Nurse Autism Practitioner

Post Outline

This is a permanent post supporting the Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT), in the delivery of effective clinical services through assessment, formulation and ongoing support to children, young people and families accessing Caudwell Children services. You will work clinically as part of the MDT that includes Psychologists, Learning Disability Nurses, Occupational Therapists, Speech and Language Therapists, Paediatricians, Clinical Assistants, Assistant Psychologists and charity volunteers. The role also will involve close collaborative working with the Children and Family Services Department, Applications Department and Volunteer Department.

About Caudwell Children

Established in 2000, Caudwell Children is a national charity which works to transform the lives of disabled children and their families, enabling them to challenge the barriers they face throughout childhood by providing practical and emotional support. The Charity is going through an exciting period of growth having recently opened a new state-of-the-art facility for multi-disciplinary therapy programmes for childhood disability and research of neurodevelopmental conditions, including autism, within the grounds of Keele University. It provides a state-of-the-art base for the Charity’s therapies and an environment where ground-breaking research can be undertaken, potentially changing the way some disabilities are treated, affecting millions of people around the world. This is a fantastic and exciting opportunity to join a dynamic and fast moving Charity at a time when it will attract national and international attention. The services of Caudwell Children enrich the lives of our children and families through the delivery of high quality person centred care and support services that promote independence and achieve valued outcomes. We seek to create a safe, homely and supportive environment that enhances the lives of children with autism and associated conditions.

Duties and responsibilities

Main Duties:

• Provide enhanced clinical support to the family support team in relation to families and children accessing the clinical services.
• Support ADOS and ADI-R assessments with children on the autism service pathway.
• Deliver a range of workshops to adults and children in relation to ASD approaches and support.
• Communicate in a skilled and sensitive manner, information concerning the assessment, formulation and treatment plans of children and families accessing the clinical pathway and to monitor progress during the course of multi-disciplinary care.
• Undertake clinical work with individuals and groups providing advice, resources and strategies, as appropriate, using specialist skills and autism specific approaches where required.
• Where necessary, undertake risk assessments and risk management for children and their families and to provide advice to other professions on aspects of risk assessment and risk management.
• To coordinate, where appropriate, the intervention plans in respect of children, taking responsibility for initiating planning and reviewing progress with children, their carers, referring agents and others involved in their network of care.
• Contribute to the development of the multi-disciplinary team.
• As part of the team engage actively in practice development, evaluation, audit and research activities to inform evidence based practice.
• Provide mentorship and clinical supervision for practice education placements.
• Where appropriate, share and disseminate research findings with professional colleagues in the interests of practice development.
• Ensure compliance and completion of CPD activities.
• Work collaboratively with all members of the MDT sharing information as appropriate.

Teaching, Training and Supervision:

• Receive regular clinical professional supervision relevant to your profession.
• Provide professional and clinical supervision of assistant posts where appropriate.
  provide advice, consultation and training to staff working with the client group across a range of agencies and settings, where appropriate.
• Contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the team’s operational policies and services, through the deployment of
  professional skills in research, service evaluation and audit.
• Manage the workloads of assistant roles, where appropriate, within the framework of the team/service’s policies and procedures.

Research and Service Evaluation:

• Utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence based practice in individual work and work with other team members.
• Undertake appropriate research and provide research advice to other staff undertaking research within the programme.
• Undertake project management, including complex audit and service evaluation, with colleagues within the service to help develop service provision.

Customer Care/Quality Assurance:

• Support service teams to ensure, where possible and appropriate, children and families are involved in future programme planning and delivery.
• Communicate with children, families and all stakeholders in a way that respects their views, autonomy and culture.
• Uphold the principles and practice of customer care and continuous improvement.
• At all times to afford service users, colleagues and stakeholders the dignity and respect to which they are entitled with full regard to the organisations Equality and Diversity Policy.
• Ensure that customers/stakeholders are enabled to comment and complain about any of the services they receive, ensuring all comments and complaints are dealt with promptly and in accordance with organisational policy and procedures.
• Confidentiality and data protection regarding all personal information and Caudwell Children activities must be maintained at all times (both in and out of working hours) in accordance with professional codes of conduct and relevant legislation such as the General Data Protection Regulations 2018.
• Contribute and co-operate fully with any regulatory or organisational inspections/audits.

Health & Safety:

In addition to the organisations overall responsibility for your health and safety, you have a personal responsibility for your own health and safety. As such you are required to:

• Have an awareness of relevant health and safety regulations and legislation.
• Be responsible for your own health and safety and that of anyone else whom your acts and omissions may affect and maintain a professional and hygienic personal appearance at all times.
• Inform your line manager and facilities of any safety issues you identify that could affect you or others in the workplace.
• Co-operate fully with management and colleagues at all times in achieving safer working practices.
• Have knowledge of a range of safer handling and mobility skills relevant to the management of children, young people and families in your care, including safe use of transfer equipment.
• Use equipment when necessary and as instructed (as appropriate to your role), which will include checking the equipment is safe to use, prior to its use, reporting any defects immediately to your line manager/facilities.
• Be responsible for the implementation and adherence to organisational health and safety policies and procedures for areas within your remit.
• Ensure suitable and sufficient risk assessments are completed for all areas within your remit. The controls identified must be evaluated and implemented where necessary.
• Ensure your work adheres to Health and Social Care Act 2008, Code of Practice for the Prevention and Control of Infections and Related
• Guidance as applicable to your role.
• Report any concerns of potential abuse of a service user in line with the organisations Safeguarding Policy and procedures.

