Practice Nurse

The following are the core responsibilities of the practice nurse. There may be on occasion a requirement to carry out other tasks; this will be dependent on factors such as workload and staffing levels:

• Develop, implement and embed health promotion and well-being programmes
• Implement and evaluate individual treatment plans for chronic disease patients
• Identify, manage and support patients at risk of developing long-term conditions, preventing adverse effects on patients health
• Provide routine nursing care to patients as required in accordance with clinical-based evidence, NICE and the NSF
• Provide wound care (ulcer/Doppler etc.) to patients
• Provide travel medicine services
• Request pathology services as necessary
• Process pathology results as required
• Provide chronic disease clinics, delivering patient care as necessary, referring patients to secondary/specialist care as required
• Maintain accurate clinical records in conjunction with extant legislation
• Ensure read codes are used effectively
• Maintain chronic disease registers
• Develop, implement and embed well woman clinics
• Develop, implement and embed well man clinics
• Chaperone patients where necessary
• Assist GPs with minor surgery when required
• Prioritise health issues and intervene appropriately
• Support the team in dealing with clinical emergencies
• Recognise, assess and refer patients presenting with mental health needs
• Implement vaccination programmes for adults and children
• Support patients in the use of their prescribed medicines or over-the-counter medicines (within own scope of practice)
• Liaise with external services/agencies to ensure the patient is supported appropriately (vulnerable patients etc.)
• Delegate clinical responsibilities appropriately (ensuring safe practice and that the task is within the scope of practice of the individual)
• Support the clinical team with all safeguarding matters, in accordance with local and national policies
• Understand practice and local policies for substance abuse and addictive behaviour, referring patients appropriately
• Deliver opportunistic health promotion where appropriate

In addition to the primary responsibilities, the practice nurse may be requested to:

• Act as the audit lead, effectively utilising the audit cycle
• Monitor and ensure the safe storage, rotation and disposal of medicaments
• Support junior members of the nursing team, providing guidance when necessary
• Participate in local initiatives to enhance service delivery and patient care
• Support and participate in shared learning within the practice
• Continually review clinical practices, responding to national policies and initiatives where appropriate
• Participate in the review of significant and near-miss events applying a structured approach, i.e. root cause analysis (RCA).