Wards Team Leader RVN

Practice Site:

• Lumbry Park (Alton)

Lumbry Park (Alton)

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join our multidisciplinary referral hospital as an RVN Wards Team Leader for a 12 month fixed term contract to cover maternity leave.

Lumbry Park Veterinary Specialists is a large multidisciplinary referral hospital providing referral veterinary services across the South of England including London and the Thames Valley. Our services include Orthopaedic Surgery, Neurology and Neurosurgery, Internal Medicine, Soft Tissue Surgery, ophthalmology, Cardiology, Anaesthesia, Dermatology, ECC and Diagnostic Imaging. The hospital is an ISFM gold feline clinic and was awarded the BVHA design award for an outstanding working environment. We are part of CVS (UK) Ltd, the largest provider of integrated veterinary services in the UK; the referrals division currently operates eight referral hospitals in the UK and Ireland.

The successful candidate will be an exceptional and compassionate communicator with excellent people skills. The candidate should be organised, with good time management skills, and solve problems as and when they arise using their own initiative. We require the candidate to lead by example to provide the highest standards of care for our patients and inspire their team to nurse at gold standard level.

Your main duties will be to work alongside and support the wards team to oversee and contribute to gold standard inpatient care; this includes providing leadership and line management to fixed wards nurses and wards PCAs, including the out of hours team. This will include regular 1:1 meetings, probationary reviews, return to work interviews etc.

Key duties include:

• All aspects of hospital inpatient care including administration of oral and injectable medications, walks, cleanliness of patients.

• Patient safety.

• Performing minor procedures including tube feeds, managing drains, wounds, dressings, etc.

• Assisting with the service nurse team admitting patients and processing samples as required.

• Assisting ECC clinicians with admission of emergency cases.

• To oversee and supervise the work of wards nurses which might include, delegation of stock and ordering duties, management of DD cupboards, management of crash trolley.

• To provide leadership and line management to wards, twilight and night nurses. This will include regular 1:1 meetings, probationary reviews, return to work interviews and inductions.

• To occasionally take part in twilight and night nurse shifts to oversee and support these teams.

• To assist the clinical operations lead with preparation of the wards team rota, including holiday allocation.

• To coordinate with the other Team Leaders to ensure smooth running of other services and the rest of the hospital.

• To assist the clinical directors and hospital managers to plan, budget and recruit for RVN and PCA job roles within your team. This would include preparation of job descriptions, job adverts and interview questions; to assist the Clinical operations lead with conducting interviews and appoint staff; to agree the terms of employment.

• To support other Team Leader RVN roles where required.

• To provide leadership within the hospital to all junior staff.

• To work alongside the learning and education team leader to identify learning requirements of the wards nursing and PCA team.

• Management of kennel spaces in order to facilitate acceptance of emergencies.

• Ensure that SOPs are relevant and kept up to date.

• Provide relevant training and teaching to your own team and the wider hospital.

Essential:

• RVN with at least 2 years working within a busy multi -disciplinary referral practice

• Previous leadership role within a veterinary nursing team

• Able to demonstrate excellent knowledge in all areas of RVN duties within a referral hospital

• RVN qualification

• Strong Leadership and management skills

• The ability to deliver gold standard inpatient care

• The ability to work independently and within a team

• Excellent communication skills

• A desire to improve standards across the nursing team

• Able to work to deadlines with the ability to prioritize and multitask.

• Act as a role model for other RVNs

Hours of work: This is a full time position of 40 hours a week including 1:6 weekends, however part time requirements will be considered.

Location: Lumbry Park Veterinary Specialists in Alton

In addition to a salary of up to £39,000, we offer benefits including; up to 7 weeks holiday (with our buy/sell holiday scheme) + Bank Holidays, enhanced holiday scheme where you get an additional days holiday for every year of service (up to a maximum of 5 additional days), access to our industry leading sharesave scheme, enhanced maternity/paternity/adoption leave, heavily discounted pet healthcare, continued professional development and a range of flexible benefits such as GymFlex and Cycle to Work to suit your needs.

CVS is committed to being a fully inclusive place to work where all our colleagues are encouraged and supported to be themselves, where difference is celebrated and where everyone feels able to deliver their best. We are also determined to build a workforce that is more representative of our diverse communities and the people we provide our services to.

Interested in joining our fantastic team?

Please apply now!