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Job summary

Main area
Children's Nursing
Grade
Band 6
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week (FULL ROTATION OF SHIFTS INCLUDING DAYS, LATES, NIGHTS AND WEEKENDS)
Job ref
164-7964139
Employer
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Queens Medical Centre
Town
Nottingham
Salary
£39,959 - £48,117 per annum pro rata
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
18/10/2026 23:59

Employer heading

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust logo

Deputy Ward Sister/Charge Nurse

Band 6

Job overview

Join our dynamic team as a Band 6 deputy Sister/Charge Nurse in the Children and Young People’s Emergency Department at one of the UK’s largest paediatric trauma centres. This senior leadership role offers the chance to lead a skilled nursing team in a fast-paced environment, caring for children and young people with acute illness, injury, major trauma, mental health concerns, and life-threatening emergencies.

You will provide visible clinical leadership, support patient flow, ensure compliance with policies, and drive quality improvement and service development initiatives. Mentoring, supervising, and developing staff is key, alongside maintaining governance, safety standards, and operational efficiency.

We offer professional development opportunities to enhance leadership, management, and advanced clinical skills. Nottingham Children’s Hospital holds ANCC Pathway to Excellence accreditation—the only children’s hospital in Europe with this distinction—reflecting our commitment to staff engagement, excellence, and innovation. If you are an experienced paediatric emergency nurse with a passion for leadership and high-quality care, we welcome your application.

Main duties of the job

As  Deputy Charge Nurse in the CYPED, you will provide senior clinical and operational leadership to ensure safe, effective, and compassionate care. You will maintain high standards of nursing practice, patient safety, and quality across the department.

You will lead the delivery of evidence-based care, working with the wider MDT to identify challenges affecting care quality and develop action plans to address gaps. Patient pathways and experiences will be regularly evaluated to ensure effectiveness and satisfaction.

Acting as the senior clinical point of contact, you will manage deteriorating patients, safeguarding concerns, and complex or high-risk cases. You will oversee patient flow, triage, and resource allocation to support timely and efficient care delivery and help achieve national and local performance standards.

You will supervise, support, and mentor the nursing workforce, promoting professional development, competence, and wellbeing. In partnership with the senior leadership team, you will manage staffing, shift coordination, sickness management, and maintain appropriate senior nurse presence.

The role includes supporting audits, quality improvement, and service development initiatives, ensuring learning is embedded and improvements sustained. You will also provide guidance and reassurance to patients, families, and staff, representing the patient and family voice in decision-making.

 The post requires working a full range of shifts, including nights and weekends.

Working for our organisation

With over 19,000 staff, we are one of the biggest employers in the city with a central role in supporting the health and wellbeing of our local population. We play a leading role in research, education and innovation.

Come and join our wonderful team at NUH. We are big believers in diversity and welcome new ideas to help develop our team in order to deliver world class healthcare to the vast patient populations we serve. With endless personal development opportunities available, at NUH we will endeavour to turn your job into a career!

We particularly welcome applications from people who identify as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, or Disabled, as we are striving to be better represented at NUH

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The Band 6 deputy Charge Nurse provides senior clinical and managerial leadership within the Children and Young People’s Emergency Department, ensuring the delivery of safe, effective, and patient-centred care in a highly complex and fast-paced environment.

Clinically, the post holder will act as a visible senior leader, providing expert clinical guidance and supervision to the nursing team. They will be clinically competent in the assessment and treatment of children and young people presenting with a wide range of injuries and illnesses, including major trauma. The Band 6 will be trauma trained and skilled in advanced clinical interventions, including intravenous medication administration, Entonox use, plastering and immobilisation, and ECG acquisition and interpretation appropriate to role. They will take responsibility for coordinating nursing care and supporting complex clinical decision-making to ensure high standards of care and patient safety.

The Band 6 will act as a senior point of escalation for deteriorating patients, safeguarding concerns, and high-risk or complex cases, working collaboratively with the multidisciplinary team to ensure timely intervention. They will promote and maintain adherence to paediatric emergency care standards, Trust policies, and evidence-based best practice.

