Job Description

As a member of the special school nursing team the post holder will be responsible for assisting in the effective delivery of individualised support and care to children and young people attending special schools in Islington. They will undertake clinical activities and responsibilities for children and young people's health and nursing care needs at Richard Cloudesley School with children whose ages range from 4-19 years, and also develop specialist Nursing clinics at Bridge Academy working jointly with the Nurse on site and Clinical Lead nurse.



The post holder will support pupils, school staff, parents, and carers in managing the health care needs of pupils at special schools including enteral feeds, epilepsy, diabetes and medication management, health promotion and writing of care plans.



The role involves training and supporting school staff to meet the health care needs of pupils and liaising with tertiary services such as the continence service, immunisations team and school dental team.



One key area of the role will be to lead a nurse-led continence clinic across the special schools. The role will involve supporting children and young people with additional needs who experience bladder and bowel difficulties. The role will involve working collaboratively with parents, teachers, and support staff to promote healthy toileting routines, prevent constipation and incontinence, and build children's confidence and independence in managing their continence.



The post holder will work with professional autonomy, organising their own workload and schedule in close collaboration with the Clinical Lead. They will be responsible for coordinating the work of band 5 and 6 nurses and healthcare assistants, and contributing to their training and development. They will receive regular supervision from the Clinical Lead Special School Nurse.



Whittington Health serves a richly diverse population and works hard to ensure that all our services are fair and equally accessible to everyone. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the way we look after our staff. We aim to employ a workforce which is as representative as possible of this population, so we are open to the value of differences in age, disability, gender, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, race, sexual orientation, and religion or belief. The Trust believes that as a public sector organisation we have an obligation to have recruitment, training, promotion and other formal employment policies and procedures that are sensitive to these differences. We think that by doing so, we are better able to treat our patients as well as being a better place to work.

Role Responsibility:

To be a member of the special school multi-agency team and share information with team members as directed and appropriate, maintaining confidentiality at all times.



To work towards helping children and young people with a variety of special needs to obtain optimum health and gain access to a wide education curriculum.



To act as a resource and point of contact representing the Special School Nursing services to internal and external agencies.



To maintain accurate school records through accessing the electronic health notes system (currently Rio), filing and organisation in accordance with Whittington Health NHS Trust guidelines.



To use a variety of verbal and non-verbal communication skills and tools to communicate with children and young people who are nonverbal, of a non-English speaking background, requiring an interpreter, with a hearing impairment, with altered emotional states, with a cognitive/learning/behavioural disability.



To communicate with children, parents and carers, receiving and providing complex information regarding medical conditions. Arranging for Interpreters to be present with non-English speaking parents and carers and children and respecting ethnic diversities.

Clinical Responsibility:

To assess the health needs of children and young people entering special schools in consultation with health visitors, school nurse colleagues and other health professionals as appropriate.



To assist Clinical Lead in establishing and running a nurse-led continence clinic within the school setting and to support with toilet training and managing continence.



To work jointly with Paediatricians and Clinical lead to ensure epilepsy management, follow up and clinics are in place as needed across all special schools



To work with the Clinical Lead to develop resources including pathways and information for parents and families around managing children and young people's sleep difficulties and disorders - including liaising with other agencies to provide education, assessment and medical follow up as required.



To participate in quality improvement projects monitoring the impact of new pathways and clinics on student and family quality of life, knowledge and the economic impact of nurse led clinics.



To participate and contribute to agreed health surveillance programmes in special schools including annual health reviews, assessing overall developmental progress and health needs.



To participate in multi agency planning for children pre and post-surgery or hospitalisation, ensuring a safe transition back to education.



To support transition planning for students across special schools moving into adult services



To assist the wider special school nursing team in scheduling workload and covering support in times of short staffing to children and young people with complex learning and physical needs.



To maintain up to date accurate health records for all school children and young people and ensure recommendations regarding referrals; treatment and/or review are carried out.



To produce written statement of nursing need and care plans as required.



