Senior Sister/Charge Nurse Children's Critical Care

Senior Sister/Charge Nurse Children's Critical Care Band 7

Main area: Children's Critical Care

Grade: Band 7

Contract: Permanent

Hours:

• Full time
• Part time

37.5 hours per week (Days, Nights, Weekends and Bank Holidays)

Job ref: 213-CAX A

Employer: King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Employer type: NHS

Site: King's College Hospital

Town: London

Salary: £54,320 - £60,981 per annum including HCA

Salary period: Yearly

Closing: 21/04/:59

Interview date: 08/05/2025

Job overview

At the heart of Kings is the Variety Children's Hospital (VCH), offering a wide range of services and specialities for children and young people at local, regional, and international levels. Within the VCH is a 16-bedded Children's Critical Care Centre providing care to both high dependency and intensive care patients.

Working in Children's Critical Care will provide you with the opportunity to care for patients admitted under a variety of specialties:

• Neurosurgery, trauma, general medicine and surgery, liver disease and transplantation, small bowel transplantation, neonatal surgery, intensive care and high dependency care.

This exciting opportunity requires a committed, forward-thinking children's nurse and expert practitioner to join the senior nursing team. As a Senior Sister/Charge Nurse, you will have the opportunity to influence further developments and improvements within this interesting and challenging service in conjunction with the current Band 7 team. You will have a key role in ensuring high-quality care and a highly skilled nursing workforce across Children's Critical Care.

Main duties of the job

Your main responsibility will be the safe delivery of clinical care of critically ill children and day-to-day shift management of the department, allowing you the opportunity to share your knowledge, experience, and skills. This position will also give you the chance to develop your managerial skills. You will need to thrive on working in a dynamic environment, willing to teach junior staff, demonstrate self-motivation, and work well in a team. You should demonstrate a commitment to your own professional practice, as well as delivering high-quality holistic care, with an emphasis on working in partnership with the children and their families.

Working for our organisation

King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK's largest and busiest teaching Trusts with a turnover of £1 billion, 1.5 million patient contacts a year, and more than 15,000 staff based across South East London. The Trust provides a full range of local and specialist services across its five sites. The trust-wide strategy of Strong Roots, Global Reach is our Vision to be BOLD, Brilliant people, Outstanding care, Leaders in Research, Innovation and Education, Diversity, Equality and Inclusion at the heart of everything we do. By being person-centred, digitally-enabled, and focused on sustainability, we aim to take Team King's to another level.

We are at a pivotal point in our history, and we require individuals who are ready to join a highly professional team and make a real, lasting difference to our patients and our people.

King's is committed to delivering Sustainable Healthcare for All via our Green Plan. In line with national Greener NHS ambitions, we have set net zero carbon targets of 2040 for our NHS Carbon Footprint and 2045 for our NHS Carbon Footprint Plus. Everyone's contribution is required in order to meet the goals set out in our Green Plan, and we encourage all staff to work responsibly, minimising their contributions to the Trust's carbon emissions, waste, and pollution wherever possible.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To work in accordance with the NMC Code of Professional Conduct, Trust Policies and Procedures.
• To act as an expert for the care of critically ill children, providing effective leadership and acting as a positive role model.
• To demonstrate clinical expertise in the care of all patients receiving treatment in the unit, delivering high standards of evidence-based care to level one, two, and three patients.
• To assess, plan, implement, and evaluate the needs of patients on the ward on an ongoing basis, coordinating the care given by all members of the clinical team.
• To accurately assimilate and interpret clinical information about the patients' condition, instigate appropriate remedial action, and promptly report any changes.
• To act as a resource person to others, providing accurate information, advice, and support to the multidisciplinary team, patients, and parents/carers.
• To liaise effectively with all members of the multi-disciplinary team (MDT) in order to ensure that the patients' needs are met and that the services are delivered in accordance with National service frameworks and agreed Clinical care Guidelines.
• To ensure that accurate records are maintained reflecting both changes in the patient's condition and the treatment delivered.
• To ensure that patients and their relatives are updated regularly with accurate information, and ensure that this is presented in a sensitive way they understand.
• To promote the well-being of children and young people and safeguarding them from actual or potential harm and, as necessary, report concerns under the trust safeguarding/child protection policies.
• To work in partnership with parents/carers in the care of the patient.
• To facilitate opportunities for children to play and young people a period for recreation.
• To act to minimise disruption to children's schooling/education and ensure access.
• To set agreed standards of nursing care and to monitor them and take action to improve if necessary.
• To adhere to and promote trust policy on valuing equality and diversity in the workplace which incorporates the parents/visitors and staff perspectives.
• To have due regard for each patient's cultural and religious beliefs and to respect each patient's privacy, dignity, gender, and sexuality.
• To rotate to other departments within the speciality as required or as identified as a personal development need in the appraisal process.
• To ensure contemporaneous record keeping at all times and in line with the trust policy on documentation.
• Ensure clear and accurate written and verbal information is given at all times, including patient handovers, ward rounds, and shift handover.
• To ensure that Clinical Guidelines standards and policies are implemented and to be actively involved in auditing practice in conjunction with Senior Nurse and practice development staff.
• To promote a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to care, ensuring continuity of care.
• To develop clinical policies and protocols relevant to the area, ensuring that practice is evidence-based.
• Responsible for key areas of practice within PICU including reviewing and updating relevant policies and procedures.
• To be aware of Safeguarding policies and procedures, knowledge and ability to raise concerns including concerns about colleagues.
• To ensure the effective and efficient use of beds at all times.
• To support the process of continuous quality improvement, assisting in audits etc. to formally evaluate standards of care and assist in the implementation of changes in the light of such findings.
• To organise patient transfers both within and outside the Hospital, escorting critically ill patients as requested.
• To contribute to the health education of families, ensuring that all families receive appropriate advice and support to maintain/achieve a healthy lifestyle.

Person specification Qualifications & Experience

• Further relevant post-registration professional studies: ENB 405, 415, 100 or equivalent - Children's Critical Care Course.
• Relevant children's critical care experience > 2 years at Band 6.
• APLS/EPLS.
• Registered Nurse (CHILD).
• Relevant degree or working towards.
• Management/leadership qualification or training/willingness to undertake this.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.