Paediatric HDU Senior Staff Nurse

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Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, (LGT), is a community-focused provider of local and acute care, delivering high-quality services to over one million people living across the London boroughs of Lewisham, Greenwich, and Bexley. We provide whole-life care and are here to support our communities to live healthier lives as well as taking care of them when they need us the most.

Employing almost 7,500 colleagues, affectionately known as Team LGT, we provide services at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, University Hospital Lewisham, and at over a dozen community settings in Lewisham. We also provide some services at Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup.

We have recently launched our new vision and values to mark the LGT10 - the tenth anniversary of our Trust forming in 2013. Our trust vision is to be exceptional. In the quality of our patient care; our support for colleagues; and in the difference we make through our partnerships and in our communities.

To achieve this we value Respect, Compassion, and Inclusion; Being accountable over staying comfortable; Listening over always knowing best; and Succeeding together over achieving alone. You can read more about our visions and values here

Our hospitals and community sites provide a wide range of inpatient and outpatient services, as well as emergency and planned care. The Trust is rated as "good" or "outstanding" in over three-quarters of the services inspected by the Care Quality Commission.

Every year our work includes performing 10,000 procedures in our theatres; bringing seven and a half thousand new lives into the world; carrying out 570,000 visits to patients in their homes or communities and providing emergency care for more than 300,000 patients arriving in our busy Urgent and Emergency Departments.

LGT is a centre for the education and training of medical students enrolled with King's College London's GKT School of Medical Education. We are a training centre for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals. We are pioneering new roles that will support the changing needs of our patients and are one of the largest employers of physician associates in the country.

We are committed to working with our partners to deliver the best outcomes for our local communities. This means playing an active role in the South East London Integrated Care System (ICS), and in formal partnerships including the South East London Acute Provider Collaborative, provider partnerships with our local mental health trusts and borough-based boards of the ICS in Bexley, Greenwich and Lewisham.

Job overview

We have an exciting and challenging opportunity for a dynamic and innovative Band 5 or existing Band 6 with excellent clinical skills to join our HDU team on Tiger Safari Ward at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. We are looking to recruit 1.58 WTE Paediatric HDU Senior Staff Nurses substantively.

Our HDU service consists of 4 commissioned Level 2 respiratory beds, as well as Level 1 HDU beds, on our general children's inpatient ward, providing high quality care for children and young people up to the age of 16 years requiring high dependency care. This includes long term ventilation and acute NIV. We are a busy, high acuity unit, with a complex population of children presenting with a wide variety of pathology.

Main duties of the job

To provide high quality care to children requiring Level 2 and Level 1 critical care interventions, including children who are long term trache or non-invasively ventilated, those on acute NIV and HFNC, children with DKA, and those on opiate infusions

To directly oversee HDU trained HCAs who are providing 1:1 HDU care on the ward.

To assist paediatric, anaesthetic and STRS teams in caring for and optimising children who need retrieval for uplift to PICU care.

To act as a mentor, teaching and supervising junior staff including band 5 nurses, student nurses and HDU trained health care support workers.

Opportunities to:
• Contribute to HDU service development including fortnightly MDT meetings
• Assist in facilitating simulation
• Cascade and contribute to MDT training in areas such as tracheostomy management and ventilation
• Complete train the trainer courses and contribute to parent competencies in tracheostomy care and LTV
• Attend STRS and STPN networking and training events

Working for our organisation

Our people are our greatest asset. When we feel supported and happy at work, this positivity reaches those very people we are here for, the patients. Engaged employees perform at their best and our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) initiatives contribute to cultivate a culture of engagement. We have four staff networks, a corporate EDI Team and a suite of programmes and events which aim to insert the 5 aspirations:

1. Improving representation at senior levels of staff with disabilities, from black, Asian, and ethnic minorities background, identify as LGBTQ+ and women, through improved recruitment and leadership development
2. Widening access (anchor institution) and employability
3. Improving the experience of staff with disability
4. Improving the EDI literacy and confidence of trust staff through training and development
5. Making equalities mainstream

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

1. The post holder must have previous experience of caring for patients requiring High dependency care and be competent in long term ventilation and tracheostomies.

2. To provide high quality, effective, individualised care to all children, by assessing care needs and developing, implementing and evaluating them without supervision.

3. To assist the Clinical Nurse Manager and/or Matron in leading the nursing team and deputise in their absence.

4. To monitor standards of nursing care and take appropriate action to maintain and improve them.

5. To utilise a variety of strategies to communicate effectively with children, families, the multi-disciplinary team, other departments within the trust and pertinent agencies outside the organisation.

6. To respond to children's and families' concerns as they arise and take remedial action as required.

7. To act as a mentor, teaching and supervising junior staff including student nurses and health care support workers.

Person specification

Qualifications and Training

Essential criteria

• RSCN or RN Child
• PILS provider
• Functioning at minimum diploma level.
• Mentorship level 5/6 or evidence of SSSA training
• High Dependency module or equivalent level of experience.

Desirable criteria

• Functioning at degree level.

Experience

Essential criteria

• Good written & verbal communication skills.
• Ability to document legibly and precisely
• Significant post registration experience at band 5 or above.
• Interest & experience in teaching.
• Acute Children's ward experience.
• Competent in IV drug administration.

Desirable criteria

• Significant experience of working with children and family.
• Experience in managing the ward on a regular basis.

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Family centred focus
• Able to interact well with multidisciplinary team and Patents/relatives
• Evidence of recent continuing professional development
• IV competent.

Desirable criteria

• Computer literacy

We reserve the right to close the post before the stated closing date, please apply early. We do not contact applicants with the outcome of the shortlisting. If you have been shortlisted, you will receive an invite to an assessment day or interview.

As a local employer and anchor institution we work closely with our community to recruit locally and we welcome applications from the widest variety of people to ensure our workforce are reflective of the local communities which we serve. We encourage all suitable candidates to apply including if you are Black, Asian or other ethnic minorities, live with a disability (visible or not) or are LGBT+. We have a number of active staff networks including Disability, LGBT+, Multicultural Inclusion and Women's staff networks to bring staff together and celebrate diversity across our whole workforce.

Please note, not all roles will meet the criteria for a skilled worker visa.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

• JD (PDF, 330.5KB)
• PS (PDF, 328.4KB)
• Working at LGT (PDF, 4.2MB)