We are looking an experienced Palliative Care Nurse with a Hospice or Hospital Background to take on the role of Specialist Nurse for Referrals and Discharges, primarily based in the Inpatient Unit of St Johns Hospice. The post holder will be based within the Inpatient Nursing Team and will report directly to the Ward Manager.
The Hospice Directorate comprises of the 15 bedded Hospice Inpatient Unit, Hospice Day Care Unit, Clinical Nurse Specialist Team, Hospice@Home Service, Social Work and Bereavement Team, Therapies Team, Lymphoedema Services and Palliative Care Ambulance Services.
Our services are underpinned by a respect for human dignity and care for the physical, psychosocial, spiritual and emotional needs of the total person, whatever their age, lifestyle, culture and spiritual belief. Our patients face a range of conditions, including cancer, respiratory disease, heart failure and HIV.
You will have previously mentored staff and trained junior members of the team. You must be able to assist in the administrative side of the role, and have a good working knowledge of Word, Excel and be able to use database systems in addition you will require strong leadership skills.
What are the main responsibilities of the Specialist Nurse – Referrals and Discharge role?
- To review and triage all referrals to St John’s Hospice Inpatient Unit in a timely manner and be the key communicator with both internal and external referrers
- To act as a specialist resource for all health and social care professionals, patients and carers, liaising directly with referrers, relevant Palliative Care Teams and other relevant professionals, to ensure that the patient’s palliative care needs are met.
- To manage complex discharges of patients from St John’s Hospice Inpatient Unit that require coordination of a number of services externally and internally as well as comprehensive advanced assessments of patients that may include Continuing Care Assessments and Fast Track Applications
- To provide skilled leadership, support and guidance to the nursing and wider multi-disciplinary teams, in relation to referrals and discharge planning and access to community palliative care services, in close conjunction with team leaders, working closely with the Hospice Director
- To act as DOLs lead for all Hospice Services
Am I the right person for this Specialist Nurse – Referrals and Discharge role?
- Current NMC registration in Adult or General Nursing
- A minimum of three years post qualification/registration experience in specialist nursing field, ideally palliative care
- Must have clinical experience at Senior Staff Nurse Band 6
- Experience working within the community or in a specialist discharge role
- Experience in facilitation, teaching, assessing, coaching
- Demonstrable leadership and influencing skills
- Demonstrates ability to place patient and family at centre of care
- Ability to facilitate and support learning
- Demonstrates a desire to explore new ways of delivering services
- Excellent personal and communication skills
- Good facilitation, presentation, teaching and assessing skills
- Excellent organisational and time management skills
- Excellent role model
- Confident Decision Maker
Why work for us?
At our organisation we are passionate about providing our employees with a supportive and engaging environment. As well as ongoing development and training, we offer our employees a wide range of benefits; from 27 days annual leave, generous private healthcare cover, contributory pension schemes – including continuation of the NHS pension.
Working with us, all eligible employees receive;
- Competitive pay with progressive band structuring
- Private healthcare cover of up to £20,000 per year
- Ongoing training and development programmes
- Discounts at local, national and online shops
- Interest-free season ticket loans
- Cycle to work loan scheme
- Employee "Service Excellence" recognition rewards
If you are ready for a new challenge and relish the chance to become part of a successful, forward thinking organisation then we would love to hear from you.