Outreach Spinal Care Nurse x 2
Spinal Injuries Ireland (SII) is Ireland’s only one-to-one support service for people with a spinal cord injury. We provide a range of professional evidence-based services and resources to help people and their families adapt to life after the devastation of a spinal cord injury. The assistance we provide to each service user is specific to the needs of the person and their families.
SII’s mission is to engage with people with a spinal cord injury and their family members, to address barriers to full participation in society and to empower Service Users to work towards achieving personal, social, and vocational goals.
Purpose of the Role:
The purpose of the role is to provide nursing and clinical guidance to people living with spinal cord injury and their families. To support them to manage health problems directly related to their SCI, which come within the scope of the nursing discipline. The service is nationwide and aims to meet the complex needs of our Service Users and is delivered in accordance with the SII Strategic Plan 2023-2028. Through face-to-face visits or via telephone/email, the SII nurse will offer guidance and advice to our service users and/or their family members, addressing issues of concern associated with treatment and care and liaising/advocating on their behalf with healthcare professionals in the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH), community settings or treating hospitals to ensure these are addressed in line with best practice standards. The role also involves support and advice to primary care professionals in the specific care for people living with SCI. We are seeking an individual with the expertise and positive approach to support the mission and values of SII.
Reports to: Head of Services
Salary range: Negotiable depending on experience.
Hours: 2 x Part Time roles. Hybrid & Flexible working hours available
Location: G3 The Pottery, Bakers Point, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin and as required depending on service requirements.
Person Specification – Qualifications & Experience
Essential:
- Candidates must be registered on the general division of The Nurses and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) or eligible to be registered.
- A minimum of 3 years post qualification experience and currently operating at CNM1 or CNM2 or Senior Staff Nurse Level.
- Experience working with adults with a Spinal Cord Injury and disabilities within Scope of Practice.
- Comprehensive knowledge of Spinal Cord Injury and current nursing practices
- Excellent clinical skills and knowledge including experience in managing neurogenic bladder and bowel, neuropathic pain and pressure injuries.
- Pain and Wound management experience.
- Excellent knowledge of the Integrated Pathway for the Management of Spinal Cord Injury.
- Knowledge of Assisted Decision Making & the Decision Support Service.
- Awareness of the interface between rehabilitation and palliation.
- The ability to work autonomously and display excellent time management. This is essential as the role requires flexibility to accommodate the schedules of the patients and HCPs.
- Confident in building lasting relationships with other healthcare stakeholders.
- Have excellent interpersonal and organisational skills and a high standard of verbal and written communication and a positive approach to the work.
- Keen interest in Quality Improvement.
- Ability to relate effective and build productive relationships at all levels of a complex organisation with combined negotiation and influence skills.
- Ability to handle a diverse and challenging workload, analyse complex problems and develop practical solutions.
- Continuous Professional Development.
- Excellent task management, IT and organisational skills.
- Compliance with all SII policies and procedures.
- Awareness of Child protection and Adult safeguarding.
- Car and full, clean driving license. Must be willing to travel.
Desirable:
- Post-graduate spinal cord injury course
- Nurse Prescriber or a keen interest to complete the Nurse Prescribing programme. (Fully funded programme).
Key Duties to Include:
- To provide necessary and appropriate support to individuals with a spinal cord injury and their families/carers offering guidance and support that will enable them to acquire the skills and competencies necessary to understand and cope with the challenges they may meet.
- To support service users and their carers through the active delivery of specialised knowledge, to help prevent secondary complications such as pressure injuries and neurogenic bladder and bowel issues, to assist in the management of these complications when they arise.
- To empower service users to make informed lifestyle choices relating to community nursing care.
- To review service user SCI management against local and national guidelines
- To present training workshops to teach healthcare professionals how to manage and care for a patient who has suffered a spinal cord injury. Focusing on spinal injury awareness, autonomic dysreflexia, neurogenic bladder and bowel care and pressure relieving techniques and skin care.
- Assess and advise wound and pressure injury management and refer onto appropriate healthcare professionals where appropriate.
- To providing guidance about medication and therapies and refer to appropriate healthcare professional where suitable.
- To liaise with hospital/residential settings ensuring any issues of concern are addressed prior to/post admission for service users.
- To maintain and develop good collaborative working relationships and communications with appropriate healthcare professional, hospitals, community, and voluntary organisations.
- To make appropriate referrals to internal and external community/health organisations.
- To contribute to the preparation of funding applications to support service users where expert nursing input is required.
- To provide clinical information and advice to services team to ensure appropriate information is shared with SCI stakeholders.
- To ensure the outreach nursing service offered by SII is provided in a safe, effective, efficient, timely and appropriate manner in line with SII policies.
- To participate in SII presentations and events as required.
- To have clarity on the boundaries of the role and when to refer to colleagues within and outside SII.
Quality Care & Improvement
- Promote the delivery of a high standard of care to all service users in SII.
- To conduct, coordinate, engage and report on all nursing clinical audits.
- To continually improve knowledge of medication, procedures, and patient care.
- To actively participate in service meetings and communicate effectively with other members of the services team.
- To develop, maintain, and continuously review clinical standards for services delivery.
- To assist and provide advice with all Nursing Quality Improvement Projects from evolution to project delivery while actively monitor project risks (i.e. developing policies, protocols, guidelines and procedures to ensure that the highest standard of patient focused nursing care is provided within available resources).
- To provide regular reports/audits on the delivery of nurse specialist service to Head of Services and implement any required recommendations.
- To assist the Services Manager in the development of a Nursing Services Strategy.
- To develop and implement the Onboarding and post discharge pathways for new service users with the Services Manager and Team.
- Be responsible for the development of processes to assist with compliance and implementation of the National Standards for Safe Better Healthcare (HIQA).
- Effectively communicate with frontline staff and executive management team.
- Provide Nursing reports for the SII Board.
- Contribute to SII committees and their strategies.
- Assist with complaint reviews as required and commit to ensuring a program of shared learning is put in place for the Services team.
This list of duties is not intended to be exhaustive, but to reflect the main duties of the position and is subject to change. Due to the size of the organisation and the nature of our client group, all staff will, from time to time, be required to do duties outside of their job description. Any other duties may be allocated from time to time consistent with the position, operational and strategic plan.
We offer:
- A highly competitive salary and benefits package in line with HSE CNM2 salary scales
- Learning, development and innovation opportunities
- 23 paid Annual leave days (pro rata if part time)
- Hybrid & Flexible working arrangements
- Mileage & Expenses as per SII policy
- Contributory pension scheme, upon successful completion of probation (5% employer)
- Payment of 2 months sick pay in line with SII policy, upon successful completion of probation and in line with SII policy
- Maternity Benefit in line with SII policy
- Ample free staff parking
- Payment of annual NMBI registration fee
Closing Date: 31st August 2023
If you have the relevant experience and are keen to make a real difference in this exciting new role please apply with a covering letter and your CV to Stephanie Watson, Head of Operations at [email protected]
Informal enquiries to: Bairbre O’Sullivan, Head of Services, Mobile: 086 810 0678
