About this role
Job summary
You will be joining an award-winning, certified Outstanding team, who do all they can to empower babies, children, young people and families to experience as much life as possible.
As a member of Noahs Ark Nurse and Specialist Care team, you will put the experience of children and families at the heart of all you do. As well as understanding their care needs, you will get to know whats important to each child you support whether its knowing what their favourite song to listen to is, how they like to play, or what sooths them when they are sad - at Noahs Ark its so important that each child is treated as an individual. You will focus on what children can do, rather than their limitations, and will support them to experience things they may never have thought possible.
And by providing care for children, either at our state-of-the art building, The Ark, or out in the community, you will be allowing parents and cares to take some time for themselves. The hours of care you will provide will make a huge difference, allowing them to live life outside of their childs condition. By creating this time, you will be creating choice something which can feel impossible for the families we support.
Main duties of the job
As the Lead Admissions Nurse, you will be an integral part of the admission team, making sure families are booked in and ensuring all pre-admission elements are complete.
When required, you will help to provide a 24/7 on-call symptom assessment/management service for babies, children, and young people in The Ark and out in the community.
Your commitment will continue through to end-of-life care. You will be a guiding reassuring presence for families, working with other healthcare professionals to create as much comfort as possible. You'll be providing essential symptom management to help to bring comfort. As well as giving the choice of preferred place of care and preferred place of death.
You'll deliver high quality and effective training to other members of the team and family members. You will provide direct line management support to Band 5 Nurses (equiv.) and Band 3/4 (equiv.) Specialist Carers.
With excellent clinical and communication skills, youll either be an experienced Band 5 Nurse with palliative and/or complex care experience, ready to take a step upwards in your career, or a Band 6 Nurse already working in the palliative/complex care sector or have previous palliative care experience.
You'll be able to work collaboratively, experienced in leading a multi-skilled team, or can demonstrable experience of leadership with the support from a lead nurse. Aside from experience, we look for individuals who share our core values of kindness, excellence and courage.
About us
We exist to help babies, children and young people with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions, and their families, make the most of every day. Our mission is to enable those we support to enjoy life as children, not patients, as families, not just as carers.
Because everyone deserves to live life as themselves, beyond their condition or circumstances.
We do this by listening to families. We know one size doesnt fit all, so we cater our services to each individual person we support. We can do this from the point of diagnosis.
Our help is available wherever it is needed. Our expert staff and trained volunteers can provide support in a familys home, in the community, or at our state-of-the-art building, The Ark, in Barnet.
We work in collaboration with key NHS Trusts and other care providers to deliver the very best support to children and families. We have created a space where children with complex needs are accepted as they are, safe to play, explore, express themselves and build confidence.
Please note - we are only accepting direct applications for this role
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, we kindly adviseyou to submit your application as early as possible.
Job description Job responsibilities
Designed by families, for families, The Ark was opened in September 2019 by the Mayor of London. The grounds offer wheelchair accessible outdoor experiences, including a Woodland Walk through a 7-acre nature reserve, a hydrotherapy pool and overnight suites for families to be close to their loved ones. At The Ark we are able to provide Specialist Care and Nursing for babies, children and young people, supporting their full clinical, emotional, social and practical needs. We have created a space where children who are seriously unwell are accepted as they are, safe to play, explore, express themselves and build confidence.
Rated as ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission, the charity has had a sustained period of growth over the last two years and we are looking for high quality employees to come and be a part of that success.
Our expert staff and trained volunteers provide clinical, emotional and practical support for families across North and Central London and Herts Valley. We carefully adapt our support for every child and offer it wherever it is required - whether in their home, their community or at our state-of-the-art children’s hospice building, The Ark, in Barnet.
JOB DESCRIPTION You will be joining an award-winning, certified Outstanding team, who do all they can to empower babies, children, young people and families to experience as much life as possible.
As a member of Noah’s Ark Nurse and Specialist Care team, you will put the experience of children and families at the heart of all you do. As well as understanding their care needs, you will get to know what’s important to each child you support – whether it’s knowing what their favourite song to listen to is, how they like to play, or what sooths them when they are sad - at Noah’s Ark it’s so important that each child is treated as an individual. You will focus on what children can do, rather than their limitations, and will support them to experience things they may never have thought possible.
And by providing care for children, either at our state-of-the art building, The Ark, or out in the community, you will be allowing parents and cares to take some time for themselves. The hours of care you will provide will make a huge difference, allowing them to live life outside of their child’s condition. By creating this time, you will be creating choice – something which can feel impossible for the families we support.
As the Lead Admissions Nurse, you would be an integral part of the admission team, liaising with families to get them booked in and ensuring all pre-admission elements are complete to support their stay.
When required, you would join our experienced nursing team to help provide a 24/7 on-call symptom assessment/management service for babies, children, and young people in The Ark and out in the community.
Your commitment to children and families will continue through to end-of-life care. You will be a guiding reassuring presence for families elevating anxiety and worry and working with other healthcare professionals to create as much comfort as possible. You will be providing essential symptom management to help to bring comfort. As well as giving the choice of preferred place of care and preferred place of death.
During this time, you will continue to treat each child and family as an individual by taking the time to understand what is important to them. You will help to create memories to enable as good a death as possible.
A natural and experienced leader, you will deliver high quality and effective training to other members of the team and family members. You will provide direct line management support to Band 5 Nurses (equivalent) and Band 3 & 4 (equivalent) Specialist Carers.
ABOUT YOU With excellent clinical and communication skills, you’ll either be an experienced Band 5 Nurse with palliative and/or complex care experience, ready to take a step upwards in your career, or a Band 6 Nurse already working in the palliative/complex care sector or have previous palliative care experience. You’ll have experience managing a nursing team, or experience of supporting students, junior staff nurses or support workers.
You’ll be able to work collaboratively, experienced in leading a multi-skilled team, or can demonstrable experience of leadership with the support from a lead nurse.
Aside from experience, we look for individuals who share our core values of kindness, excellence and courage. We’ll support you to go above and beyond to be there for the children and families we support – we ask that you share this mission with us.
You’ll thrive working autonomously, confident in your ability to deliver care on your own out in the community. You’ll know the value of collaboration, and will work closely with your team members, other healthcare professionals and the families you support to provide the very best care.
Creativity and play will be central to your approach to care, with the ability to build long-term relationships with the children and families you care for.
Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice is an equal opportunity employer and particularly welcomes applications from groups who are currently under-represented in our staff.
Our diversity council is working hard to construct positive changes within our organisation. We are a disabilty confident employer and part of our commitment is to interview all applicants with a disability who meet the minimum criteria for a job vacancy and consider them on their abilities.
Person Specification
n/a Essential
Please refer to the job description for further information on this role.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Employer details Employer name Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice
Address Noahs Ark Childrens Hospice
The Ark 101A
Barnet
Greater London
EN5 4NP
Employer's website https://www.noahsarkhospice.org.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)