Nurse

Purpose

Nurses adopt a ‘hands on’ approach to all situations and oversee, supervise and prescribe the highest possible standards of physical and psychological nursing care when on shift. They run the staff as part of an effective nursing care team, while implementing national care standards related to the home’s philosophy of care, CQC standards and appropriate legislation.

Reporting to: Nurse – Team Leader

What does the role involve?

Nurses play a pivotal role in maintaining the highest standards of care and their typical day is both challenging and rewarding. Typically, nurses work a 12-hour shift which could be during the week and/or at the weekend. Their day starts at 8am when they greet residents and colleagues and get ready for the day ahead.

The first job is to talk to the night team to see what has happened overnight. During this all-important handover meeting the team reviews the schedule for the day ahead, including any events, resident outings and professional visits, and update each other on critical information.

The nurses allocate which care and senior care assistants will be working where and brief them on their responsibilities for the day. They highlight important information, such as who needs particular medication on that day, which new residents are due to move in, whether anyone has fallen overnight, any new wounds to dress or different dietary requirements or special needs.

Nurses also oversee the weighing of residents and the recording of health information, dress wounds, perform other treatments, update care plans and liaise with the facilities team to address any room-related concerns.

A key part of the role is to involve residents and families in care planning and also collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams, including dieticians, continence specialists, tissue viability nurses and safeguarding teams, to ensure that residents receive the most appropriate person-centred care. This is especially true for residents who are at end of life and the nurse helps ensure that everything is right for the resident and their family.