Community Palliative Clinical Nurse Specialist

Do you have a passion for providing Specialist Palliative Care?

Are you passionate about delivering specialist palliative care with a focus on care in people’s own homes in Hillingdon, supporting patients and their families.

We are looking for experienced nurses with expertise in palliative and end of life care with first class clinical skills, who have the ability to effectively triage clinical calls, case manage, support education and development of others and have leadership ability, are strong team players, and who enjoy working in an ever changing and innovative environment.

The successful candidate will provide support in people's own homes, including care and nursing homes.

The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working in our healthcare settings.

The Community Specialist Palliative Care Team is looking to recruit Clinical Nurse Specialists with proven experience within specialist palliative care. The role will be varied and challenging, there may be times when you will be asked to support the 24/7 responsive service Your Life Line 24/7.

The Post Holder will be expected to act as an autonomous practitioner providing complex Specialist Palliative Care symptom management and advice to support patients their families and carers. You will have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, promoting good collaborative team working and an ability to creatively facilitate implementation of the End of Life care tools such as electronic End of Life register (EPaCCs) such as Co Ordinate My Care (CMC) and Advance Care Planning. You will be involved in providing education to Health and Social Care staff across a range of settings

What you can expect from Central and Northwest London NHS Foundation Trust;

You will be involved

• We will involve you and your representatives in decisions that impact on you
• We will treat you fairly, equally and without discrimination
• We will listen to your suggestions for ways to deliver better and safer services to people who use our services and their families

A supportive working environment

• We will provide you with a safe and empowering working environment
• We will provide you flexible working opportunities in line with patient and service users’ needs and with how you live your life
• We will strive to provide you with working conditions free from harassment, bullying and violence
• If you raise concerns, these will be received and acted on with compassion and respect

Access to professional development

• We will work with you to provide well designed and rewarding jobs that make a difference to people who use our services, their families and carers, and their communities
• We will provide line management support and coaching in order for you to succeed
• We will give you access to personal development and appropriate training for your job

Full details to be found in Job Description

We would expect this post holder to deliver clinically effective, efficient and high quality nursing care to clients with complex needs that is both evidence based and reflects current best practice. You would be responsible to assess, plan and treat a caseload of patients and their families in the field of palliative care working in partnership with other care providers.

• To constantly monitor, evaluate and review clinical assessments and interventions within the multidisciplinary framework and to modify approach to clinical care as necessary
• To act as an expert nurse in palliative care for patients and their families with complex palliative care needs. Monitoring, evaluating and reviewing palliative interventions, taking a key worker role as
• To independently receive and make referrals and manage a caseload of patients with complex palliative care
• To independently assess referrals from a variety of sources where no other professional is currently involved. To establish priority, to determine needs, initiate and monitor treatment plans. To direct and support 1stand 2ndtier clinicians in this process
• To work independently within a general Multi-Disciplinary Team to advise on a palliative approach to patients who may not be currently known to the Palliative Care Team
• Develop and conduct skilled nursing interventions with palliative care patients- assessing their palliative care needs and addressing issues such as quality of life, futility, prognosis and end of life decision making within an ethical framework
• To be an expert assessor/advisor on pain and symptom management, psychological/spiritual/social/practical care and ethical decisions at the end of life and to work in partnership, collaborating with a range of professionals to improve their palliative skills.
• To undertake specialist-nursing assessment of clients with complex palliative care needs through subjective questioning, objective examination, and study of appropriate written material (e.g. clinical records) available.
• To prioritise factors involved in the patients and informal carers condition through advanced clinical reasoning based on knowledge of current professional opinion, patients prognosis and other physical, psychological, spiritual, ethical, social, and mental health records
• To identify patients, their informal carers or children whom may be at risk and vulnerable. Promptly enact the process outlined in the policies for Care of Vulnerable Adults and Care of Vulnerable Children
• To be professionally and legally accountable for all work undertaken. To work within the Standards for Better Health and guidelines of the Palliative Care Centre, the Trusts, and NMC Code of Conduct at all
• To ensure that the patient and their informal carers have an understanding of treatment protocols and give informed consent to examination and treatment interventions recommended.