Sister/Charge nurseNHS

Job summary

If you're a highly experienced emergency care nurse with significant post-registration experience, join Southmead Hospital's Emergency Department!

As one of only two Major Trauma Centres in the region, you will gain highly acute experience across the full urgent and emergency care pathway, working with specialist regional services including neurosurgery, stroke, vascular surgery, renal medicine and transplantation.

With opportunities to combine advanced clinical practice, leadership and professional autonomy, while influencing how emergency care is delivered, you will be responsible for delivering high-quality patient care, supporting patient flow and making timely clinical decisions within a fast-paced, challenging environment.

You will provide operational management to designated areas, demonstrating strong clinical judgement, excellent communication skills and visible leadership. You will work autonomously while supporting and developing junior colleagues, fostering a positive team culture and ensuring safe and efficient delivery of care.

With ongoing departmental reconfiguration and expansion of our workforce, help shape the future of emergency services at Southmead. We are proud to offer a CQC-commended education programme and a wide range of development opportunities, including an Advanced Clinical Practitioner training pathway, making this an ideal role for nurses looking to strengthen their leadership and progress their career in emergency care.

Main duties of the job

As a Band 6 Emergency Nurse,you'llbe a senior clinical leader on the shop floor, helping to ensure patients receive safe,effectiveandtimelycare from the moment they arrive.

Working across the Emergency Department and Minor Injury Unit,you'llutilise your advanced assessment skills to deliver high-quality care, support patient flow and maketimelyclinical decisions in a fast-paced environment.

A key part of the role is taking responsibility for the operational management of designated areas within the department. Whether coordinating Majors, Minors, Resus, the waiting room, the frontdooror ambulance offload,you'llmaintainoversight of patient flow, staffing, clinical priorities andemergingrisks, ensuring safe, effective care is delivered throughout your shift.

You'llwork autonomously within your scope of practice while supporting and developing junior colleagues, leading byexampleand contributing to the continued improvement of the department.

Job description

Essential requirements include:

• A minimum of3years' post-registration experienceworking within a busy Emergency Department.
• Competence in the full range of extended Emergency Department nursing skills, including:
• Independent requesting of X-rays.
• Wound assessment and suturing.
• Front door streaming and Emergency Department triage.
• Significant experiencein ambulance offload assessment, making rapid,safeand effective decisions to prioritise patients andmaintainpatient flow.
• Experience coordinating clinical areas within the Emergency Department,demonstratingthe ability to prioritise workload, manage patient flow,allocateresourcesand respond effectively to changing operational pressures.
• A sound understanding of Emergency Department performance indicators and operational metrics, including patient flow, ambulance handover performance, time-critical pathways and the 4-hour standard, with the ability to use these to support safe, high-quality patient care while reducing delays andmaintainingpatient safety.
• The ability to assess complex clinical presentations quickly, recognising deterioration,initiatingappropriate interventionsand escalating concerns promptly.
• Excellent communication skills, with the confidence to work effectively alongside consultants, specialty doctors, ACPs, nurses, paramedics, therapists, healthcare supportworkersand operational teams across all grades.
• Proven ability to remain calm, organised and clinically focused while managing multiple patients, competing priorities and frequent interruptions within an exceptionally busy department.
• Strong leadership skills with the confidence to coordinate clinical areas, support colleagues, maketimelydecisions and foster a positive, collaborative team culture.
• A commitment to delivering compassionate, patient-centred care, even under pressure, while acting as a role model for professional standards and clinical excellence.

About us

Bristol NHS Foundation Trust brings together more than 28,000 staff to deliver over 160 clinical services across thirteen hospital locations,operatingfrom three main sites at Southmead, Bristol citycentreand Weston.

With an annual turnover of £2.3 billion, we are now one of the largest NHS trusts in the United Kingdom. Our hospitals are spread across Bristol and Weston, join us and you can enjoy the very best of both worlds; city living within a stone's throw of the countryside or beside the seaside, both with easy access to all that theSouth Westhas to offer.

Bristol NHS Foundation Trust values all people as individuals. As an equal opportunities employer actively working towards a diverse workforce we aim to recruit and retaina workforce whichrepresentsthe rich diversity of the local population at all levels and are committed to designing our services around the needs of individual patients and those around them. Anonymous information will be used from your applicationin order toensurewe'remeeting our pledge.