Palliative Care Clinical Nurse Specialist

The post holder will be an integral part of the Out of Hospital Care Specialist Palliative Care Team working across both the Hospital and Community settings, under the supervision of the Operational Lead or Clinical Nurse Specialist.
The post holder will provide specialist advice and support to patients on the existing Specialist Palliative Care caseload liaising with external agencies as needed.
The post holder will have excellent communication skills and demonstrate leadership through ongoing development of clinical expertise, delivering high standards of person centred care.
The role will promote a culture that supports independence and enables self-management whenever possible.
The role will include supporting and participation in the delivery of multi-professional education, and audit. The post holder will be an active member of the MDT and will actively network with other professionals locally and regionally for the purpose of continually developing practice.
The role is expected to support reduction in the length of stay and the management and facilitation of complex discharges along with prevention of unnecessary hospital admission.
To post holder will advise both hospital and community staff knowledgeably and skilfully on the management of patients who have palliative care needs. The post holder will be continually aware of the importance of empowering other colleagues with the aim of developing the wider team skills and avoidance of dependency. Any concerns will be escalated to senior staff members within the SPC team as they arise.
The post holder will demonstrate and develop skills in conflict resolution and negotiation skills when dealing with difficult or challenging situations.
Key Result Areas
To act as Band 6 Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) for a supervised clinical caseload coordinating holistic care and providing on-going support for patients, their relatives and carers
Working alongside the Clinical Nurse Specialists, complete on going assessment, review, planning and evaluation of care requiring clinical expertise within the area of Specialist Palliative Care escalating any concerns to senior members of the team as required.
To communicate effectively in informing patients and their families and carers of current specialist practice and to be empathetic and reassuring when communicating highly sensitive information.
Act as the patient advocate, palliative care resource within the multidisciplinary meetings, participating in the discussion on clinical management of patients on the SPC caseload, escalating concerns for discussion when appropriate.
To ensure continuous development of clinical skills in relation to symptom management for patients on the specialist palliative care caseload, ensuring timely escalation to clinical nurse specialists or SPC consultants when needs fall outside of the associates scope of practice or competency.
Demonstrate a high level of clinical judgement under the supervision/guidance of the CNS in a variety of contexts including both acute and primary care settings.
Review patient medications in accordance with current Palliative Care guidance referring on for CNS/Consultant review when required to ensure patients receive maximum therapeutic support.
Proactively monitor patients on the caseload recognising the early signs of the deteriorating patient or acute illness based on an understanding of the disease process.
Identify training needs & facilitate the development of best practice that is evidence based in the department, ward and other areas as relevant to the patient group.
Participate in providing training as relevant to the wider multi disciplinary team.
Sign post patients their relatives and carers to other agencies and services as appropriate
Organise own clinical workload to ensure that aims and objectives of the role are met.
Participate in and provide clinical supervision to nursing colleagues on an individual & group basis if required.
To collaborate in the production of the Specialist Palliative Care team reports relating to the service, and actively participate in the annual review with line Manager, to drive service improvement through the collation and recording of quantative and qualitative data.
To conduct assessment and care planning to meet patients' future care needs to enable patient's wishes and preferences to be met and shared including Emergency Health Care Planning, Preferred Place of Care and DNACPR.
Apply the highest standards of patient centred care in the hospital and community in line with agreed policies procedure & clinical protocols, providing specialist advice and support within a multidisciplinary context.
Identify, assess and facilitate the informational and educational needs of the patient/family/carer.
Advise and communicate with other professionals regarding the support and management of patients, forming a link between hospital, community, Hospice and voluntary services.
Identify risks associated with treatment/care systems/practices and implement ways to manage this.
Ensure records are clearly and logically documented in relation to the clinical finding and management of each patient in line with legislation and professional guidelines to ensure contemporaneous record keeping.elegate work appropriately to other staff to ensure they are properly supported and supervised.
Demonstrate commitment to IWL principles and flexible working patterns, to meet the needs of the service and staff.
Tackle discrimination and harassment, and promote equality and diversity in the workplace.
Reduce sickness absence; work place accidents; and promote zero tolerance on violence against staff.
Take responsibility for personal development and education and the development of a Personal Development Plan and access regular supervision and support from the line manager.
Communications and Working Relationships
To maintain and contribute to an effective communication system with multi-professional teams, in the Palliative Care Team and wider Palliative Care Services, throughout the Hospital & Community settings.
To communicate effectively with patients, carers and professionals, utilising skilled interpersonal relationships to build trust, aid decision-making and improve care outcomes.
Use expert communication skills in relation to breaking bad news and provision of ongoing psychological support to those with a palliative or uncertain prognosis and their carers.
The post holder will be expected to communicate effectively with all multiprofessional and non-professional groups internally and externally involved in the provision of care to patients / carers with a palliative care diagnosis.
The post holder will formulate effective working relationships with relevant professionals and experts within palliative care and related fields, as well as utilising support networks including clinical supervision.
Participation and networking within Local and Regional Forums relevant to the provision of general and specialist palliative care.
3. Control of Infection
Be aware of, and comply with, all Trust infection prevention and control policies, to include hand hygiene, personal hygiene, environmental and food hygiene. To undertake annual training/updates in infection prevention and control.
Prepare for and undertake the protective interventions that he/she is responsible for in a manner that is consistent with evidence based practice and maintaining patient safety.
The Most Challenging Part of the Job
Participate in the ongoing service development.
Provide holistic care to patients, their families and carers who are receiving palliative or end of life care.
Respond to and support change management within the service.
Monitor and maintain highest standards of service delivery.
Please check your email address on a regular basis as applicants invited to attend an interview will be notified via this method.
As part of our recruitment process, you will be required to undertake pre-employment screening:
Disclosure and Barring Scheme (previously Criminal Records Bureau)
Where a post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 it may be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Scheme to check for any previous criminal convictions. Should you require a copy of the Trust's Disclosure and Barring Service Policy, please contact a member of the recruitment team on .
It is the policy of North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust that all successful candidates who are new to the Trust who require DBS clearance for the post they have been offered, are required to pay the cost for their DBS certificate. The method of payment for this is via salary deduction from your first month's pay on commencement with the Trust.
Please note the essential qualifications required for the post outlined within the Person Specification. You are required to hold and provide evidence of the necessary qualifications for the post at interview should you be shortlisted.
For any new employees commencing employment with North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust , you will be subject to satisfactory completion of a 6 month probationary period. Please note that internal applications and individuals that are appointed to fixed term appointments of less than 6 months duration are exempt from the probationary period (unless you are an internal applicant currently part way through a probationary period or a bank member of staff).
As part of our pre-employment screening process, all applicants are required to provide references covering their last three years employment history. Applicants are requested to ensure e-mail addresses for all referees are included on their application form. Personal references are not acceptable.
If the hours advertised for the post are up to full time (37.5 hours per week), applications are still welcomed from individuals who may be seeking to work less than full-time hours and all requests will be considered in line with the post being appointed to for the successful applicant.
North Tees & Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust operates a No Smoking Policy., As a supporter of the Armed Forces and an employer of Reservists, North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust are proud to be a signatory of the Armed Forces Covenant, which is a promise by the nation to ensure that those who serve or who have served in the UK Armed Forces (and their families) are treated fairly.
We recognise that reservists and veterans bring a variety of transferable skills and qualities to our workplace, developed through their military careers. Our commitment to supporting the Armed Forces Community has been recognised through the Armed Forces Covenant as a Silver Employer.
What does this mean?
We proactively demonstrate our forces-friendly credentials within our recruitment and selection processes, by having a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for those indicated as part of the Armed Forces Community. We engage with our local and regional Career Transition Partnership representatives and are a member of Step Into Health. We employ veterans and reservists from differing branches of the Armed Forces and actively promote our positive policies for the Armed Forces Community, including our Special Leave policy. We advocate support for defence people issues, including facilitating easier access to Healthcare Services for our patients within the AF Community. We have supported employees through Reservist training, through additional leave for their training and ongoing support under our Special Leave policy.

