Ward Manager

Job summary

We are seeking an enthusiastic and compassionate paediatric nurse leader for a six-month secondment as Ward Manager for Paddington Ward. The ward provides inpatient paediatric medical care and incorporates the Paediatric High Dependency Unit and Medical Day Case Unit.

You will be an experienced registered children's nurse or adult nurse with significant paediatric experience at Band 6 or above, with strong clinical credibility, leadership potential and the ability to coordinate a busy clinical environment.

Current Nursing and Midwifery Council registration as a children's nurse.

Significant paediatric experience, ideally at Band 6 level.

Evidence of leadership, team working and service improvement.

Strong communication, decision-making and organisational skills.

Commitment to patient safety, staff development and inclusive, family-centred care.

This is an ideal development opportunity for an experienced Band 6 nurse taking their first steps into management. You will gain Band 7 ward-management experience with full support from an experienced senior leadership team.

Main duties of the job

Provide visible, compassionate leadership to the multidisciplinary team.

Oversee daily ward operations, patient flow, staffing, acuity and escalation.

Maintain high standards of safe, effective and family-centred care.

Lead workforce development, wellbeing, performance and a positive team culture.

Drive governance and improvement through incident review, audit, risk management and learning.

Manage ward resources effectively and work collaboratively across Child Health and wider services.

About us

Please submit your application as soon as possible, as we reserve the right to close adverts once sufficient applications have been received.

We recognise that AI tools can support application writing; however, candidates are asked to keep their use to a minimum. Responses should reflect your own experience, skills and knowledge, as over-reliance on AI-generated content may result in generic answers that do not accurately represent your abilities.

University Hospitals of Northamptonshire (UHN) brings together Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust. As a group, we are committed to improving services for our communities through collaboration, modernising care delivery and striving for excellence. Working together enables us to share expertise, strengthen services and create greater opportunities, and there may be a requirement to work across sites depending on service needs.

Our Excellence Values are Compassion, Accountability, Respect, Integrity and Courage. UHN welcomes applications from all backgrounds and is committed to an inclusive working environment. We are proud signatories of the Armed Forces Covenant and hold the Gold Award under the Employer Recognition Scheme. Candidates who identify as members of the Armed Forces community and meet the essential criteria will be guaranteed an interview.

Job responsibilities

Please see full job description attached for further information.

Role overview:

Band 7 Ward Manager for Paddington Ward, responsible for the paediatric medical ward, High Dependency Unit and Medical Day Case Unit. Reporting to the Child Health Matron, the post provides visible clinical and operational leadership to ensure safe, evidence-based, family-centred care and effective 24-hour management.

Core responsibilities:

Lead clinical standards, patient safety and experience; manage staffing, performance, education, rostering, budget and resources; oversee governance, safeguarding, infection prevention, incidents, risks and audits; and drive service improvement, collaborative working and delivery of Trust priorities.

Essential requirements:

Registered Childrens Nurse/RSCN with leadership and management training, APLS or EPLS, teaching and assessing experience, and substantial acute paediatric experience at Band 6 or above. Strong leadership, communication, governance, safeguarding, organisational and change-management skills are required, alongside resilience and commitment to equality, inclusion and Trust values.

Person specification

Education, Training and Qualifications

Essential

• RSCN or RN(Child)
• Active NMC PIN
• Leadership course
• Evidence of appropriate continuous professional development
• APLS / EPLS qualification
• >3 years experience in Acute setting with minimum 1 year at Band 6 in relevant speciality.

Desirable

• APLS / EPLS instructor qualification
• Ward manager experience

Knowledge and experience

Essential

• substantial Paediatric Experience at Band 6 or above in an acute setting / PICU/ PHDU
• Experience of Multi-professional working
• Experience of managing a Team
• Credible professional knowledge of paediatric nursing
• Experience of dealing with safeguarding issues
• Knowledge of clinical governance practices relating to paediatrics

Desirable

• Project management experience
• Participation in clinical Governance / audit
• Ward manager experience

Skills

Essential

• Excellent leadership, management, support and motivational skills
• Excellent communication skills both verbally and written
• Effective communication with people from varied social, cultural and professional backgrounds
• Evidence of Expert clinical skills
• Skilled in implementing change
• Teaching experience
• Able to prioritise workload and work to timeframes
• Excellent organisational skills
• Computer literate
• Experience of working with an ODN
• Able to cope with difficult, challenging and sometimes emotional situations as they arise
• Physically able to fulfil requirements of the job, e.g. manual handling.

Key competencies , Personal qualities and Attributes

Essential

• Passionate about role
• Caring approach to sick CYP and their family
• Innovator and motivator
• Able to work autonomously
• Able to work under pressure