Newcastle’s night nursing service works autonomously through the ‘out of hours’ (OOH) period caring for patients with life limiting conditions and those in need of palliative care.
We have District Nurse prescribers which enhance the patient journey as they are able to clinically assess and treat a wide range of conditions during the night. Their input prevents waiting times for the patient and their loved ones, reducing stress and the need for hospital admissions.
Teamwork
Although classed as lone workers, our night nursing team work in pairs for safety for both the staff and their patients which creates an extremely positive and supportive learning environment
Working in pairs assists decision making and enhances the knowledge base of the staff delivering the care as they are always learning from each other. In fact the team’s knowledge and skills are exceptional as no two shifts are the same.
They take unplanned calls for clinical needs such as wound care and blocked catheters as well as responding to the needs of acutely unwell patients and providing OOH palliative care. They also oversee OOH planned needs such as injections and IVs.
The team works very closely with the OOH doctors often carrying out joint visits which offers great opportunities for knowledge sharing and helps to give the patient a much enhanced experience.
Working shifts
We offer a variety of shifts patterns to suit both evenings and night staff, shifts being:
- 18:00 – 23:00
- 18:00 – 00:00 or
- 22:00 – 08:30 (nightshift)
Nine members of staff cover the evening shifts and four staff cover the nightshift.
Staff development
We are committed to both personal and professional development and proactively encourage staff holding regular discussions to explore new training opportunities or ways of working. We also support each other through weekly sessions called “Feel Good Fridays”.
Because our service covers such a vast amount of nursing needs, many training courses are considered appropriate and such requests will always be looked into and encouraged if seen to be part of the nurse’s role.
