The closing date is 10 March 2026
Salary: £27,485 to £30,162 a year per annum
Job summary
Looking for an exciting new opportunity?
We are looking for an enthusiastic Nursing Associate, with effective communication skills to join our hard-working Nursing and Medical Team in St Helens Outpatients Department. Experience within an Outpatient setting would be advantageous.
The posts will involve working within a wide variety of specialities including ENT, Dermatology including Minor Surgery, Urology & Orthopaedic clinics etc.
The post holders may be required to work across all 5 sites Whiston , St Helens, Southport, Ormskirk and Newton sites and must be flexible in working between the hours of 0800-2100, Monday-Friday and Weekends and Bank Holidays as required.
Interview date: To Be Confirmed
Main duties of the job
- The post holder is responsible for providing a range of specialist services to patients attending the Outpatient Department.
- The post holder is expected to carry out all relevant forms of care without direct supervision and may be required to demonstrate procedures and supervise qualified and/or unqualified staff.
- The post holder will develop the necessary skills to become a clinically competent registered nurse.
- The post holder will (develop the skills over time) to be able to provide a high standard of direct nursing care to patients attending the Outpatients Department.
- The post holder will be an effective communicator, liaising closely with all users of the service in order to deliver high standards of nursing care.
- All Nursing Associates will support and supervise staff nurses and unqualified members of staff as this is a key component of the role. He/she has a valuable role in enhancing clinical practice and meeting the clinical governance agenda of the Trust.
About us
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 10,500 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.
Our services:
Acute Care
Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.
Primary Care
Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.
Community Services
Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.
Specialist Regional Services
We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.
Achievements:
- Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
- Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
- National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme.
Job description
Job responsibilities
KEY DUTIES
- To take on the role of the Nursing Associate within the Outpatient Clinics and to ensure the smooth and safe running of the clinic sessions.
- To assist the clinician with any process and procedure necessary for the examination, investigation, and treatment for patients.
- Give appropriate information, advice and when necessary, including health education and health promotion information patients both verbally and written.
- To conduct tests and investigations according to Trust policies.
- To liaise with staff and departments about patients conditions and needs.
- To complete any necessary documentation in accordance with Trust policy and NMC guidance.
- To act at all times in the interest of patients and their families ensuring that a quality service is provided.
- To expand and maintain existing skills to meet patient service delivery.
- To work both at Whiston and St Helens Outpatient departments as required.
CLINICAL & PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES
- Maintain Professional Registration.
- To be aware of and practice professionally in accordance with the NMC Code of Conduct and The Scope of Professional Practice.
- To personally ensure fulfilment of the requirements for professional updating and to maintain a personal record for the future registration purposes.
- Ensure that nursing care is appropriate, provided and is consistent with clinical guidelines.
- To be a caring, clinically competent registered nurse who ensures patient safety and well-being is paramount at all times.
- To ensure the confidentiality of patient information at all times.
- To ensure that all Outpatient Department philosophy, policies, and procedures are adhered to at all times and that any amendments to policies are acted upon immediately.
- To ensure the privacy and dignity of patients is paramount and not compromised.
- To be aware of all child protection and safeguarding responsibilities appropriately and according to procedure.
- Implement and evaluate programmes of care to meet needs of patients and undertake all forms of care within the clinical environment.
- In accordance with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, the post holder will actively participate in the prevention and control of infection within the capacity of their role. The Act requires the post holder to attend infection prevention and control training on induction and at regular updates and to take responsibility for the practical application of the training in the course of their work. Infection prevention and control must be included in any personal development plan and/or appraisal.
ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES
- To ensure that the recording of patient care is comprehensive, concise and in line with the NMC Record Keeping guidance.
- Ensure IT systems are current e.g., ADT.
TEACHING & TRAINING RESPONSBILITIES
- To participate in the teaching and assessing of students and the in-service training of qualified nurses and health care assistants and act as facilitator/mentor/preceptor as appropriate.
LINE MANAGEMENT/SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES
- Supervise Health Care Assistants and students as and when required.
- Supervise Junior Staff Nurses once deemed sufficiently competent and experienced in role by Ward Manager.
RESEARCH & AUDIT
- Contribute towards the setting, maintaining, and monitoring of standards of care within the Department by leading and participating in surgical audits.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Nursing Associate Foundation degree
- Current NMC registration
- GCSE Grade A-C in Maths & English or skills level 2 Maths & English or equivalent
Experience
Essential
- Understanding of the scope of the role of the Nursing Associate in context of the nursing and interdisciplinary team and the organisation, and how the role may contribute to service development
- Understands and acts in line with NMC professional standards for practice contained within The Code
- Knowledge of when to seek advice and escalate to the appropriate professional for expert help and advice
- Understand requirements for NMC professional Revalidation
- Understanding of the importance of following procedures and treatment plans
- Experience of working in teams under appropriate supervision as part of a multi-disciplinary team
- Insight into how to evaluate own strengths and development needs, seeking advice where appropriate
- Experience of providing and receiving complex, sensitive information
Skills
Essential
- Ability to take part in reflective practice and clinical supervision activities
- Ability to organise and prioritise own delegated workload
- Ability to deal with non- routine and unpredictable nature of workload and individual patient contact
- Ability to communicate effectively (written, verbal and non verbal communication) with patients/relatives and carers and all members of the multi-disciplinary team.
- Ability to develop effective and appropriate relationships with people, their families, carers and colleagues
- Ability to support, supervise, assess and act as a role model to nursing associate students, other learners and health care support workers as required within the clinical setting.
- Computer literacy e.g. experience of electronic patient record
Other
Essential
- Frequent moderate effort for several short periods of time such as manual handling of patients and equipment.
- Frequent concentration required for patient treatment and observations
- Ability to work within highly distressing or emotional circumstances eg end of life care
- Ability to communicate distressing information
- Ability to communicate in a challenging environment
- Able to carry out direct clinical care as required on ward or department
- Potential blood or body fluids exposure.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Certificate of Sponsorship
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).