Operationally, the Band 6 will support the senior leadership team in the day-to-day management of the department, including staffing coordination, shift planning, sickness management, and maintaining minimum senior staffing levels across all shifts. They will oversee patient flow, triage processes, and resource allocation to optimise waiting times, throughput, and overall departmental efficiency.

From a governance and quality perspective, the Band 6 team will oversee the management of complaints and compliments, ensuring timely responses, learning, and feedback to staff and families. They will review and manage Datix incident reports, leading investigations where appropriate and ensuring action plans are implemented and monitored. The post holder will support and contribute to clinical audit, quality improvement initiatives, and compliance with governance and safety standards, embedding learning into practice.

The Band 6 will also play a key role in staff development, mentoring and supporting junior nurses and students, fostering a culture of learning, reflection, and professional development. They will contribute to appraisal, return-to-work processes, and ongoing competency assessment, supporting staff wellbeing and performance.

Throughout all aspects of the role, the Band 6 deputy Charge Nurse will demonstrate compassion, professionalism, and strong leadership, acting as an advocate for children, young people, and their families. They will work within a collaborative and supportive multidisciplinary environment, leading by example and contributing to continuous improvement in patient care and outcomes.

Person specification

Training & Qualification

Essential criteria
  • Current level one NMC registration RN (Child) or RSCN
  • Proven Leadership Experience
  • Degree or working towards
  • Completed IV package
  • Possession of a mentoring course
  • APLS
Desirable criteria
  • Continuing professional development/reflective profile
  • Formal leadership and management training
  • Research training/experience
  • Have a suitable teaching and assessing qualification
  • Possession of a mentoring course
  • CVL competency packages
  • Injury trainned

Communication and Relationship

Essential criteria
  • Demonstrate effective written and verbal communication skills
  • Demonstrate Basic IT Skills
  • Produce timely, accurate written/electronic records and documents
  • Recognition of own level of competence and limitations and able to communicate these to all members of the MDT
  • Can minimise interpersonal conflict and barriers to communication
Desirable criteria
  • Demonstration of team working and ability to work within a team
  • Evidence of negotiation and influencing skills
  • Evidence of leadership training

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Supervision of non-registered staff, pre-registration and post basis students
  • Evidence of ability to mentor
  • Ability to manage the clinical area or ward efficiently and effectively
  • Ability to convey sensitive information in an empathetic manner to patients, relative/carers and staff.
  • Caring for children with life limiting conditions
  • Experience of managing staff
Desirable criteria
  • Demonstrate an involvement in link nurse, or project work
  • Audit or research within the clinical area
  • Providing staff with feedback on their individual performance and use of the knowledge and skills framework
  • Recent or current experience within the speciality
  • Experience of managing KPI performance

Analytical and Judgement skills

Essential criteria
  • Demonstrate an ability to assess, plan, deliver, prioritise and evaluate patient care
  • Ability to identify own learning needs
  • Demonstrate and understanding of the deputy sister/charge nurse role
  • Able to respond to problem situations and to ensure that effective interventions are put in place
Desirable criteria
  • Demonstrate leadership skills & ability to effectively lead a team
  • Demonstrate an ability to prioritise workload of self and others
  • Demonstrate effective time management skills
  • Demonstrate effective resource management

Physical skills

Essential criteria
  • Physically able to perform the full range of nursing duties
  • Dexterity and accuracy in undertaking clinical skills, use of equipment and documentation
  • Competent and capable of using medical equipment
  • Able to undertake patient and manual handling manoeuvres and non-patient manual handling manoeuvres
Desirable criteria
  • Evidence of moving and handling training

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Trust IDApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyAge positiveDisability confident leaderArmed Forces Covenant Gold AwardMindful employer.  Being positive about mental health.Care Leaver CovenantNHS Rainbow badgeCareLeaver Covenantadded for NUH

Applicant requirements

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.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Leanne Dutton
Job title
Matron
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
07812278139
Additional information

For more information / details contact CYPED  Matron Leanne Dutton

If you would like to arrange an informal visit to the area  please don't hesitate to contact us.

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