To work in partnership with other agencies to identify children and young people in need and children and young people on child protection plans, liaising with school staff and social workers.



To monitor the vulnerable children and young people with child protection issues, attend child protection case conferences, reviews, and core group meetings; and provide written reports.



To be responsible for report writing and effective record keeping, facilitating best practice.



To prepare and attend meetings for child protection supervision with safeguarding advisors.



To liaise with the Disabled Children's Team concerning the care and support for pupils and their parents, carers and families.



To monitor the health and wellbeing of Looked After Children on the school caseload and liaise with Looked After Children nurses assisting with annual reviews when needed.



To arrange appointments with pupils' parents/carers for school medicals, dietician, and professionals' meetings.



To participate in education health and care plan assessments and reviews, providing up to date clinical advice where health input is required, including at times of transition.



To complete relevant continence assessments and support pupils, parents, carers, families and school staff with toilet training and continence.



To be involved in training and competency assessing health care assistants in procedures relevant to their role such as medication administration, administering enteral feeds, height and weight measurements, and updating these annually.



To provide clinical advice, training and support to parents, carers and school staff on a variety of topics around management of children and young people with special needs and be involved with assessing and recording school staff competencies. This includes developing resources, such as videos, to support with training and induction.



To undertake height and weight monitoring to identify and refer any concerns arising from growth screening.



To co-ordinate the planning and implementation of immunisation sessions within the school setting in consultation with the immunisation team.



To act in an advisory capacity to trained school first aiders in the event of a more serious injury to a child e.g., broken bone, severe asthma attack, seizure management etc.



To attend relevant team and service meetings.



To ensure all nursing equipment is clean, safe to use, and in good repair and that annual maintenance and calibration is carried out and recorded, and records are kept and available for inspection.



To complete risk assessments of environment and safety under the guidance of senior team members following Whittington Health NHS Trust policies.



Leadership and Staff Management Responsibility



Review and reflect own practice, workload, and performance through effective use of regular professional and operational supervision and appraisal.



To be involved in the implementation of the induction, training, and development programmes for band 5 and 6 nurses and health care assistants.



To provide clinical supervision, and delegate work to band 6, band 5 nurses & health care assistants in order for them to achieve personal and organisational goals and ensure effective delivery of services in the special schools in Islington.



To assist Clinical lead nurse with staff appraisals and performance management as required.



To promote a positive, inclusive and supportive team culture.



To work jointly with Clinical Lead Nurse to identify service priorities -and encourage research-based practice/ clinical audits and/or innovations in own specialist area,



To be familiar with current Whittington Health NHS Trust policies and procedures and participate in the development of new policies as required.



To assist the Team Leader and Clinical Lead Special School Nurse as required in the recruitment and selection of new staff within the Special School Nursing Team including workforce planning.



To work with the clinical lead Nurse to develop and implement policies, procedures and clinical pathways for special school nursing.



To lead and/or participate in professional development/training as identified by clinicians, Whittington Health NHS Trust or national directives.



To establish effective communication networks with primary health care colleagues and acute sector colleagues to promote collaborative working.



To act as a clinical educator or link with universities for student nurse placements.



To regularly consult with and inform the Team Leader and Clinical Lead Special School Nurse of any issues/ concerns relating to workload or responsibilities.



To adhere to the Trust's Policies and Procedures including Moving and Handling Legislation, Infection Control, Clinical Supervision and Child Protection, referring any concerns to the Team Leader and Clinical Lead Special School Nurse.



F inancial Responsibility



To ensure financial transactions are carried out in accordance with Whittington Health NHS Trust's instruction.



To maintain stock control for schools, supervising the ordering by the health care assistant, ensuring appropriate checks and records maintained and highlighting any issues to the Team Leader and Clinical Lead Special School Nurse.



Service Development and Improvement



To ensure that work areas are well maintained are comply with Health and Safety Guidelines, ensuring the safe use of equipment, cleaning, and storage of materials.



To contribute to clinical audit and encourage research-based practice/ clinical audits and/or innovations in own specialist area,