Nursing Associate

The post-holder is a Nursing Associate and provides fundamental nurse led care to the community

The Nursing Associate works alongside a team within general practice and is an integral part of the general practice team. The principal task is to support registered nurses to enable them to be able to focus on the more complex clinical care of patients.

Thisjob description and person specification is based on:

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Standards of proficiency for nursing associates

RCN guidance RCN position on therole and scope of practice of the Nursing Associate

Employing Nursing Associates lists information and resources for employers and emphasises that nursing associates should aim to meet the same standards of behaviour and conduct asnurses and midwives and adhere to the same Code of conduct

Nursing associates are an integral member of the registered nursing workforce in primary care.

The nursing associate role intends to bridge the gap between health care assistants and registered nurses. A nursing associate is a registered professional who has met the standards of proficiency from the NMC, who practices under the direction of a registered nurse or registered healthcare professional. As a registered professional the nursing associate works within the same professional code as registered nurses and will revalidate every three years.

Irwell Medical Practice is a consistently high QOF & LES achiever. In our last CQC inspection (2017), we were rated outstanding. Due to staff development, we are looking for a nursing associate, ideally with general practice experience; however, support and training will be given. We have a great nursing team with a good skill mix in a supportive environment.

We are an established Training Practice with 6 Partners, 6 Salaried GPs, 5 Practice Nurses, 1 Nursing Associate, 4 Trainee Nurse Associates, 3 Healthcare Assistants and 1 Advanced Nurse Practitioner with a practice population of just over 15,000 and growing.

Working as part of a progressive and effective primary care team, the successful applicant should have at least a minimum of 1 year post-registration experience. Be highly organised, motivated, and computer literate and be able to demonstrate continuing professional development. Showing a commitment to promoting nursing in primary care is essential for this exciting post.

The following are the core responsibilities of the Nursing Associate in delivering health services:

• a. Deliver high quality, compassionate care while undertaking specific clinical and care tasks under the direction of a registered nurse (or other registered care professional) with a focus on promoting good health and independence
• b. Provide high-quality holistic and person-centred care to individuals
• c. Provide routine care to patients as required in accordance with clinical based evidence, NICE and the NSF
• e. Work as part of the MDT to provide and monitor care, under direct or indirect supervision and ensure delivery of nursing associate duties
• f. Improve the safety and quality of care at every opportunity
• g. Contribute to the delivery of integrated care
• h. Work with a supervisor to take responsibility for developing own clinical competence, leadership and reflective practice skills within the workplace and enable you to deal effectively with the difficult issues that people present
• i. Provide support and supervision to training nursing associates, healthcare assistants, apprentices and those on learning assignments/placements as required
• j. Support registered nurses to enable them to be able to focus on the more complex clinical care
• k. Develop relationships across the MDT to support the integration of the role across health and social care including primary care, secondary care and mental health
• l. Maintain accurate and contemporaneous patient health records ensuring that clinical data is appropriately recorded with SNOMED codes
• m. Perform and record clinical observations such as blood pressure, temperature, respirations and pulse including appropriate coding
• n. After undertaking additional training, provide flu vaccinations, ECGs and venepuncture and other relevant clinical tasks as required and in line with the competencies of the role
• o. Promote health and wellbeing to all patients, for example undertaking the NHS health check
• q. Provide support during minor operations as required
• r. Advise patients on general healthcare and promote self-management where appropriate, including signposting patients to personalised care colleagues and local community and voluntary sector services
• s. Communicate proactively and effectively with all MDT colleagues, attending and contributing to meetings as required
• t. Be aware of duties and responsibilities regarding current legislation and adhere to practice policies and procedures on Safeguarding Adults and Safeguarding Children
• u. Process pathology results as required
• v. Enhance own performance through continuous professional development,…