Nutrition Support Specialist Nurse Practitioner

An exciting opportunity has arisen where we would like to invite someone to join our Nutrition Support Specialist Nursing team. The role of the Nutrition Support Specialist Nurse is to contribute to providing a high-quality and knowledgeable specialist nursing service for adult patients requiring nutrition support. This support may be via the parenteral route with intravenous infusions or via the enteral route with nasogastric, gastrostomy or jejunostomy tubes with patients being in an inpatient and an out-patient setting. The successful applicant should be motivated and committed to high quality and compassionate patient care. They should have existing knowledge of modes of nutrition support with skills and experience related to feeding device insertion techniques and methods of administration. Our specialist nursing team is supported by the wider multidisciplinary Nutrition Support Team, with regular contact from specialist Consultant Gastroenterologists, Pharmacists and Dietitians. Collectively, the team provides complex clinical nutrition support across the Trust. A commitment to collaborative team working and effective communication is therefore essential to the role. Final words: Whilst we are a small team of specialist nurses, we have a have strong patient centred focus on the service and care that we deliver. We would like to invite a like-minded nurse to come to join us, so why not get in contact and find out if this is the next role for you., As a general overview of the post, the working week will predominantly cover enteral and parenteral activities related to Nutrition Support but also there is a requirement to provide specialist training to staff and patients. Some aspects of the role will be directly patient facing with inpatients and outpatients who attend specialist clinics. However, there will also be the need work in a non-patient facing capacity to support patients who are at home whilst also providing clinical advice and support. Key duties and expectations of the role, include but are not limited to:

• Development of specialist knowledge related to nutrition support and intestinal failure underpinned by theory and evidence-based practice.
• Contribution to the day-to-day clinical care of those patients receiving nutrition support by providing expert care, advice and support to patients and their families and act as a resource to other staff.
• Working collaboratively and across other professional and organisational boundaries to support this group of patients.
• Establishing effective communication with patient/carers and families and other healthcare professionals about complex matters to support and maintain therapeutic relationships
• Contributing to the development of services and quality improvement initiatives.
• Practicing in accordance with the professional, ethical and legal framework for nursing.
• Ability to work flexibly meet demands of the service., + Deliver and contribute to expert nursing care to patients in agreed practice settings, working collaboratively as part of nursing/multidisciplinary teams.
+ Completion of a competency framework for clinical skills and knowledge related to enteral and parenteral nutrition. · Be a defined point of contact for patients/carers and provide clinical care, specialist nursing advice and psychosocial support. + Accept referrals to agreed criteria, and work in partnership with other professionals to deliver coordinated programmes of care effectively and refer patients to other healthcare professionals as required. + Assess the health and psychosocial needs of individual patients, and provide care to meet these needs, through a process of shared decision making. + Act as an advocate to the patient always, considering the need for the involvement of other healthcare professionals or expertise as required. + Maintain adequate patient documentation to NMC requirements for all patients seen and advice given in any practice setting and contribute to clinical activity/data collection as required. Clinical patient assessment and management: + Develop skills of history taking and physical clinical assessment for those patients being considered for or receiving nutrition support. · Develop skills of the assessment of inpatients and outpatients in a face-to-face format and also using telephone and email methods of communication · Contributes to the planning and undertaking of clinical procedures that are evidence-based and are in line with local and national guidelines · Develop skills and confidence in the pro-active management of a defined patient caseload. Enteral Nutrition Support: · Appropriately clinically assess patients who require the insertion of an enteral tube for the purpose of nutrition support or other clinical indications. · Obtain and maintain clinical skills and expertise with the placement and/or replacement of enteral feeding tubes, such as nasogastric feeding tubes, Cortak® nasojejunal feeding tubes, replacement balloon gastrostomy feeding tubes. · If, and when considered appropriate, to develop the skills necessary to become a specialist nurse operator in the insertion of gastrostomy and jejunostomy tubes either in the endoscopy, radiology or operating theatre suites. · Develop knowledge and understanding of the different enteral feeding methods and devices to be able to contribute to the decision making of the patient's nutrition support care. Parenteral Nutrition Support + To actively participate in the clinical ward rounds and contribute to the multi-disciplinary assessment of patients receiving parenteral nutrition. · Development of physical clinical assessment for those patients being considered for or who are receiving parenteral nutrition support. · Obtain and maintain the clinical skills and expertise to administer parenteral nutrition along with the understanding of ensuring appropriate vascular access device selection. · Development of understanding and knowledge of the requirements for and rationale for the monitoring of patients receiving parenteral nutrition, in the short and long term. · Development of understanding of the processes and knowledge required for the indications for the set-up of home parenteral nutrition. · Active involvement in the logistical arrangements of the set-up and continued management and monitoring of patients receiving home parenteral nutrition., + Contribute to the development and delivery of nurse-led initiatives for the benefit of the identified patient group, in conjunction with medical and nursing/AHP colleagues. + Demonstrate and share clinical practice developments to provide evidence-based care and contribute to service improvement in accordance with local policy initiatives. + Contribute appropriately to clinical governance activities that relate to own area of practice and patient/client group. + Support clinical and management teams in the delivery of Trust and Directorate objectives., Development of self: + Maintain an individual professional portfolio. + Maintain, advance and develop personal theoretical knowledge, high standards of clinical competence and professional development through self-education and attendance at relevant courses of study + Develop and maintain a peer network of support, information and learning with other specialist practitioners at a local and national level. + Take responsibility to ensure annual appraisal, agree on objectives that reflect local and national service needs and develop personal development plans. + Ensure statutory and mandatory training updates, as well as role /speciality updates, are completed, and necessary records maintained. Development of others: + Contribute to the development of specialist nursing knowledge and skills to enhance and extend the practice of other nurses and health care professionals within the service. + Organise and contribute to relevant educational programmes and in-house study and educational resources. + Contribute to the teaching and support of students from the multi-professional team within relevant educational programmes Patient and carer education and training: + Identify and address the educational needs of patients, families, carers and staff involved in the delivery of this service + Provide specialist nursing support, information and education for patients, families and carers who use the service + Provide appropriate education to patients and their families to promote health and encourage self-care.Improving quality and developing practice + Actively participate in the clinical/multi-disciplinary nutrition Support Team meetings. + Contribute to the evaluation of the service and patient care, including the monitoring of patient experience. + Identify areas of risk and poor quality, and address these through appropriate governance structures and forums + Maintain awareness of relevant research, evaluations and audit, and act on this information in collaboration with colleagues to continually develop the service + Develop and sustain appropriate multidisciplinary working relationships to improve health outcomes and healthcare delivery systems. + Contribute to the development of evidence-based clinical guidelines, protocols, and policies for others to use in practice. + Pursue excellence and quality in practice and service delivery and demonstrate this through audit and feedback.

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the country. It provides a wide range of general and specialist clinical services and is a base for medical education, training and research. The Trust comprises four hospitals - the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury. For more information on OUH please view OUH At a Glance by OUHospitals - Issuu Our values, standards and behaviours define the quality of clinical care we offer and the professional relationships we make with our patients, colleagues and the wider community. We call this Delivering Compassionate Excellence and its focus is on our values of compassion, respect, learning, delivery, improvement and excellence. These values put patients at the heart of what we do and underpin the quality healthcare we would like for ourselves or a member of our family. Watch how we set out to deliver compassionate excellence via the OUH YouTube channel.