About this role
Job summary
Join The Kirkwood and help shape outstanding specialist palliative care across Kirklees.
Are you an experienced, compassionate and forward-thinking Clinical Nurse Specialist ready to take the next step in your clinical leadership journey? This is an exciting opportunity to join The Kirkwood as a Clinical Nurse Specialist Practitioner, playing a key role in delivering responsive, high-quality care for patients and families across Kirklees.
Working within our integrated interdisciplinary team, you will provide expert clinical assessment, specialist advice, non-medical prescribing and compassionate leadership, with a particular focus on our Virtual Hospice service model. You will help ensure people receive personalised, holistic care that reflects what matters most to them and those close to them.
At The Kirkwood, patients, families and carers are at the heart of everything we do. This role offers the chance to make a meaningful difference every day: supporting people with complex palliative care needs, enabling choice, promoting dignity and helping services develop around the voices and experiences of the people we support.
You will be part of a values-led organisation that is respectful and inclusive, passionate and determined, open and honest, kind and compassionate, forward-thinking, and committed to quality and excellence.
Main duties of the job
Perform comprehensive, holistic assessment of patients with sensitive and complex palliative care needs, identifying urgent needs and raising these appropriately with members of the multidisciplinary team. Assess family member/carer needs. Develop and implement a plan of care, including investigations, admission to hospice/hospital, out-patient appointments, referral to other disciplines or services as appropriate. Work in partnership with patients and carers to prepare them for end of life issues and enable them to make informed choices, set goals and to identify and promote strategies to adapt to life-threatening and life-limiting situations. Undertake regular medication reviews, in relation to palliative care. Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of the options for achieving symptom control and ability to advise the primary health care team. With support from the Senior Clinical Nurses Specialists, manage a complex caseload from admittance to discharge from case load Work as an expert practitioner and act as a role model within the multi-disciplinary team and Primary Health Care Team (PHCT), demonstrating highly developed specialist knowledge and skills through theory, nursing practice and experience. Work with the wider team to ensure expert knowledge is disseminated appropriately Take ownership of using of non-clinical time beneficially
About us
We are looking for a credible,confidentand compassionate registered nurse with extensive specialist palliative care experience. You will bring sound clinical judgement, excellent communicationskillsand the ability to work autonomously while contributing positively to a supportive team culture.
You will have experience of leading and supporting others, a commitment to high standards of patient care, and the ability to manage change, develop practice and promote learning. A Non-Medical Prescriber qualification is essential, along with the ability to travel across Kirklees for work purposes.
If you are ready to bring your specialist knowledge, leadership and compassion to a role where every day matters, we would love to hear from you.
Benefits include 27 days holiday, Employee Assistance Programme access, low-cost meals at our Dalton site, complementary therapies and transferable NHS Pension contributions.
The Kirkwood provides free specialist care for adults in Kirklees with advanced, progressive illnesses, alongside support for families, friends and carers. Through education, training and partnership working, we improve care for everyone affected by life-limiting illness.
Please note, we reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications.
Job description Job responsibilities
We are seeking a compassionate and motivated professional to join our team in delivering a responsive, flexible, and high-quality community specialist palliative care service. This role focuses on supporting patients with complex palliative care needs and their families, ensuring care is person-centred and aligned with our strategy and Care Quality Commission standards.
The post holder will work autonomously within the community, undertaking specialist assessments, developing and reviewing individualised care plans, and providing expert guidance to others involved in the patients care. Working closely with Clinical Nurse Specialists and the wider multidisciplinary team, you will respond to changing patient needs and contribute to maintaining excellence in service delivery.
In addition, this role involves collaborating with colleagues and external organisations, supporting education and training initiatives, and contributing to the ongoing development and improvement of palliative care services.
