details are sent with the letter of
appointment. Line managers are responsible for checking attendance at corporate
induction, and for ensuring that local induction commences on the first day of employment
on the ward / department.

Corporate Governance Arrangements

You will be expected to familiarise yourself with the Trust’s governance strategy which
outlines the management and committee structures and procedures for the governance of
the Trust’s activities.
You will have a duty to familiarise yourself with the relevant policies and procedures, i.e.
health & safety policies.
risk management policies.
infection control policies.
data protection and confidentiality policies.
These must be complied with by staff at all times.

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 Appendix 1

NOTE: This appendix is not intended to form part of the ‘official’ Job Description,
but is intended for Job Evaluation purposes only.

Effort and Environment:

Ward and department work is varied and incorporates both physical and mental effort e.g.

Physical – (Please describe circumstances, frequency and the degree of effort required)

There is a frequent requirement to exert intense physical effort for several short periods
during a shift (when assisting in the moving and handling of patients)
but also for long periods dependent on the activity being undertaken(wound dressing
procedures)
Stop to start when responding to emergency situation e.g. cardiac arrest or collapsed
patient
Mental – (Please describe the scope, circumstances and frequency of exposure)

Concentration is required when calculating and administering drugs

Verbal and written reports to colleagues, carers and patients

Communicate with patients and the MDT in a variety of settings from everyday issues to
bereavement

Emotional – (Please describe the exposure and involvement in distressing situations)

Frequent exposure to expected and unexpected death, care of terminally ill patients

Frequent exposure to verbal aggression/abuse unreasonable patients due to illness,

anaesthetic, those under the influence of drugs / alcohol

Dealing with patients with challenging behaviour, cognitive impairment, learning

disabilities and mental illness

Being involved with patients receiving bad news e.g. malignant diagnosis

Supporting patients / relatives / carers receiving bad news

Occasionally having to ring patient's relatives / carers, who live away, to inform them that
the patient has died

Frequent exposure to patients with altered body image due to surgery, requirement not to
show abhorrence and give support / advice to patient dealing with their emotions

Required to provide and receive complex or sensitive information. e.g. providing

contentious care related information to patients and relatives/carers without breach of
patient confidentiality and trust
Appendix 2
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Working Conditions – (Please describe the type and extent of exposure to unpleasant
working conditions/hazards)

Grid
DUTIES AND RISK FACTORS OF THE POST Yes No
1. Exposure Prone Procedures (EPP’s)* 
2. Manual Handling Operations 
3. Dust, Dirt, Smells 
4. Chemicals, Fumes or Gasses (Glutaraldehyde, fixer, 
anaesthetic gases, reconstitution/handling of cytotoxic drugs)
5. Patient Contact 
6. Babies/Children Contact 
7. Food handling / Preparation 
8. Driving 
9. Fork Lift Truck Driving 
10. User of Display Screen Equipment 
11. Noise 
12. Infestation 
13. Blood and Body Fluids/Waste/Samples/Foul Linen 
14. Excessive Cold 
15. Excessive Heat 
16. Inclement weather 
17. Radiation 
18. Laser Use 
19. Heights over 2 metres 
20. Confined Spaces 
21. Vibration i.e. Power Tools 
22. Using machinery with moving/exposed parts 
23. Shift work 
24. Use of latex products 
25. Physical violence / aggression 
26. Employment of young people 
27. Any other hazards please specify
28. Other

If any hazard is identified above please give details below.

*Definition of Exposure Prone Procedures (EPP’s)

Exposure prone procedures are those where there is a risk that injury to the Health Care Worker may result
in the exposure of the patient’s open tissues to the blood of the HCW. These procedures include those
where the HCW’s gloved hands may be in contact with sharp instruments, needle tips and sharp tissue
(spicules of bones and teeth) inside a patients open body cavity, wound or confined anatomical space where
the hands or fingertips may not be completely visible at all times

Appendix 3
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The statements outlined below are the standards of which all employees of North Cumbria
Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust are expected to comply and must be incorporated
into the ‘Key Result Areas’ section.

Infection Control:

It is your responsibility to adhere to infection control polices and guidelines in order to

promote cleanliness and reduce infections. Hand hygiene must be undertaken correctly
to prevent the spread of infection. Personal protective equipment must be used in
accordance with Trust policy. You must contribute to the cleanliness of the work
environment and keep it “clutter free” and tidy. You must also attend mandatory training
and updates to ensure you receive training appropriate to your role.

Patient, Carer & Public Involvement:

Managers have a duty to ensure that the principles of patient, carer and public
involvement are adhered to throughout all areas of responsibility in line with Section 11 of
the Health and Social Care Act 2001 and the Trust's strategy for Patient Carer & Public
Involvement. Managers should ensure mechanisms are in place to obtain feedback,
implement lessons learnt, and share good practice throughout the organisation.

All employees must ensure that they adhere to the principles of patient, carer and public
involvement in their work area, in line with Section 11 of the Health and Social Care Act
2001 and the Trust's strategy for Patient, Carer & Public Involvement; to ensure that
patients are the focus of everything they do and follow good practice shared in line with
the Trust's policies and procedures, such as learning from complaints and concerns.

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