We are inviting applications from highly motivated registered nurses with advanced communication and interpersonal skills who are educated to degree level. The applicant should have post registration experience in a palliative care setting. In return we will offer a supportive and friendly environment where you will be challenged and encouraged to maintain and improve knowledge and skills to ensure expert high quality palliative and end of life care is delivered to all patients.

We are on a continuous journey of improvement and transformation , however our main priority is, and always will be, providing safe and high quality care to our patients every day; the kind of care we would want for ourselves and our loved ones. If you share our passion then apply for this opportunity and help us make our patients' experience the best it can possibly be.
With a budget of around £365m, three hospitals and 5,500 staff, North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust provides hospital-based services to the population of Hartlepool, Stockton on Tees and parts of East Durham and Sedgefield as well as community, therapeutic and screening to a wider population across Durham and Teesside., At North Tees & Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust our main priority is, and always will be, to provide safe and high quality care to our patients every day; the kind of care we would want for ourselves and our loved ones. We want our organisation to be the best place to work with the right staff, in the right roles, at the right time, to ensure we deliver exceptional patient care and experience.
We will support staff through providing an inclusive and supportive workplace with health and well-being initiatives, staff benefits and opportunities for personal and professional development. Staff recognition is very important to us; as well as performance reviews and appraisals, we recognise staff through Star and Team of the month, colleague recognition - a note of thanks, Managers Awards, Shining Stars and Service Awards.
We support the Making Every Contact Count approach to behaviour change in the promotion of health and wellbeing of individuals and communities.
We recruit for values and "Together we are North Tees & Hartlepool"