Pre-Op Assessment Nurse Practitioner

The surgical pre-op assessment department are seeking an experienced surgical nurse to join their busy department. The pre-op department is a nurse led unit, open Monday to Friday 0800 - 1800 running clinics every day. We see patients from every surgical specialty, prior to their surgical treatment for cancer.

Two positions are being recruited with full time and part time hours available.

A thorough pre-op is vital to ensure patients are as fit as they can be and optimised where possible for their scheduled surgery.

The pre-op nurse practitioner assesses a patient's suitability for a general anaesthetic for patients awaiting surgery as treatment for their cancer.

The candidate must have experience of surgical oncology - ideally experience of the pre-op role but not essential. They must be an excellent communicator with attention to detail as paramount to the role. They must be capable of working autonomously and also as part of a team.

The candidate will form part of the MDT and work with it to ensure patients that are not fit are flagged to the relevant teams. They will also be responsible for following up results of investigations and pulling together all information required for the anaesthetic teams - working closely with our consultant anaesthetists.

Main duties of the job

Taking a clinical history and examining patients in line with the in house competency package.

They will be responsible for ordering investigations - ranging from blood tests, xrays, echos, and communicating any pertinent information to the relevant anaesthetists. They will also follow up any results and act on them accordingly.

The candidate will work as part of the pre-op team - supporting junior staff and co-ordinating shifts. They will also play a part in service improvement, infection control and any relevant audits undertaken within the department.

We are looking for a conscientious individual, with excellent communication skills, experience in surgical oncology and the ability to manage their own workload working to various deadlines.

The pre-op service was set up to ensure theatre utilisation is optimised and reduce risk of on the day cancellations - which is paramount in the pre-op department. Along with ensuring patient experience is put at a high priority, as well as safety and efficiency.

The pre-op service is primarily nurse led, with various consultant anaesthetist led clinics (anaesthetic assessment, exercise tolerance testing and lung function testing). There 5 nurse practitioners (including the Band 7) and 3 HCAs, plus 2 administrators. We also house the ERAS team and various members of the MDT such as stoma nurse, complementary therapy and consultant anaesthetists, and collaborate with all to enhance the patient experience.

As a small team we strive to support each other whilst looking after some very complex and unwell patients - putting our patients at the forefront and work hard to ensure patients feel safe and cared for. This is alongside the need to assess and gather the information required to ensure the decision regarding proceeding to surgery is balanced and thoroughly assessed.

In terms of our culture the Band 7 operates an open door policy and offers 1:1s to all team members as well as the PDRs. Once the complementary therapy team restart staff benefits - the Band 7 will cover any staff that wish to access these services. This was working well prior to lock down and we are hopeful this will return.

We are a very friendly team and support each other well - with regular catch ups throughout the day to assess each staff members workload.