Senior Special School Nurse

Job summary

Are you a compassionate and motivated nurse looking for an opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of patients and their families? Join our dedicated team and be part of a supportive environment where your clinical expertise, leadership and commitment to delivering high-quality, person-centred care are valued and encouraged.

To meet the needs of patients and their families to achieve improved health outcomes and promote health and wellbeing while demonstrating care, compassion, competence, communication, courage and commitment Care.

You will be responsible for coordinating the work of the team influencing clinical decisions and monitoring the quality of patient care provided through utilising and maintaining expert clinical knowledge relevant to own field of practice underpinned by theory and expertise.

If you are passionate about making a positive difference, committed to delivering outstanding patient-centred care and ready to develop your leadership and clinical expertise, we would love to hear from you and welcome you to our team.

Main duties of the job

The post holder to ensure they work within professional boundaries

Staff are managed and standards of work are maintained and trust policies for the management of staff performance are adhered too

Appraisals of staff directly managed are undertaken and that the appraisal process is maintained throughout the team

Provide leadership role model and demonstrate specialist knowledge and high standards of clinical practice

Manage staff sickness absence according to policies set out locally

Provide advice demonstrate own activities or workplace routines to less experience staff in own work area

May not dismiss or suspend staff under the disciplinary procedures

May not take annual leave without prior agreement of the manager

About us

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust provides joined-up mental and physical healthcare for around two million people across our communities. With over 13,000 staff working in the community and local hospitals, we deliver care at every stage of life, helping people live their best and healthiest lives.

Our mental health services include community-based support and early intervention in psychosis (EIP) for both adults and young people, alongside a network of specialist inpatient wards covering forensic, learning disability, eating disorder and older person's care.

We deliver extensive physical health services too, from urgent community response teams helping frail and older patients remain safely at home, to hospitals at home teams providing acute-level care in familiar surroundings. Our neurological services offer rehabilitation and treatment for conditions including Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, Motor Neurone Disease, Head Injury, Cerebral Palsy and Stroke. Across Hampshire, our community hospitals provide inpatient rehabilitation as a step down from acute care, and our dedicated teams also staff Treetops Sexual Assault Referral Centre in Portsmouth, offering expert, compassionate support.

Everything we do is underpinned by our CARE values of compassion, accountability, respect and excellence

Job responsibilities

The Senior Special School Nurse is responsible for the ongoing assessment of care needs and the development implementation and evaluation of programmes of specialised care for children who attend specific special schools

The Senior Special school nurse will provide and manage specific skilled nursing care to children with a variety of nursing needs including long term conditions and complex and multiple needs life limiting conditions learning disabilities and those with challenging behaviour and or autism related diagnoses

The care will be provided in the special schools with potential for meetings and learning to be carried out off site in other community settings

The role requires a nurse with paediatric and or learning disabilities expertise to work in collaboration with the special schools to ensure the children attending can access health promotion public health programme and specialist nursing programmes alongside their multidisciplinary team The nurse will be providing specialist advice to other professionals promoting evidence based practice

To line manage junior special school nurses and health care assistants within the special schools

The Senior Special School Nurse will

Have a good understanding and or experience of children with Profound and Multiple Learning disabilities PMLD and Severe Learning Disabilities SLD

Develop provide and evaluate essential training and updates to staff for all delegated tasks and health promotion activities carried out in school including staff competencies

Support with Education Health Care Plans Annual reviews in school for children with health needs on the caseload

Provide guidance advice and support to schools regarding management of pupils with complex health needs See person specification

Ensure school staff are trained and advise on best practice guidance regarding medicines management medicines waste disposal and medicines administration techniques

Create referrals to other professionals where required which includes continence service CCN service CPMS Respite centres wider allied health professionals AHPs

Provide advice support and referrals for children who are aged 14 to help with transition planning processes to adult services

Provide advice support and liaison for children transitioning into school from early years settings home and provide the necessary care planning training and referrals as required

Provide advice support and liaison for children transitioning between schools for example primary to secondary or to new locations where necessary

Provide routine monitoring of children on the caseload as necessary including height weight and clinical observations as dictated by the Childs health needs

