Staff Nurse

Clinical Responsibilities

• Act as primary nurse for a defined group of patients and liaises with the associate nurses to ensure a consistent approach to delivering care.
• Assess plan, implement and evaluate the care provided especially with regard to identifying and managing risk.
• Accept responsibility for the implementation of the Care Programme Approach with their primary patients.
• Encourage patients to accept an optimum level of responsibility for their individual programmes.
• Enter and maintain records using electronic and paper based systems.
• Works in partnership with Healthcare Officers & other healthcare Depts to ensure that patients needs are addressed, and to maximise the time out of cell and range of activities available for patients.
• Treat prisoners and patients with fairness and respect, maintaining confidentiality appropriately.
• Develop strategies for dealing with disturbed behaviour especially the ability to recognise and respond to signs of imminent disturbance.
• Assist the inpatients manager and charge nurses in maintaining standards of care and participate in evaluation studies and projects as required.
• To keep up to date with developments and research in mental health nursing and applies relevant to practice.
• Participates in the running of therapeutic patients groups and provide a recovery focus approach to deliver care.
• To be fully involved in presentations in ward rounds, handovers and other meetings where patient care is discussed and reviewed.
• To expedite and participate in the assessment, admission, transfer and discharge of patients according to local guidelines and standards.
• Ensure that as a nurse they understand the confidential nature of their work and their responsibilities as identified in the NMC Code of Professional Conduct.
• To ensure the safe custody of drugs and that they are ordered and administered accordingly to Trust policies and the Misuse of Drugs Act.
• To maintain an effective working knowledge of the administrative requirements and needs of patients detained under the Mental Health Act (1983).
• To demonstrate specialist knowledge of the Mental Health Act 1983 (as amended by MHA 2007).