Minor Illness Nurse

Job Summary

Responsible for:

• Attending to patients who are appropriate to be seen by a minor illness nurse and to either care for them or, if this is not appropriate, triage them to a more appropriate clinician
• Diagnosing and treating patients presenting with minor illness and treating them following practice guidelines and protocols
• Seeing and advising people in respect of their continuing medical and nursing needs

These patients will have booked appointments at fifteen-minute intervals.  There is a requirement to see extra or emergency patients. The minor illness nurse will need to prioritise and triage the needs of patients accordingly making any necessary referrals for investigations in the appropriate manner. Patients with problems needing referral to secondary care should be discussed with the GP who is supervising or, if unavailable at an appropriate interval with another GP in the practice before making a referral.

Qualifications

The post holder should be able to provide evidence of the following:

• Degree Level Nursing Qualification
• Prescribing Qualification
• Minor illness related qualification

Personal Specification

The post holder should be able to prove proficiency in the following areas:

• Minimum of 2 years related experience
• High level of communication skills
• Good level of teamwork
• IT proficiency
• Patient-focussed drive
• At least 2 years related experience

Job Responsibilities

Diagnosing and treating patients presenting with minor illness

• Triage (by telephone and face to face) and treat patients making any necessary referrals to other members of the primary health care team
• Ensure clinical practice is safe and effective and remains within boundaries of competence and to acknowledge limitations to the team so that referrals can be appropriate
• Advise patients on general health care and minor ailments with referral to other members of the primary and secondary health care team as necessary
• Ensure all contacts with patients are recorded as contemporaneously as possible

The primary role of the Minor Illness Nurse will be to provide more complex input than those currently provided by the practice nursing staff, however overlap may occur and there may be times when as part of this role other duties may be directed, including providing assessment, screening treatment services and health education advice as well as pathological specimens and investigatory procedures.

Administration and Professional Responsibilities

• Participate in the administrative and professional responsibilities of the practice team
• Ensure accurate and legible notes of all consultations and treatments are recorded in the patient’s record on SystmOne
• Ensure the clinical computer system is kept up to date with accurate details recorded and amended
• Ensure appropriate items of service claims are made accurately, reporting any problems to the administration staff
• Ensure accurate completion of all necessary documentation associated with patient health care and registration with the practice
• Ensure collection and maintenance of statistical information required for regular and ad hoc reports and audit
• Attend and participate in practice meetings as required
• Restocking and maintenance of clinical areas and consulting rooms when this is not carried out by a colleague

Supplies and Equipment

• Maintenance of equipment and stock relating to patient care

Training and Personal Development

• Training requirements will be monitored by appraisal initially after three months and then annually and will be in accordance with practice requirements. Personal development will be encouraged and supported by the practice, where appropriate.  It is the individual’s responsibility to remain up to date with recent developments.
• There will be timetabled time for debriefing and reflection on practice each week for the first few months of employment
• Participate in the education and training in the introduction of new members of practice staff where appropriate
• Maintain continued education by attendance at courses and study days as deemed useful or necessary for professional development 
• Develop and maintain a Personal Learning Plan
• To ensure participation in all mandatory training as required, including e-learning tools such as Information Governance, Manual Handling, Child Protection, Equality and Diversity etc as designated by the practice
• If it is necessary to expand the role to include additional responsibilities, appropriate training will be given

Liaison

• As well as the nursing team there is a need to work closely with reception, office and clinical staff to ensure the smooth running of the practice, reporting any problems encountered to the relevant person and ensuring everyone is aware of the different roles within the nursing team.
• There is also the need to establish and maintain good liaison with other surgeries and agencies including secondary care

Meetings

• It will be necessary to attend and contribute to various practice meetings as requested. The only reason for non-attendance would be annual, study or sick leave.

Confidentiality

• In the course of seeking treatment, patients entrust us with, or allow us to gather, sensitive information in relation to their health and other matters. They do so in confidence and have the right to expect that staff will respect their privacy and act appropriately.
• In the performance of the duties outlined in this Job Description, the post-holder may have access to confidential information relating to patients and their carers, practice staff and other healthcare workers. They may also have access to information relating to the practice as a business organisation.  All such information from any source is to be regarded as strictly confidential.

• Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, other healthcare workers or the business of the practice may only be divulged to authorised persons in accordance with the Practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data

Health and Safety

The post-holder will assist in promoting and maintaining their own and others health, safety and security as defined in the Practice Health and Safety Policy, to include:

• Identifying the risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manage those risks
• Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills
• Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy and safe way and free from hazards
• Reporting potential risks identified 

Equality and Diversity

The post-holder will support the equality, diversity and rights of patients, carers and colleagues, to include:

• Acting in a way that recognises the importance of people’s rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with practice procedures and policies, and current legislation
• Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues
• Behaving in a manner which is welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgemental and respects their circumstances, feelings priorities and rights

Personal/Professional Development

The post-holder will participate in any training programme implemented by the practice as part of this employment, such training to include:

• Participation in an annual individual performance review, including taking responsibility for maintaining a record of own personal and/or professional development
• Taking responsibility for own development, learning and performance and demonstrating skills and activities to others who are undertaking similar work

Quality

The post-holder will strive to maintain quality within the practice, and will:

• Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk
• Assess own performance and take accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision
• Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the team’s performance
• Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patients needs
• Effectively manage own time, workload and resources

Communication

The post-holder should recognise the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to:

• Communicate effectively with other team members
• Communicate effectively with patients and carers
• Recognise people’s needs for alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly

Contribution to the Implementation of Services

The post-holder will:

• Apply practice policies, standards and guidance
• Discuss with other members of the team how the policies, standards and guidelines will affect own work
• Participate in audit where appropriate

Apply Online

Please apply to Jennifer Gough, Practice and Business Manager using our secure online form