Nursing Associate, Dementia & Frailty

As a Nursing Associate within our Dementia

& Frailty Service, you will provide structured, person-centred health

checks for patients living with frailty and dementia. Working closely with

Advanced Nurse Practitioners, GPs, pharmacists and wider community services,

you will play a key role in supporting proactive care and preventing avoidable

deterioration.

You will manage a caseload of lower-risk

frailty patients and undertake community-based assessments covering physical

health, wellbeing, falls risk, nutrition, continence, medication adherence and

overall quality of life.

This role provides the opportunity to build

strong relationships with patients and carers whilst working as part of a

supportive and experienced multidisciplinary team.

Clinical assessment and care delivery

Deliver

dementia holistic health checks using agreed clinical templates within EMIS.

Undertake

physical health assessments including blood pressure, pulse, body mass index

(BMI), falls risk, Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) nutrition

screening, pain and continence.

Carry

out Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) reviews and accurately record findings.

Undertake

blood pressure, weight, urinalysis, non-urgent ECG and other agreed

investigations, and venepuncture where trained and assessed as competent.

Monitor

and document mental health status, including mood, behaviour and signs of

delirium, escalating concerns promptly.

Identify

risks related to medication, adherence and side effects and escalate

appropriately.

Undertake

falls and continence assessments and contribute to risk stratification,

prevention interventions and management plans.

Caseload

management and care coordination

Manage

a caseload of lower-risk frailty patients previously assessed by the PCN

frailty team, with diary and appointment support provided by that team.

Provide

follow-up visits for lower-risk frail patients as directed by the frailty team,

supporting care planning, treatment compliance and review.

Support

medication reviews by checking compliance, adherence and the patient's

understanding of medication changes.

Chase

and follow up clinical results, investigations, outstanding tasks and care

plans.

Monitor

and follow up equipment requests and orders to ensure timely provision, and

confirm that recommended equipment or adaptations are in place.

Support

patients to access services and interventions, helping to ensure appointments

are attended and not missed.

Make

appropriate onward referrals and connect patients to appropriate services,

including social prescribing and Age UK.

Safeguarding,

consent and mental capacity

Recognise

and respond to safeguarding concerns for adults at risk, escalating and

reporting in line with local safeguarding policy and the postholder's level of

safeguarding training.

the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, obtaining and recording valid

consent and, where a patient lacks capacity, supporting best interests decision

making and recognising when Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards may apply.

Undertake

carer wellbeing conversations, provide signposting, and remain alert to carer

strain and safeguarding indicators.

Communication and

relationships

Document

personalised care discussions ('what matters to me') and support advance and

anticipatory care planning within scope in conjunction with the Frailty

Practitioner team.

Communicate

sensitively and effectively with vulnerable adults, families and carers,

adjusting communication to individual needs.

Participate

in multidisciplinary team (MDT) discussions and contribute to care planning.

Cope

with occasional exposure to distressing and emotional situations while

maintaining professionalism, compassion and resilience.

Information,

recording and reporting

Ensure

accurate, contemporaneous and timely data recording and reporting in line with

EMIS templates and information governance requirements.

Maintain

confidentiality and handle personal data in accordance with data protection

legislation and local policy.

Practise

in accordance with the NMC Code and within the NMC standards of proficiency for

nursing associates, which form the ceiling of the role.

Maintain

NMC registration, complete revalidation, and undertake preceptorship where

newly qualified.

Escalate

clinical concerns to the GP, pharmacist or frailty clinician without delay.

Undertake

mandatory and role-specific training and participate in clinical supervision

and appraisal.

Work

within clearly defined protocols, competencies and delegated tasks agreed with

the supervising registered clinician.

Do

not diagnose conditions or prescribe medication.

Identify

and escalate clinical concerns appropriately.

Work

at all times within the NMC standards of proficiency for nursing associates and

the NMC Code.

Practice Responsibilities

Contributes to the evaluation/audit and

clinical standard setting with colleagues.

Records

data in patient records systems promptly and accurately and to agreed

standards.

Ensures

appropriate use of read codes.

Participates

in the auditing of practice activity as required.

Responsible

for health and safety of themselves and others and actively co-operates with

Health and Safety Policies and procedures.

Processes

and actions incoming patient and hospital correspondence.

Attends

in-house meetings, significant event audit meetings and other meetings as

deemed necessary.

Ensures

that the practice complaints system is adhered to at all times.

Awareness

and compliance with all relevant guidelines e.g. data protection,

confidentiality and health and safety.

Maintain

current CPR and anaphylaxis certification and child/adult safeguarding training

in line with local policies.

Measures of Success

The following measures support appraisal and service

monitoring. Individual objectives will be agreed through appraisal.

Completion

of assigned health checks.

Compliance

with EMIS documentation templates.

Frailty

scoring completion.

Join an award-winning organisation. For the third consecutive year, Sunderland GP Alliance has been named in The Sunday Times Best Places to Work and holds the Better Health at Work Gold Award with Continuing Excellence status. In addition, we offer 33 days' annual leave and a comprehensive range of employee benefits.

Sunderland GP Alliance is a not-for-profit collaboration of GP practices in Sunderland.

All GP Practices in Sunderland are members of the organisation, covering approximately 285,000 patients.

The Alliance also runs three practices: Monument Surgeries, South Hylton and New Silksworth.

Other

Motivation and Skills

Essential: - Compassionate, person-centred and resilient; - Effective team worker within an MDT

Qualifications

Desirable: - Recognised training in dementia care; - Recognised training in frailty assessment

Experience

Desirable: - Experience in primary care, community or frailty settings; - Experience of caseload or follow-up working