37.5 hours per week. We are looking for a highly skilled, experienced and enthusiastic Cardiac Nurse to work in the Livewell Community Cardiac Team.

The team offer specialist advice, management and education to patients with Heart Failure and Cardiac Rehabilitation needs. Working closely with Primary and Secondary care, you will support patients on the continuum from the first cardiac event to end of life. The work to optimise cardiac patients health, educate on self management and offer rehabilitation is a rewarding one and experienced Nurses are invited to apply.

We offer regular education, supervision and development support and have a very experienced and supportive team.

The post is advertised for a Plymouth locality and an ability to drive is essential.

Main duties of the job

To undertake a leading role in the planning, coordinating, delivering and evaluating of high quality Cardiac Nursing care for patients with Heart Failure and Cardiac Rehabilitation needs.

To act as a resource of specialist expertise for patients and the wider MDT across Livewell Southwest.

To provide an effective interface between the patients, Primary and Secondary care and offer a seamless, consistent and cohesive service.

About us

Livewell Southwest is an independent, award-winning social enterprise providing integrated health & social care services for people across Plymouth, South Hams & West Devon, as well as some specialist services for people living in parts of Devon & Cornwall. With teams in community hospitals, GP practices, sports centres, health & wellbeing hubs.

As an organisation with a strong social conscience, we always value being kind, respectful, inclusive, ambitious, responsible and collaborative. Transforming services to make them sustainable, ensuring that we value, support & empower each other.

We are committed to involving the people we care for, families & carers in everything that we do, working towards co-production where we can. Helping us to deliver the right care for people, in the right place & at the right time. By putting people at the centre of what we do, we ensure to support people to lead, healthy independent lives & be the very best at helping people to live well.

Valuing our employees making an investment in their development a priority. We offer:

Protected CPD time for registered staff

Various development pathways and ongoing regular training packages for all staff

Leadership & mentoring programmes

Access & funding for training including Care Certificate, Assistant Practitioners Course & Scholarship Into Nurse Training

A Robust Preceptorship

A bespoke induction programme

Existing members of the NHS Pension Scheme can continue their membership when they join the organisation.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Management:

• Responsible for the planning, development and day-to-day running of the community cardiac rehabilitation and heart failure service in their locality
• Responsible for clinical governance including satisfaction questionnaire, patient notes audit, clinical audits as deemed necessary
• Produce and update cardiac rehabilitation evidence within care quality commission framework
• Responsible for the recruitment and selection of new staff including induction and supervision of other staff
• Deputise for the service manager as required
• Manage clinical risk within own caseload and perform risk assessments
• Make recommendations on changes to clinical practice within community cardiac rehabilitation and heart failure
• Alongside team manager, develop and update standards and protocols for community cardiac rehabilitation and heart failure service in line with national guidelines
• Supervise the work of exercise instructors employed by the leisure industry assisting with phase 3 exercise program and the heart failure exercise program
• Work within the framework of patient group directives for the administration of emergency drugs
• Deputise for the exercise physiologist in his or her absence at the phase 3 exercise program

Clinical:

• Working within professional guidelines to make clinical decisions without supervision. Seeking advice as necessary from patients GP, consultant, GPSI in using evidence based research or peer support from another trust
• To reduce unnecessary hospital admissions and enable the individual patient to be managed in the community
• To provide clinical assessment, support and education patients, and their carers, enabling them to make informed decisions about the treatment, management and monitoring of their condition, with the aim of optimising their quality-of-life
• Deal effectively with arising clinical issues and emergency situations
• Ability to perform and assess 12 lead ECG
• To interpret blood results and adjust medications as required through liaising with the patients GP or consultant as required
• Safely manage phase 3 exercise program and heart failure exercise program on a day-to-day basis
• Manage the titration of cardiac medications working in partnership with GPs and UHP
• To be professionally and legally accountable for all aspects of your work including management of patient care
• Evaluate progress, reassess and alter individual action plans with the patient and relatives where required
• To provide expert advice and support in situations where the patient is able to actively participate in setting their own individual action plan
• Liaise closely with community teams to ensure palliative care needs are addressed utilising existing services
• Work as a loan practitioner within the community setting, with peer support as required
• Work within Livewell guidelines and have a good working knowledge of national standards, such as the National service framework for CHD and British Association of cardiac rehabilitation guidelines, NICE guidelines, QOS framework and CQC standards
• To be responsible for maintaining accurate and comprehensive patient records in line with the nursing and midwifery council and data protection guidelines