Support with advise on desensitisation programmes and or use of social stories for children young people to access wider health care interventions

Support and contribute to CPMS and other community review clinics

Signpost families to other services and resources as required supporting their childs needs

Ensure school staff are aware of infection prevention and control measures and any changes in practice

Attend to children in emergencies when onsite to care for their immediate wellbeing liaising with ambulance service if required this does NOT include first aid as managed by school

Raise any safeguarding concerns in line with trust and national policies and guidelines

Work collaboratively with our social care education and AHPs to provide holistic care for the children and families on the caseload

Signpost and refer families to necessary charities agencies in relation to their childs health needs eg DLA CHCCCC applications make a wish dream flight holiday havens etc

Take part in regular on call out of hours support for the wider Children and Families service

Provides and receives complex sensitive information to patients relatives and colleagues and with empathy persuasion and reassurance and ensure information is clearly understood where there may be barriers to understanding

Ensures effective collaboration and communication with multidisciplinary team patients carers family and significant others always seeking consent of the client in doing so and in coordinating care and fostering effective working relationships to achieve best health outcomes

Actively listens drawing out information and checks understanding

Empathises with others and considers their needs and feelings

Expresses information effectively and accurately both orally and in writing adjusting language and style to recipients and considers their frame of reference

Accurately records patient information progress and status ensuring changes in the patients condition are shared with the multidisciplinary team in a timely manner

Ensures patient confidentiality is always maintained

Promotes Solent NHS as a centre of excellence for nursing practice through effective communication both internally and externally

Coordinate day to day management of the clinical area

Participate in recruitment of other healthcare professionals where appropriate

Staff receive appropriate health and safety and other mandatory training as prescribed and that relevant records are maintained

Appropriate risk and other assessment are completed and documented in a timely manner in accordance with trust policy

Identifies situations of clinical risk and takes appropriate action to ensure a safe environment for patients clients families and staff

Contributes to evidence based nursing practice in speciality areas

Demonstrates commitment to quality improvements risk management and resource utilisation participating in monitoring and evaluation activities including audit and research activities

Provides input into clinical standards protocols and policies and undertakes clinical audits as required

Evaluates the effectiveness efficiency and safety of clinical practice contributing to service improvement initiatives

Participates in the implementation of nursing models of care appropriate to patient client population needs

Contributes to and participates in Solent NHS policy development providing own expertise where relevant and feedback on proposed polices based on relevant experience and expertise where applicable

Participates in case review and debriefing activities as required

Participates in group unit discussions that review current practice

Contributes to the development of programmes of care and care packages providing specialist advice where relevant

Promote patient and public involvement in activities designed to inform service improvement

Actively participate in clinical audit and service improvement activity to improve patient care and patient outcomes privacy dignity and duty of candour

Observes a personal duty of care in relation to equipment and resources used in course work

There will be occasional exposure to emotional or difficult situations and the post holder will be required to complete the necessary restraint training so a reasonable level of physical fitness will be needed

There were will an expectation that you will travel between all bases to attend training and development sessions You will also be required to use a computer occasionally throughout your shift to update patient information/data systems

Fully adheres to the HIOWH NHS trust Integrated Clinical and Safeguarding Supervision policy along with Safeguarding Children and adult policies and information sharing protocols to ensure the health and wellbeing of children and adults at risk

Familiarity with the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act and maintains MCA mandatory training

Further information about the Trust and this role can be found on the Job Description and Person Specification document attached. It is important to us that we ensure our recruitment processes are accessible and inclusive to everyone - if as a potential candidate you are concerned a person specification may prevent or restrict your application for employment as a result of unintentional barriers on the grounds of your sex, race, age, sexual orientation, religion/belief or disability please initially contact the Trust's Recruitment team - detailed in the advert. The Trust will seek to resolve this issue wherever possible.

We are happy to talk Flexible Working - all requests for flexible working options can be discussed as part of the interview process.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential

• *BSc Nursing or RN in Child or Learning Disability Nursing and currently registered with NMC.
• *Post registration, specialist training relevant to speciality.
• *Teaching Qualification, e.g. ENB 998 or equivalent
• *Practice assessor/supervisor