Assistant Director of Nursing (Hermitage Clinic)

• Will provide strategic clinical and professional nurse leadership in conjunction with other members of the Senior Management Team and play a key role in the delivery of operational performance targets for clinical activity
• Deputise for the Director of Nursing & Transformation in relation to relevant aspects of the role as required.
• In conjunction with the Director of Nursing & Transformation and Clinical Nurse Managers take responsibility for the safe delivery and co-ordination of nursing services for patients, ensuring effective, efficient and quality specialist nursing care service.
• Collate and analyse clinical and other relevant information and ensure its availability to support clinical and resource evidence based decision-making.
• Develop a workforce plan in association with the Director of Nursing & Transformation, including skill mix consideration through the identification of competencies and skills required to meet the service needs.
• Plan, develop and monitor human and budget resource plans to ensure an effective and efficient service and actively manage the use of agency and bank resources across the various nursing areas.
• Support the Nursing Site Managers, Clinical Nurse Managers, Education & Development and the Clinical Nurse Specialists in their roles and the development of the services they manage.
• Participate/lead projects on a hospital/organisational wide basis as nominated by the Director of Nursing & Transformation
• Take the lead in the identified areas of clinical governance e.g. risk management, quality, complaints, and health & safety for nursing areas.
• Participate in the Bed Management process to ensure optimum utilisation.
• Participate in and lead out on specific audits as required and fully implement all standard guidelines as required.
• In partnership with lead clinicians, identify areas for service development and prepare business cases for such areas to include the rationale for development.
• Plan specialist nursing service, innovations and developments.
• Ensure that nursing care is based on the latest research findings and constitute best practice.
• Develop close links with other healthcare facilities relevant to the delivery and enhancement of services.
• Facilitate co-ordination, cooperation and liaison across health care teams, programmes and hospitals
• Monitor complaints and investigate any nursing and clinical complaints, taking corrective action as appropriate and review audit to ensure there are no re-occurrences.
• Facilitate effective communication with patients, relatives, visitors and multi-disciplinary team as necessary ensuring patient confidentiality is respected and maintained at all times.
• Develop effective relationships with Medical Consultants, Clinical Nurse Managers and other relevant hospital staff to ensure safe, efficient management of nursing services.
• Liaise with the Director of Nursing & Transformation on a regular basis, as appropriate, providing feedback on nursing activity and issues.
• Ensure that systems for the provision of clinical and non-clinical services are satisfactory and that they are timely and economically utilised.
• Undertake an annual review of nursing services including the preparation of an annual report for the Director of Nursing & Transformation
• Work with the IT Department and clinicians in the development and implementation of the BHHC Digital Strategy.
• Participate in an on-call rota
• Provide advice to the Director of Nursing & Transformation on matters relating to the care of patients.

• Provide clinical and management leadership for CNMs, CNSs and Staff Nurses and ensure an effective learning environment for the multidisciplinary team and taking an active part in the delivery of care as appropriate.
• Work within the code of Professional Conduct for Nurses, participation in the development of the Scope of Practice and provide strong professional leadership and direction for nursing services.
• Promote an environment that is conducive to the development of best practice, enhances staff retention and promotes good employee relations.
• Maintain a high level of staff morale, promoting good communication, team spirit and job satisfaction among members of the multidisciplinary team. Strive to ensure that staff are accountable, responsible and have authority to practice and manage within their roles.
• Play a role in the recruitment and selection of nursing and support staff for the service.
• Maintain good employee relations and promote good communication with all staff within and between departments
• Ensure that staff nurses are effectively supported with annual reviews and the development of personal development plans.
• Comply with all HR system and policy requirements including recording of relevant data
• Establish a formal mechanism for communication among the nursing team including schedules for staff meetings.

• Provide professional and personal development opportunities for all nursing and support staff working with the relevant Learning and Education specialists to develop an appropriate programme of learning and education based on a planned (individual, department and organisation) training needs assessment.
• Oversee that the requirements of NMBI for the practice of professional nursing are met and upheld including the development of an expanded scope of nursing practice.
• Maintain accurate records of all study leave and education resources used.
• Working with the CNMs develop and implement an enhanced and consistent staff competence assessment process across the various Wards/Units.
• Facilitate study days and leave for CNMs/nurses, in accordance with the BHHC Study Leave Policy and within budgeted allowances.
• Create and maintain an environment conducive to evidence based teaching, learning and practice
• Contribute to service development through appropriate continuous education, research initiatives, keeping up to date with nursing literature, recent nursing research and new developments in nursing management, education and practice and attend staff study days as considered appropriate.
• Provide support/advice to those engaging in continuous professional development in their area of responsibility.
• Participate in the identification, development and delivery of induction, education, training and development programmes for nursing and non-nursing staff.

• Ensure that there is compliance with all relevant Hermitage Clinic guidelines, policies, procedures and relevant legislation and regulatory requirements. This includes responsibility for dealing with regulatory or professional bodies and inspections.
• Encourage continuous review and evaluation of policies, guidelines and existing practices through regular audit programmes and review engaging with the multi-disciplinary team where required.
• Promote a culture of continuous quality improvement across the department involving the team in continuous improvement initiatives and encouraging innovation.
• Set and monitor core objectives, standards and key performance indicators for the service and monitor performance against these standards through internal and (where applicable) external audit.
• Lead out on the requirements of the hospitals accreditation process and demonstrate proactive adherence to the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) Standards.
• Participate fully in the requirement of the hospital’s risk management programme.
• Promote the delivery of a high standard of care to all patients. Encourage evidence-based practice and assist in the dissemination and implementation of research findings.
• Work with members of the Multidisciplinary team in devising Standard Operating Procedures for nursing Wards/Units.
• Provide clinical nursing leadership in proactively addressing ethical and quality of service issues with multidisciplinary team members and hospital management.
• Develop a culture of safety, promoting positive reporting of incidents and near misses; investigate and take remedial action on incidents or near misses involving patients and staff according to hospital policies, protocols and guidelines.

Blackrock Health