Palliative Care Clinical Nurse Specialist (12 Months Maternity Cover)

St Luke's Hospice are a local charity providing compassionate care to people whose illnesses are no longer curable. We promote dignity in dying and empower people to make the choices they want, from the moment they are diagnosed.

This is a fantastic opportunity for an experienced Palliative Care Clinical Nurse Specialist with a passion for working at a charity with a real purpose.

This role is 37.5 hours per week over 4 days working 8am -6pm. Days of work will be in accordance with the Department Rota and may include weekends subject to service needs.

The role:

• To work as an accountable and autonomous practitioner and act as lead specialist and source of expertise in palliative care, providing strategic and clinical leadership to influence the development and delivery of local community palliative care services over a 7-day week.
• Use specialist skills and knowledge to manage patients on a caseload and their families/carers with complex needs associated with living with a life-challenging illness.
• Link with Hospice staff primary healthcare teams, secondary care professionals, statutory and voluntary sectors, and promote fully integrated team working with partners and providers.
• To liaise with the referrer and undertake holistic assessment with the patient and plan the level of involvement required for each situation working collaboratively with all services to provide the highest quality of individualised palliative care to patients, families and carers within the resources available.
• To prioritise workload and plan and implement care in consultation with other health, social and voluntary care professionals, taking into account the physical, emotional, psychological social and spiritual needs of patients with a palliative diagnosis, cancer and other life challenging conditions and their families and carers. Evaluate care delivery according to changing health needs.
• To assist in the co-ordination of care for patients and families/carers as appropriate, for example, facilitating admission to the hospice or discharge from hospital to home and participating in multi-disciplinary case conferences.
• To provide patients and their families/carers with appropriate high-quality information relating to their disease, treatment, and care.
• Contribute to MDTs and Gold Standard Framework (GSF) meetings (face to face/virtual).
• To work within Hospice community services team - OneResponse (rostered between the team).
• To undertake post bereavement visits, as necessary.
• Develop, support, contribute, facilitate services, and participate in meetings that are effective in achieving individuals Preferred Priorities/Place for Care/Death, whilst preventing hospital admissions. Assess patient and undertake advance care planning.
• May be required to administer medication by an injection or to set up a syringe driver in the absence of other professionals in order to meet the patient’s best interest. Other clinical skills as required.
• Maintain and utilize advanced clinical skills to analyze and interpret history of illness, presenting symptoms and physical findings to enable diagnosis, planning and treatment of the patient.
• To work within the community setting collaboratively and communicate effectively with the Hospice, Palliative Care Consultants, other Hospital Consultants and Clinical Nurse Specialists, General Practitioners, District Nursing Teams, Intergrated care teams, Primary Care, Acute, Social Care, Voluntary Services, and other colleagues and organisations to ensure the best possible outcomes for the patient and their carers/families.
• To practice if qualified as a non-medical prescriber within scope of practice.
• To undertake verification of expected death as required.

We are looking for someone who will:

• Be a first level registered nurse
• Have significant post registration experience including proven palliative care experience at a Band 6/7 or above, or equivalent level
• Have the ability to work alone in the community setting, managing complex, challenging and unpredictable situations, problem solving, without judgement
• Be competent and confident to initiate and maintain specialist care to the dying person and their families/carers in their own home
• Have expert current knowledge of pain and symptom management, which underpins theory, usually gained through recent clinical practice at a senior level
• Be computer literate sufficient to input patient records and work efficiently and effectively
• Be able to effectively liaise with other professionals to uphold good specialist palliative care practice
• Be a car driver, holding a current valid driving licence with business insurance

To have an informal chat about working for us or to discuss access requirements for disabled applicants contact the HR team using the chat function on our careers page or calling View phone number on meeveem.com.

Salary: £37,009 to £50,581.57 (depending on experience)
Contract: 12 Month Maternity Cover Contract
Hours: Full-time, 37.5 hours per week over 4 days working 8am -6pm. Days of work will be in accordance with the Department Rota and may include weekends subject to service needs.
Location: On-site Basildon and community based

About applying
When applying don't forget to answer the questions in our application process to tell us more about how you meet the skills, knowledge, and experience to be successful in this role.

Right to Work
St. Luke's Hospice is unable to sponsor work permits or visas. All candidates must have the right to work in the UK.

Belonging, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
At St Luke's Hospice, we are passionate about creating an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity. We know through experience that the different ideas, perspectives and backgrounds create a stronger and more creative work environment that delivers better outcomes for the people who access our services. We particularly welcome applications from disabled, LGBT+ and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates as these groups are currently under-represented in our teams. We have policies and procedures in place to ensure that all applicants are treated fairly and consistently at every stage of the recruitment process, including the consideration of access requirements for people who have a disability.