Neonatal Staff Nurse

1. Take responsibility for assessing, planning, implementing and evaluating neonatal nursing care on a shift by shift basis consistent with evidence based practice for babies and their families within the special care, high dependency and intensive care nursery, ensuring that fundamental needs for individual babies and parents are met and that care is evaluated and care plans are up to date and relevant.

2. Ensure the safe dispensation of drugs, within Trust and NMC guidelines and maintain knowledge of side effects and other contra-indications.

3. Maintain clinical skills and competencies ensuring ability to meet the needs of the patient.

4. Co-ordinate the effective admission, transfer and discharge of individual children in line with Trust policy.

5. Discuss options and support parents in making informed choice in their plan of care e.g. feeding methods, audiology checks, blood transfusion, and new-born screening programme.

6. Adhere to the Trusts safeguarding policies and procedures and ensure that knowledge and practise enables children to be safeguarded.

7. Promote the importance of the modification of the environment, taking into account the individual developmental needs of the infant e.g. positioning and minimal handling of very low birth weight babies.

8. Work with all members of the team to participate and respond to suggestions and complaints, evaluate patient and carers experience of the service, liaise with the sister in charge, make recommendations and develop the service within the clinical area, implementing agreed actions to improve services.

9. Actively participate in link roles providing verbal and written updates to the team.

10. Promote and actively participate in the Trust and Childrens Services Nursing Strategy

11. Participate in the development of a programme of continuing education for all staff within the team. Act as a mentor to new staff and students and provide a suitable learning environment and provide educational and developmental opportunities, supporting staff in achieving professional competencies and knowledge and ensuring practice within the unit is evidence based.

12. Demonstrate a professional approach to work and act in accordance with Trust Policies and the NMC Code of Professional conduct.

Further details can be found on the attached Job Description