Primary Responsibilities
Clinical duties
Perform comprehensive, holistic assessment of patients with sensitive and complex palliative care needs, identifying urgent needs and raising these appropriately with members of the multidisciplinary team. Assess family member/carer needs. Develop and implement a plan of care, including investigations, admission to hospice/hospital, out-patient appointments, referral to other disciplines or services asappropriate. Work in partnership with patients and carers to prepare them for end of life issues and enable them to make informed choices, set goals and toidentifyand promote strategies to adapt to life-threatening and life-limiting situations. Facilitate discussions around advance care planning and resuscitation, providing information andassistingwith completion of documentationrequired. Undertake regular medication reviews, in relation to palliative care. Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of the options for achieving symptom control and ability to advise the primary health care team. Work collaboratively with other professionals and agencies to ensure patient needs are met, especially in relation to on-going care needs and discharge planning Collect, collate, evaluate and report information, maintaining accurate patient records both written documentation and the electronic database. Managerial / Leadership duties With support from the Senior Clinical Nurses Specialists, manage a complex caseload from admittance to discharge from case load Work as an expert practitioner and act as a role model within the multi-disciplinary team and Primary Health Care Team (PHCT),demonstratinghighly developed specialist knowledge and skills through theory, nursingpracticeand experience. Work with the wider team to ensure expert knowledge is disseminated appropriately Take ownership of using of non-clinical time beneficially Identify service users views, needs and shortfalls in the service and ensure they are fed back via the relevant channels. To participate openly and honestly in any investigation when care falls below expected standards. Promote patient and public involvement in activities as much as possible.Education
Identify, generate and utilise appropriate learning opportunities in practice. Support the Senior Clinical Nurse Specialists with the delivery of education and training provided to a variety of groups including care home staff, hospice staff, community nurses and General Practitioners. Mentor students, new starters and a variety of people on short-term placements. Represent palliative care services positively to the general public. Develop and sustain networks with other experts at local and national level Conduct and document risk assessments in respect of clinical care or self and take appropriate action. Clinical Governance / Quality Work within national and local requirements, ensuring care is evidence based and within policies, procedure, guidelines and professional body guidance Bring any near-misses and incidents to the attention of the Senior Clinical Nurse Specialists and document and address these in a timely way, ensuring appropriate action and communication is taken. Identify need for, and contribute to, research, clinical audit and benchmarking, in order to improve effectiveness of patient care.
Other Responsibilities
To work in accordance with the values of The Kirkwood. Patients, Families and Carers are the focus of everything we do. Our values are what we live and work by.
We are:
Respectful and Inclusive
Passionate and Determined
Open and Honest
Kind and Compassionate
Forward-thinking
We strive for Quality and Excellence
To participate in The Kirkwoods performance and development review process.
To undertake any other duties required by The Kirkwoods Management team commensurate with the post.
To undertake annual mandatory training provided by The Kirkwood.
To maintain complete confidentiality as a condition of employment. Information relating to patients, other members of staff and volunteers or which is acquired for the purposes of employment may only be disclosed with the express permission of the appropriate manager.
To respect the ethos and values of The Kirkwood and its services and comply with its policies, procedures and regulations.
This job description is not exhaustive therefore the employer and employee share responsibility to review and amend this job description in order to reflect any changes in role/development.
Person Specification
Qualifications Essential
First level Registered Nurse with recent clinical experience Nurse prescriber or willingness to undertake non-medical prescribing V300 Full UK driving license with access to own car for work purposes
Desirable
Post-registration palliative care qualification ENB 931, 285 certificates in palliative care Community nursing qualification Teaching qualification
Experience Essential
Post-registration experience in a variety of settings, including community Significant experience at minimum of Band 5 level, or equivalent, in specialist palliative care or caring for palliative care patients in a community or hospital setting. Experience and knowledge of symptom management. Experience managing and prioritizing a caseload including complex and sensitive issues Experience in teaching and/or training others Experience of multi-disciplinary and agency working Experience of participating in service development Knowledge of advance care planning
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 The Kirkwood
Address 21 Albany Road
Dalton
Huddersfield
HD5 9UY
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.thekirkwood.org.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)