Registered Nurse - Community Hospice Services (Days)NHS
Job summary
At St Clare Hospice, our Community Hospice Services team provides specialist palliative and end of life care to people in their own homes across West Essex and East Hertfordshire. We are looking for compassionate Registered Nurses to join our growing team, supporting patients and families living with life-limiting illness. Whether you currently work in acute care, community services or another clinical setting, this is an opportunity to develop specialist skills, work holistically and make a genuine difference every day. The Role You will manage a caseload of patients with complex and changing needs, providing specialist support within their own homes. Working closely with our Clinical Nurse Specialists and wider multidisciplinary team, you will: Undertake holistic assessments, considering physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs. Develop and review person-centred care plans. Deliver and coordinate high-quality palliative and end of life care. Monitor changing needs and support symptom management. Work collaboratively with GPs, district nurses and other healthcare professionals. Support patients and families through challenging and emotional circumstances. This is a rewarding and varied role that combines autonomous working with the support of an experienced specialist team.
Main duties of the job
The Registered Nurse is a key member of the Community Hospice Services multidisciplinary team, working alongside Clinical Nurse Specialists and other healthcare professionals to deliver high-quality specialist palliative and end of life care in community settings. This is a rewarding and influential role, supporting patients and families during some of the most significant and challenging moments of their lives. Through skilled assessment, clinical decision-making, compassionate leadership, and effective coordination, the post holder will help enable patients to remain in their preferred place of care while ensuring care is delivered safely, effectively, and in line with individual needs. The role combines direct clinical practice with service coordination responsibilities. The post holder will undertake holistic assessments, risk assessments, care planning, and ongoing review of patients referred for overnight support, using professional judgement to determine clinical appropriateness, identify changing levels of need, and ensure resources are allocated according to clinical priority.
Job description
Clinical Practice Practise in accordance with the NMC Code, maintaining professional accountability for all aspects of nursing practice. Undertake holistic assessments of patients and families, including clinical and risk assessments, to determine care needs, suitability for overnight support, and appropriate service provision. Develop, implement, review, and evaluate individualised care plans in collaboration with the Clinical Nurse Specialist, Hospice MDT, patients, and those important to them. Monitor patients' conditions and changing needs, identifying deterioration, increased complexity, or emerging risks, and take appropriate action, including timely escalation to relevant services and professionals. Work alongside Clinical Nurse Specialists to respond to urgent referrals and patients experiencing crisis or significant deterioration, undertaking timely assessment, review, care planning, and intervention to support patients and families and promote care in their preferred place of care whenever possible. Undertake assessment and risk assessment of referrals for overnight support, determining eligibility, priority, and the most appropriate use of Community Hospice Services resources. Coordinate and prioritise referrals for overnight support, ensuring available resources are allocated according to clinical need, risk, and service capacity. Contribute to anticipatory and responsive care planning, supporting crisis prevention, avoiding unnecessary hospital admissions where possible, and promoting patient choice. Undertake and review delegated clinical interventions, including syringe pump support, wound care, catheterisation, symptom management, and other interventions within the scope of competence and organisational policy. Initiate and coordinate referrals to internal and external services, including Fast Track Continuing Healthcare, equipment services, community nursing teams, and other healthcare providers as appropriate. Demonstrate a flexible, solution-focused approach, adapting to changing patient needs, service priorities, and operational demands across Community Hospice Services. Support patients, families, and carers before and after death, providing clinical guidance, practical support, and compassionate care during bereavement and the immediate period following death. Communication and Coordination Act as a key point of contact for overnight service coordination, ensuring effective communication between patients, families, carers, hospice colleagues, and external professionals. Communicate sensitively and effectively with patients, families, and carers, providing information, reassurance, emotional support, and guidance during periods of uncertainty and distress. Work collaboratively with Clinical Nurse Specialists, GPs, district nursing teams, outof-hours providers, social care teams, and other partners to deliver coordinated, patient-centred care. Coordinate the planning and allocation of overnight support, balancing patient need, risk, service priorities, and available resources. Provide leadership, line management, and professional support to Community Hospice Services Health Care Assistants (Nights), with the support of the Clinical Nurse Specialist team and senior colleagues, fostering a positive team culture and ensuring the delivery of safe, compassionate, and effective care. Escalate concerns promptly and appropriately when patient needs, safeguarding concerns, risk levels, or clinical complexity exceed the scope or capacity of the role or service. Maintain accurate, timely, and contemporaneous electronic patient records, ensuring all assessments, care plans, risk assessments, interventions, and service activity are appropriately documented. Ensure the accurate and timely recording of clinical activity, assessments, risk assessments, service utilisation, and patient outcomes, recognising the critical importance of high-quality data in demonstrating service impact, supporting performance monitoring, and informing service development. Professional Practice and Governance Work autonomously, frequently as a lone practitioner in community settings, exercising professional judgement and maintaining accountability for decision-making within the scope of the role. Maintain awareness of personal safety, patient safety, and environmental risks, applying risk management principles and following the hospice's Lone Working Policy at all times. Undertake line management responsibilities for Community Hospice Services Health Care Assistants (Nights), including supervision, appraisal, wellbeing support, attendance and performance management, whilst supporting their learning, development, competency assessment, and clinical practice to promote high standards of care, professional accountability, and continuous professional development. Participate in multidisciplinary discussions, case reviews, handovers, clinical supervision, and service meetings to support continuity, learning, and quality of care. Maintain professional competence through mandatory training, continuing professional development, reflective practice, and engagement with evidence-based practice. Contribute to service development, quality improvement initiatives, audit activity, and the ongoing evaluation of Community Hospice Services. Act as a professional ambassador for St Clare Hospice, promoting its values, reputation, and commitment to delivering outstanding palliative and end of life care.
About us
St Clare Hospice provides specialist palliative and end of life care to adults with lifelimiting conditions across the communities we serve. Community Hospice Services enable patients to receive high-quality, compassionate care in their own homes and community settings, helping people to live as well as possible and remain in their preferred place of care whenever possible. Working as part of a multidisciplinary model of care, Community Hospice Services collaborate closely with Clinical Nurse Specialists, hospice colleagues, primary care, community services, and wider system partners to provide responsive, coordinated, and patient-centred support. Services are tailored to individual needs and encompass physical, emotional, psychological, social, and spiritual care, ensuring patients and those important to them receive holistic support throughout their journey. Community nursing roles are integral to the delivery of this care, contributing specialist assessment, care planning, coordination, clinical leadership, and decision-making. Team members work flexibly across community settings, responding to changing patient need and helping ensure timely access to expert palliative and end of life care.