Job description
We have exciting opportunities for School Nurses to become part of our team.
- Are you a qualified Registered Nurse either adult or Paediatric who is looking for a rewarding career within a 5-19 school health team? If you are due to qualify in the next few months you are welcome to apply.
- Do you want to make a difference to the health outcomes of children and young people living in Hillingdon? If so, this opportunity is for you!
- The successful candidate will be a registered nurse who has a passion for working in the community, supporting the school aged population and their families. They will be flexible and strengths-based in their approach, being able to work in partnership with families and schools.
- Applicants need to possess excellent interpersonal, communication and organisational skills. You will be able to work independently with confidence and as part of a team. You will also be able to demonstrate knowledge of the current public health agenda, in particular the Healthy Child Programme.
- As a Registered Nurse in the school nursing team you will work under the supervision of a School Nurse Specialist Community Public Health Practitioner (SCPHN) and alongside a team of Registered Nurses and Health Care Assistant.
- Working hours are 9.00 am – 5.00 pm, Monday – Friday (if full time), excluding bank holidays. A driving licence and use of a car is essential as most of our work is based in the community.
- Work as both an autonomous practitioner and a team member.
- Take responsibility for monitoring own practice under local operational procedures and be responsible for own professional decisions and actions.
- The identification and safe management of vulnerable and safeguarding families. Local safeguarding polices to be adhered to and concerns escalated to the multi-agency network.
- Work in partnership with vulnerable families and / or other professionals to enable optimum health gains.
- Deliver a healthy lifestyle programme to children and young people
- Maintaining accurate, legible, comprehensive electronic and handwritten records.
- Work in a variety of locations including schools, community buildings and client homes.
- Undertake risk assessments prior to undertaking home visits.
- A friendly, welcoming, nurturing and encouraging work environment that will support you in your practice and development
- Local induction and an allocated mentor
- Preceptorship for newly qualified staff
- Strong leadership and management support
- Regular clinical, management, and safeguarding supervision.
- A clinical training programme to support your practice, tailored to your individual needs.
- Opportunities for leadership and career development
- A strong focus on staff wellbeing and access to excellent staff engagement programs and support services via our People Development team
Clinical Responsibilities
- Deliver the Healthy Child Programme.
- Undertake holistic health needs assessments of children in a wide range of environments and across a broad population spectrum. Interpret, analyse and collate complex information, liaising with children, young people and families, locality School Nurse other services/agencies as appropriate.
- To implement a plan of care using evidence-based criterion to rationalise professional decisions and actions. Monitor progress and adapt plans to maximize health benefits for clients.
- Provide skilled, evidence-based nursing care which adheres to agreed policies and procedures.
- Provide ongoing support for individuals and families, sometimes delegated by senior staff, reporting back to senior colleagues.
- Signpost and refer to other specialist services for support and intervention.
- Help others e.g. children, parents and carers to identify their own level of knowledge and skill and offer support, information and advice to enable them to access services and adopt healthy lifestyles.
- Using excellent communication skills, communicate effectively with children, parents / carers and other professionals.
- Maintain accurate and comprehensive record keeping in line with NMC guidance and Trust policy.
- Have knowledge of Information Sharing and Assessment protocols and ability to identify and discern relevance of information to be shared to promote the safety of children.
Central and North West London NHS Trust is committed to providing safe, effective services and providing patients and families with a positive experience.
- Use a range of skills to communicate taking account of culture, ethnicity, language, disabilities, developmental age and environmental settings.
- Use excellent communication skills to effectively engage with children and families, social care, education, colleagues and other professionals.
- Manage all records in line with the Trust Health Records Policy, departmental Guidelines for Record Keeping and ‘Guidelines for Records and Record Keeping’ (NMC 2002).
- Have a clear understanding of specific IT systems used within CNWL including Outlook and Systmone. Ensure all training is attended to ensure proficiency when using the system.
- Maintain knowledge of Infection Control Procedures and implement recommendations as necessary.
- Actively participate in team discussions and help to support service developments.
- Be responsible for revalidation and maintaining up to date and accurate registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council and adhere to the NMC Code of Conduct.
- Critically reflect on own performance through clinical supervision.
- Contributes to own 1:1 meetings and appraisals and maintains own professional development setting personal objectives.
- Takes responsibility for own continuous professional development, maintaining professional knowledge and competence in line with personal development plan agreed at 1:1’s and annual appraisal.
- Ensure all mandatory training is updated annually or as specified.
- Be aware of children’s safeguarding policy and procedure. Ensure mandatory safeguarding training is up to date. Attend all safeguarding meetings and supervision sessions to remain compliant with local and trust policy and guidance. Report back to the Team Leader School Nurse who maintains oversight of the case. Seek advice from school nurse, safeguarding lead or management team with any concerns or queries.
- Monitor own practice to ensure specialist knowledge is maintained through further education, study days, experiential learning and that practice is evidence based.
- Recognise personal distress when highly emotive or unpredictable circumstances arise and seek support and advice from colleagues, management team and / or Trust provided services as preferred.
- Consistently practice as a role model and contribute to creating and maintaining a high performing team by:
- Communicating well with all members of the team.
- Understanding others roles within the team and how they help the team achieve its’ objectives.
- Reflecting on own practice regularly and encouraging other team members to reflect on theirs.
- Encouraging the team to learn from adverse events or respond to data analysis from audits or benchmarking exercises and implement sustainable initiatives which improve clinical outcomes.
- Work as a confident, autonomous practitioner taking responsibility for care given but also work as a team member, supporting others including less experienced nurses and staff without a professional qualification.