Deputy Sister/Charge Nurse Responsibilities

### Job Title and Band

• Deputy Sister/Charge Nurse
• Band 6

Department, Division and Location

• Chichester Suite
• Specialist Division
• St Richards

Reporting Structure

• Reports to Ward Manager
• Accountable to Ward Manager

DBS Level

• Enhanced
• Children and Adults
• Workforce: Children and Adults

Main Responsibilities

• Support Ward Sister in leading the ward team
• Promote environment conducive to individual and team development
• Ensure delivery of high standard patient care aligned with clinical governance

Key Relationships

• Matron
• Site Manager
• Ward Manager
• Nurses
• Healthcare Support Workers
• Trainee Nurse Associates
• Domestic Team Leader
• Housekeeping Leader
• Private Patient Administrators
• Overseas Administrator
• Ward Clerk
• Patients & their relatives

Main Duties

• Run a shift as Nurse in Charge
• Ensure up to date knowledge of patient medical plan
• Report to Matrons/Site Team
• Keep Safe care up to date with correct staffing ratios
• Manage staffing anomalies in a timely manner
• Ensure staff are well supported clinically
• Manage audits daily
• Manage a team with support from Ward Manager
• Ensure team appraisals and training are up to date
• Attend regular training to ensure own development
• Support team clinically
• Provide feedback to Multidisciplinary Team (MDT)
• Support Ward Manager in delivering high standards of care
• Challenge colleagues and processes to achieve higher standards

Communication

• Take an active role in managing issues and concerns raised by patients or their relatives
• Undertake training as needed in line with post development and personal development planning process
• Achieve and demonstrate agreed personal and professional development standards
• Contribute positively to team effectiveness and efficiency
• Take on any other tasks requested by line manager commensurate with role, including project work, job rotation, and absence cover
• Assist in preparing and evaluating work rosters with the required skill mix and adjustments
• Ensure best use of available resources and ward/area budgets

Patient/Client Care

• Identify patient/client needs
• Implement care programs to meet individual patient/client needs
• Ensure effective discharge planning involving the multidisciplinary team (MDT)
• Be a proactive role model in ensuring the patient pathway is optimized and timely discharge is promoted
• Ensure patient and client privacy and dignity is key
• Ensure any safeguarding issues concerning adults are raised appropriately to ward sister(s) for investigation

Policy and Service Development Implementation

• Develop policies, protocols, and procedures with Ward Sister to support practice
• Assist in setting ward objectives
• Align ward objectives with Unit and Corporate objectives

Financial and Physical Development

• Support Ward Sister/Charge Nurse in ensuring appropriate systems are in place to populate nursing matrix
• Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) with Ward Sister/Charge Nurse
• Identify trends
• Take action to maintain acceptable performance levels
• Assess current and future manpower needs
• Continuously review skill mix
• Participate in recruitment and selection of staff according to agreed procedures
• Promote principles of Improving Working Lives amongst team to ensure fairness, equity, and service delivery

Human Resources

• Ensure all nursing staff are working at their required level of clinical competence
• Teach and facilitate learning for basic and post-basic nursing students in liaison with educational bodies
• Provide induction and support to new staff members
• Ensure newly qualified nurses are provided with a preceptorship period
• Teach and facilitate learning for healthcare assistants undertaking NVQ training
• Act as a role model
• Ensure effective staff supervision with clinical practice
• Maintain professional competence, authority, and credibility
• Undertake appraisals for all team members on an annual basis
• Ensure feedback on performance is given at regular intervals
• Recommend needs for staff development and training

Information Resources

• Maintain accurate and effective record keeping
• Report/action any accidents, incidents, or undue occurrences reported or witnessed
• Undertake appropriate investigations of clinical incidents in absence of ward sister/charge nurse
• Ensure patient activity is monitored and that all patient information is entered into the PAS system at the most timely point

Professional

• Ensure programmes of care incorporate the Patient First approach to reflect best practice

Mission and Values

• Mission: Provide ‘excellent care every time’
• Values:
  • Compassion
  • Communication
  • Teamwork
  • Respect
  • Professionalism
  • Inclusion

Patient First

• Trust-wide approach to improving quality of care for patients
• Build and embed a culture where staff feel confident their views matter
• Empower staff to lead change
• Raise issues and concerns
• Identify and implement areas for improvement within the workplace
• Find solutions collaboratively as part of a team
• Equip staff with skills to identify improvement opportunities
• Support staff to see improvement opportunities through
• Encourage all staff to be innovative
• Drive forward quality improvement
• Promote positive changes in areas
• Philosophy centered on:
  • Standardisation, system redesign, improvement of patient pathways to eliminate error and waste
  • Patient being at the heart of every element of change
  • Embedding cultural change across the organisation
  • Passionate about delivering exceptional quality
  • Striving for continuous improvement
  • Continuously testing the patient pathway
  • Encouraging frontline staff to lead redesign processes
  • Equal voices for all
  • Engagement of staff is a big factor in job performance
  • Good engagement leads to improved quality, mortality, and safety measures

Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults

• UHSussex is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults
• Protecting them from harm and risk of harm

Working Conditions

• Caring for the terminally ill
• Dealing with difficult situations/circumstances
• Designated to provide emotional support to frontline staff
• Communicating life-changing events
• Dealing with people with challenging behaviour
• Arriving at the scene of an accident
• Operate equipment/machinery
• Attend meetings
• Inclement weather
• Excessive temperatures
• Unpleasant smells/odours
• Noxious fumes
• Unpleasant substances/non-household waste
• Infectious material/foul linen
• Dust/dirt
• Humidity
• Contaminated equipment or work areas (daily/MRSA, infectious areas)
• Fleas or lice
• Exposure to dangerous chemicals/substances in/not in containers
• Exposure to aggressive verbal behaviour where there is little/no support

This quiz covers the key responsibilities and duties of a Deputy Sister/Charge Nurse at St Richards. It explores the role's reporting structure, key relationships, and the importance of delivering high-quality patient care while supporting the ward sister. Test your knowledge of the requirements and expectations for this vital nursing position.