Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNSp.)

Dementia Care

(Full Time, Permanent)

Purpose of the Role:

There is strong evidence that the position of a Clinical Nurse Specialist Dementia Care, with the application of specialty focused knowledge and skills, has a positive impact on the outcomes for patients with dementia.The benefits of this type of intervention are reduced length of stay, better recovery, more successful rehabilitation and less transfer to institutional care (RCN, 2013).

The post holder will be required to work as a key member of the specialist team in MUH.

They will provide comprehensive physical, psychological and emotional assessment and support to people with dementia and their families/carers throughout their disease trajectory.

Using a case management approach, she / he will act as a liaison between Services for Older People and other relevant departments in Mercy University Hospital Primary Care, Community services and other agencies in order to provide an integrated service for people with dementia and their carers/families.

The appointment of the CNSp Dementia Care is an essential element in the provision of effective, high quality, seamless integrated care for people with dementia.

Responsibilities - The post holder will be responsible for the following;

• Provide a specialist nursing service for patients with dementia that requires support and treatment through the continuum of care.
• Provide for early identification and assessment of the patient with cognitive impairment.
• Undertake a comprehensive patient assessment, including physical psychological, social and spiritual elements of care utilising validated assessment tools for example: Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), and others as appropriate.
• Participate in case review with MDT colleagues.
• Take a proactive role in the formulation and provision of evidence based PPPGs relating to care of the person with dementia
• Communicate, negotiate and represent patient’s values and decisions in relation to their condition in collaboration with MDT colleagues.
• Develop and support the concept of advocacy particularly in relation to patient participation in decision making thereby enabling informed choice of treatment options in line with the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act
• Provide dementia awareness education, in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes for all healthcare staff in particular the ED/AMU and hospital wards on the importance of dementia friendly and person-centred approaches to care.
• Maintain a record of people with dementia within the CNSp caseload across the acute sector and into the community (statutory, voluntary and private providers).
• Provide leadership in clinical practice and act as a resource and role model for specialist practice.

Eligibility Criteria:

• Be a registered nurse on the live register maintained by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland
• The person must be registered in the division in which the application is being made.
• Have acquired a level 8 post registration Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI), National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ)9 major academic award relevant to the specialist area Dementia prior to application. A Gerontology post graduate qualification may also be considered*

• Have extensive experience and clinical expertise i.e. a minimum of 5 years post registration experience in the division of the register in which the applicant is currently practising

And

• Have a minimum of 2 years’ experience in the specialist area (caring for the person with dementia) in a relevant setting (acute/community setting as appropriate)

And

• Have the ability to practice safely and effectively fulfilling his/her professional responsibility within his/her scope of practice

And

• Must demonstrate evidence of continuing professional development.

Closing date for applications is Friday 16th December 2022

The MUH reserve the right to create a panel for this post from which permanent, fixed term and specified purpose vacancies of a full or part time duration may be filled.