Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Nurse Clinical Specialist in the Acute Eye Service  to join the Eye Unit Outpatients team at St Helier Hospital.

Experience in ophthalmic nursing is  essential due to the nature of the role.

The successful candidate will need to be enthusiastic, self-motivated and have good communication skills and will work together to the Band 8 AES AP nurse and band 5 AES nurse to provide excellent care for patients presenting with acute eye problems. 

The post holder will ensure provision of and be accountable for, the delivery of an efficient, high quality and caring clinical service across Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, which meets service and client requirements and encompasses a wide range of specialist expertise and client groups.

If providing excellent nursing care and getting the basics right are important to you, this could be the ideal role for you!

Main duties of the job

• Responsible for supervising and coordinating junior members of staff
• Expected to partake in clinical activity such as: Acute Eye Service triage, telephone triage, coordinating care and working together with the AES clinicians 
• Expected to oversee the clinical activity in the AES in absence of the department manager
• Expected to ensure that nursing care is patient focused and that patient dignity and privacy are maintained at all times
• Taking an active role in maintaining effective communication with all disciplines, patients and relatives

Specific ophthalmic nursing duties will include:

• Visual Acuity including distant (all types) and near vision test
• Good knowledge of anatomy and physiology of globe and surrounding structures
• Patient education specific to compliance issues i.e. drop / ointment instillation and pre-op preparation in specific clinics
• Care of ophthalmic instruments and sterilisation issues
• Working in the clean rooms assisting clinicians with intravitreal injections and minor operations such as removal of chalazions- desirable
• Autorefraction and Focimetry
• Ocular hygiene and post-operative first dressings
• Ocular swab
• Contact lens care
• History taking and triage

Working for our organisation

St George’s, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals and Health Group cares for a population of four million people in South West London and North East Surrey. Our sites include St George’s Hospital, one of 11 major trauma centres in the UK and the largest healthcare provider and major teaching hospital in the area; St Helier Hospital, home to the South West Thames Renal and Transplantation Unit and Queen Mary's Hospital for Children; and Epsom Hospital, home to the South West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre (SWLEOC). 

 After years of collaboration, our two Trusts became a hospitals group in 2021. While remaining as two separate Trusts, being a hospitals group will help us to collaborate more closely on research, and the development, education, and training of our 17,000-strong workforce.