Education and Training:

• Provide patients, families and carers with tailored education programmes, advice and support, that may precipitate symptoms of acute exacerbation of cardiac conditions and include lifestyle changes that would be advantageous to health
• Evaluate the impact of these training programmes, for patients and carers, to ensure that they provide the necessary knowledge and skills to gain independence, safely manage changing circumstances and plan for unavoidable progression of conditions
• Be responsible for providing and maintaining a learning environment and maximise opportunities for education and development in the clinical area to enhance individual development and performance in the delivery of high standards of care
• Act as expert resource and assist in teaching knowledge and clinical skills for other health care professionals
• Take part in the process of clinical supervision and support clinical supervision for team members
• Take responsibility for your own personal and professional development maintain competence, knowledge and skills commensurate with role
• To develop, plan, implement and evaluate educational programmes
• To undertake all required training to develop competencies required for the role
• Integrate theory into practice by bringing new knowledge around Cardiac Nursing into the practice environment
• Act as mentor for students and fulfil requirements of a practice placement
• Maintain attendance at mandatory and statutory training as per organisation guidelines

Communication:

• Use a high level of communication/negotiation skills on a daily basis with patients, carers and relatives to encourage concordance with care planning and agreed outcomes
• Use a high level of communication/negotiation skills on a daily basis with other health and social care professionals. To inform each, as appropriate, of the highly complex and sensitive information related to the patients condition required to achieve the best outcomes and care pathways
• Show empathy and sensitivity when dealing with life threatening illnesses or other sensitive health related problems of patients, relatives and carers
• Ensure effective and timely information exchange is maintained, verbally, written or electronically
• Will be expected to liaise at local level with: people with cardiac conditions, relatives and carers, members of the public, consultants, GPs and any other medical nursing or therapy staff. Community and Acute providers, Intermediate Care service staff, Social Services, other specialist practitioner, statutory and voluntary organisations
• Provide and receive complex, sensitive or contentious information where motivational, empathetic and reassurance skills are required verbally and non-verbally, as well as written and electronic to communicate effectively with patients, carers and GPs. This will include patients who may have difficulty understanding or communicating e.g. patients may be dysphasic, depressed, deaf, and blind or may have difficulty accepting diagnoses
• Able to provide the interface between hospital and primary, community and social care settings. Maintain case manager responsibility in reaching to inpatient facilities to facilitate discharge to community
• Demonstrate highly developed communication skills required to take a lead role in case discussions/case conferences concerning service users in their caseload
• Act as patient advocate as required to ensure individual needs, preferences and choices are delivered
• Establish the dynamic process of understanding, reflecting, active listening and checking understanding, thus developing a therapeutic relationship with patients and carers

Professional:

• Work within the NMC Code of Conduct
• Remain updated and ensure that clinical practice is evidence based
• Have a personal development plan and professional portfolio

Person Specification

Knowledge & Skills

Essential

• Good knowledge of Cardiac Nursing Cardiac Rehabilitation, Heart Failure, Secondary Prevention, Cardiac Surgery, Cardiac intervention etc
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Evidence of being able to work independently without supervision, but liaise effectively with an MDT
• Ability to assess, plan, implement and evaluate patients independently
• Ability to work independently and within a team, supporting colleagues to maintain equity of service for all
• Able to travel throughout the Livewell patch to attend courses and support colleagues

Desirable

• Enhanced cardiac knowledge
• Coaching/ motivational interviewing skills

Qualifications

Essential

• Registered Nurse
• Relevant post registration qualification

Desirable

• Specific Cardiac course
• Mentorship/teaching qualification
• ILS/ALS trained
• Qualifications in education or health promotion

Experience

Essential

• Minimum 3 years post-registration experience
• At least 2 years working in a Cardiology/Cardiothoracic setting

Desirable

• Previous Community Cardiac experience
• 2 years at senior level in a Cardiology setting
• Variety of Cardiology provision eg. Wards, community, cath labs, CCU
• Cardiac Rehabilitation experience

Employer details

Employer name

Livewell Southwest

Address

Minor Injuries Unit

Damerel Close

Plymouth

PL1 4JZ

Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

B9832-2023-NM-8679