Staff Nurse - Cancer Services

One Band 5

1.0 WTE Staff Nurse Vacancy in Chemotherapy Day Unit -QEH Site

This is an exciting opportunity for a Band 5 staff nurse looking for a change in direction to join our committed and dedicated nursing team. The role will involve administering Systemic Anti-Cancer Treatment (SACT) (including chemotherapy) and supportive therapies to patients. SACT administration skills are not essential as full training and support will be provided. It would be expected that the successful candidate will complete an externally accredited SACT course at some point in the future. So, if this field of nursing is what you aspire too, this is the ideal next step if you have the right blend of skills and commitment to join our team of SACT nurses.

Our provision of high standards of care is recognised by our patients via patient feedback and recognition at Trust staff awards. Our teams are proud of our excellent reputation within the Trust and extended cancer community.

• To provide high standards of evidence based nursing care in the delivery of Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapy/supportive treatments in the Chemotherapy Day Unit.
• Where appropriate, work flexibly across Chemotherapy Day Unit at QEH and David Whitmore, Suite 8 UHL.
• To work in close collaboration with the multidisciplinary team members, pharmacists, dieticians, Acute Oncology Service, palliative care team and other site-specific clinical nurse specialists.
• The post holder will work in collaboration with the Unit Manager and team in identifying the developmental and educational needs of staff focusing on the care required by patients.
• To assess patients and monitor condition while on treatment.
• To provide advice and signposting for patients, carers and colleagues.
• To work collaboratively with the chemotherapy team to maintain safe standards of care within the NMC code of conduct and in line with Trust policies
• To participate in educational and training opportunities offered by the team to members of staff across the trust.

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust is a community focused provider of local and acute care, providing high quality services to over one million people living across the London boroughs of Lewisham, Greenwich and Bexley.

With a turnover of around £700 million, we provide services at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, University Hospital Lewisham and a range of community settings in Lewisham. We also provide some services at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup.

The Trust has 7,500 staff and we have recently invested in our workforce to grow our establishment across a number of key services. In 2020 we won a London NHS Parliamentary Award in recognition of a wide range of initiatives to make the organisation a great place to work. We are accredited as a flexible working employer offering a number of flexible working options for staff. We are also accredited as a London Living Wage employer for our substantive, bank and contractors.

The department has a strong work ethic, there is collaborative team working across inpatient wards, chemotherapy day units and other divisions in the organisation.

Working as part of wider multidisciplinary teams, we play a critical role in securing high quality care and excellent outcomes.

We foster an inclusive and diverse workforce with an open and transparent approach to communications.

Post Title: Staff Nurse

Department: Chemotherapy Day Unit

Responsible to: Unit manager/Chemotherapy Lead Nurse

Grade: Band 5

Hours: 37.5 hours per week

Job Summary:

• To provide high standards of evidence based nursing care in the delivery of Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapy/supportive treatments in the Chemotherapy Day Unit.
• Where appropriate, work flexibly across Chemotherapy Day Unit and David Whitmore, Suite 8 UHL.
• To work in close collaboration with the multidisciplinary team members, pharmacists, dieticians, Acute Oncology Service, palliative care team and other site specific clinical nurse specialists.
• The post holder will work in collaboration with the Unit Manager and team in identifying the developmental and educational needs of staff focusing on the care required by patients.
• To assess patients and monitor condition while on treatment.
• To provide advice and signposting for patients, carers and colleagues.
• To work collaboratively with the chemotherapy team to maintain safe standards of care within the NMC code of conduct and in line with Trust policies
• To participate in educational and training opportunities offered by the team to members of staff across the trust.

Key Result areas

Performance
1. To offer advanced clinical knowledge and expertise in relation to nursing practice and specialist clinical knowledge pertaining to the service.

1. To demonstrate clinical competence related to the support of patients receiving chemotherapy and other treatments delivered within the service.

1. To help ensure that care delivery is patient focused and that sound elements of research-based practice are introduced, maintained and audited.

1. To participate in the setting, implementing and evaluation of clinical practice standards within the team and unit, and meeting standards within Clinical Governance and government targets.

1. To act as advocate to patients to ensure a patient-orientated approach to the delivery of care and meeting standards within Clinical Governance and Government targets.

1. To contribute to the maintenance of patient held records, where appropriate.

1. To provide appropriate information to patients and their carers / families regarding their disease, treatment, services available to them, and the mechanism for emergency treatment, particularly in relation to neutropenic sepsis.

1. To provide emotional / spiritual support for patients and their carers / families, referring to other relevant professional where appropriate.

1. To support management of the service budget, manpower (including recruitment) and skill mix in order to ensure the effective day-to-day running of the day unit environment.

1. To maintain accurate and legible records of all clinical and legal documentation with regard to Statutory and Trust Policies.

1. To identify the specific education needs of individual patients and carers and facilitate meeting those needs

Workforce
1. To work with the Unit manager in the assessment of the short and long term development needs of the team.

1. A close working relationship will be maintained with the Unit sisters and other staff for clinical and educational purposes.

1. With the Unit Manager and unit sisters participate in Quality assurance initiatives and ongoing nursing audits, with resulting changes in practice being implemented.

1. To participate in reviewing practice with other nurses within the Trust and to attend relevant meetings and working parties.

1. In conjunction with other members of the nursing team identify the training and education needs of non-specialist colleagues – in order to promote specific skills related to the service speciality.

1. To work collaboratively with the team to provide teaching programmes / opportunities to meet these needs.

Financial
1. With the Unit Manager and unit sisters be involved in the evaluation of their roles, having consideration for the most effective use of staff.

1. To take an active role in off-duty planning, ensuring an effective skill mix within the available resources.

1. Along with other members of the team maintain safe stock levels of equipment

1. To be always aware of new ways of managing resources to increase efficiency and reduce waste

Partnerships
1. To liaise with and facilitate effective communication within the multi-disciplinary team.

1. In conjunction with the Unit Manager, unit sisters and CNSs, to advise and support non – specialist professionals who care for cancer / haematology patients – including issues relating to chemotherapy treatment and side effects, the safe handling of cytotoxic drugs, care of intravenous lines, and neutropenic sepsis protocols.
2. To act as a role model and mentor to other staff, providing informal education and support for them in their provision of care to cancer / haematology patients