Job Description

An exciting opportunity has arisen on Ward 6 North Tyneside General Hospital. We are looking for highly motivated and enthusiastic Nutritional Assistant who would welcome the opportunity of working within our Orthopaedic Team where they will be providing support to patients with their nutritional needs.



If you feel you have the ability to work independently and as part of a pro-active team within a ward environment, have a caring and pleasant manner to deal with patients and visitors and be able to work flexibly, this could be the role for you.



Experience of working within a Hospital / Caring environment is desirable.



Knowledge and experience of computer skills is desirable however, full training will be provided for the I.T systems that you will be required to use to carry out your role.



Ward 6 is a busy 12 bedded unit which provides both day and in-stay orthopaedic joint replacements and procedures



Please note we reserve the right to close this vacancy prior to the closing date once the required number of suitable applications have been received

As a Nutritional assistant, your main duties will be:

To assist the qualified nursing staff in promoting and providing nutritional support for patients, including assisting patients with meals and promoting additional nutritional snacks.



To assist patients with ordering their meals ensuring dietary preferences are met and assisting with feeding where appropriate.



To keep an updated record of any additional nutritional support required and provided.



To monitor stock levels of nutritional supplements and snacks and order appropriately to ensure sufficient stock is readily available for patients.



To maintain high standards of nutritional support to patients.



To assist in weight monitoring and risk assessments.



Duties outlined are general nutrition duties for the ward as designated by the Ward Manager, Sister, Charge Nurse, or Nurse in charge.



We manage three major locality hospitals at North Tyneside, Wansbeck and Hexham, plus a number of smaller community hospitals and clinics from Tynemouth to Berwick on Tweed, in addition to our state-of-the-art Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital, the first of its kind in England. We also care for people in their homes and provide services from facilities in local communities such as health centres. We give people greater choice and control over their care to help them to live independently at home and avoid hospital admission where appropriate. High quality patient care is at the heart of everything we do and we strive to ensure every single patient and service user has an exceptional experience with us. We have one of the most extensive patient experience programmes of any trust in England.



All staff who are coming to work for Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust or current staff who are new to the role of a Nutrition Assistant, will be expected to undertake the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Care Certificate Programme. This is a development programme mapped against the standards of the Care Certificate and to facilitate your development as a Nutrition Assistant. Full Participation in the programme is mandatory, you will not be able to commence in clinical practice until you have completed the initial three days of the programme.



To assist the qualified nursing staff in providing physical nutritional support for patients, including assisting with mealtimes and promoting additional nutritional snacks.



To assist patients with ordering their meals and feeding patients where appropriate.



To audit all nutritional interventions and report on nutritional intake to nursing staff.



To keep an updated record of additional nutritional support provided.



To monitor stock levels of nutritional supplements and snacks and order appropriately.



To exercise accountability as set out in the NMC Code of Professional Conduct.



To maintain high clinical standards.



To promote nutrition in the ward.