Resource Management:

• Ensure maintenance and security of physical, financial and information resources, where applicable.
• Effectively maximise all resources available in the course of your duties, minimising waste and working within budgets.
• Ensure that all resources and utilities are used prudently and that any waste is minimised. Manage, monitor and maintain budgets agreed by management.
• Ensure stock levels of equipment are maintained and checked regularly, as appropriate to your role.
• Where appropriate, participate in the recruitment, induction and retention of team members as appropriate to your role.

General:

• If applicable, ensure compliance with professional standards in relation to your relevant professional governing body (RCOT, RCSLT, NMC, BPS, CIPD, CIMA, ACCA, AAT, CIM, etc.) or equivalent.
• Adhere to your professional body’s regulations, ensuring registration is maintained at all times, where applicable.
• Demonstrate commitment to ongoing personal and professional development, maintaining professional portfolios and training profiles.
• Keep up to date and integrate any relevant new initiatives, regulations and legislation as appropriate to your role.
• Where appropriate, develop and maintain links with other professionals in the same specialist field of work.
• Keep comprehensive and accurate records in relation to your role and in accordance with organisational policies and procedures as well as local, professional and national guidelines.
• Attend training as appropriate to the role, applying knowledge gained to the workplace.
• Engage in Support and Supervision sessions, where appropriate, to reflect on practice enhancing communication and quality of service.
• To work effectively and collaboratively as a member of the team, building and maintaining good working relationships with all
  colleagues, stakeholders and professionals from external agencies.
• Collation and analysis of complex information derived from multiple sources to create robust service monitoring and achievable action plans that deliver results.
• Creation of comprehensive and robust information monitoring that is shared at all levels of the Charity and allows clarity and understanding of performance. Understanding what information is important to all other functions, including the CEO, and leading on how this is best delivered. Understanding how performance might affect delivery in other parts of the Charity and working closely to provide it.
• Ensure compliance with statutory and non-statutory bodies, including CQC, ISO 9001 and the Health & Safety Executive.
• Adhere to all Caudwell Children policies and procedures.
• Demonstrate commitment to Caudwell Children’s mission, vision and values.
• On occasion and when necessary work flexible hours to meet the needs of the business.
• Willingness to travel in order to meet the needs of the post.

This Job Description indicates only the main duties and responsibilities of the post and is not intended as an exhaustive list. The post holder may be asked to carry out other duties from time to time. The Charity reserves the right to amend this Job Description from time to time, according to business needs.

Person Specification

Essential Criteria

• Evidence of registration with the NMC in mental health, learning disability and/or child branch
• Experience of teaching, delivering training and/or supervision
• Experience in the assessment and diagnosis of autism
• Experience of undertaking standardised formal assessments
• Formulation and implementation of appropriate interventions/strategies
• Experience of delivering training to a range of audiences using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings
• Knowledge of a range of neurodevelopmental disorders
• Familiarity with PBS values and approaches
• Knowledge of statutory/mandatory training requirements
• Understanding of evidence based practice
• Well-developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the organisation
• Skills in effective report writing and the interpretation of test results
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and nonprofessional groups
• Excellent team working and communication skills
• Excellent time management and organisational skills
• Excellent interpersonal skill
• Basic IT and keyboard skills
• An openness and willingness to learn new skills and to put these into practice
• A positive can-do attitude
• Able to meet the physical requirements of the role after reasonable adjustments have been made for illness or disability

Desirable Criteria

• ADOS trained
• ADIR trained
• Experience of supervising others in a multi-disciplinary team
• Experience of working with children and families
• Experience of working with children with ASD and/or complex needs/learning disability
• Experience of working with volunteers
• Experience of recruitment and selection processes
• Knowledge of relevant legislation, i.e. Children’s Act 2004, Mental Capacity Act 2005
• Knowledge of current safeguarding and child protection legislation and practice
• Knowledge of Information Governance Standards
• Knowledge of Health & Safety legislation
• Knowledge of Education Health and Care Plans
• Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised therapies in Autism Spectrum Disorders
• Knowledge of CQC or OFSTED regulatory frameworks
• Ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines
• Knowledge and experience in the use of neuropsychological assessment in children
• Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the
  clinical fields of psychology
• Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice
• Experience of working in the Charity/Third Sector
• Experience of working in ISO regulated organisations

Disclosure & barring service checks

The Charity is committed to safeguarding children and young people and therefore adopts a safer recruitment approach through a robust recruitment and selection process. All posts within the Charity are subject to DBS checks, in line with the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974). This role is eligible for an Enhanced with barred lists DBS check.