UHWA Radiographer, Advanced Practice, Candidate

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Principal Duties and Responsibilities

A Candidate Advanced Practice Radiographer in sonography will develop competency at a higher level across the four pillars of advanced practice:

• Clinical Practice
• Leadership and Management
• Education and Facilitation of Clinical Learning
• Evidence, Research and Service Development

Clinical Practice

A Candidate Advanced Practice Radiographer in sonography will be supported to develop their skills and knowledge to an advanced level. The (cAPR) will

• Practise in compliance with their respective code of professional conduct and within their scope of practice, being responsible and accountable for their decisions, actions, and omissions at this level of practice.
• Develop and demonstrate a critical understanding of their broadened level of responsibility, autonomy and the limits of own competence and professional scope of practice, including when working with complexity, risk, uncertainty, and incomplete information.
• Will develop capabilities and competence to practice autonomously and as part of a team, using advanced knowledge, skills, critical thinking, and evidence.
• Develop and implement the highest quality clinical practice. Be supported to create a culture of continuous improvement and innovation.
• Will work to develop capabilities to create and implement comprehensive service user management, as part of a multi-professional team, using advanced level clinical reasoning, shared service user decision making, and evidence based clinical knowledge and skills, to achieve optimum outcomes for service user and the service/organisation.
• Will develop and demonstrate a high level of knowledge in relation to patterns of disease or disorder, markers of condition progression, differential diagnosis and range of treatment available at each stage of disorder or condition, including recognition of red flags and potentially complex and serious presentations and the need for expedited onward referral to the appropriate team.
• Develop their expertise and decision-making skills to inform clinical reasoning when dealing with differentiated and undifferentiated individual presentations and complex situations, synthesising information from multiple sources to make appropriate, evidence-based judgements and/or diagnoses. This will involve developing and demonstrating competence in planning, implementing, and evaluating the care delivery according to service user needs.
• Under supervision, will play a direct role in the management of complex service user, as part of a multi-professional team or autonomously, including assessment of the service user’s relevant history, developing an investigation strategy, including where appropriate referring for, or conducting tests, interpreting results where appropriate to the profession, and agreeing a management and treatment plan in partnership with the service user and family, carers, medical staff, and the multi professional team.
• Provide timely, efficient and courteous provision of ultrasound services to the agreed standards in the general ultrasound department.
• Develop capabilities to communicate complex information relating to conditions and procedures to staff, patients and carers, and ensure informed consent for examinations.
• Position patients accurately for each examination, adapting techniques in accordance with the patient’s needs.
• Take a full history from the patient to ensure that the correct organs are examined and extend the examination to other organs if necessary.
• Ensure the safe transferring of patients and equipment, following manual handling guidelines and using risk assessment.
• Develop capabilities to establish, maintain, and effectively manage barriers to, advanced, highly skilled, and effective communication with service users, carers and healthcare professionals. This includes imparting information regarding diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of complex conditions and referring to other MDT teams as appropriate to promote integrated working and to improve service user outcomes.
• Communicate effectively on a daily basis with patients with communication difficulties and cognitive impairment.
• Deal sensitively with patients or carers under emotional stress, including the terminally ill and bereaved.
• Work alongside the consultant radiologists to provide a high quality service.
• Meet the needs of patients, ensuring that if any changes in service provision are made, patients’ requirements and clinical practice are recognised, planned for, implemented and monitored.
• Contribute to standard setting and policy formation for the ultrasound department.
• Contribute to service improvements and re-design in line with HSE Policy
• In liaison with the RSM/Supervisor, develop skills regarding co-ordination services within the ultrasound department, and liaise with other wards and sections/departments, to provide a comprehensive and efficient Ultrasound Service
• Ensure the safety and well-being of patients, staff and visitors within the department.
• Assess the clinical justification of referrals and reject where necessary and to accept and scan urgent referrals after agreement with the referring clinicians and justifying refusal if an inappropriate request for an urgent scan is made.
• Is responsible for either giving the report to the patient or contacting the relevant clinician to discuss findings where further management is necessary.
• Develop the capability to taking responsibility for recommending further imaging on a report or referral to a particular team within the hospital as per department protocol, organising immediate clinical review when necessary.
• Develop skills in presenting abnormal findings to patients sensitively.
• Ensure Clinical Governance protocols are complied with and corrective actions taken where required.
• Be responsible for updating the patient record and maintaining imaging databases, work lists and waiting lists
• Demonstrate the appropriate interpersonal skills to teach student radiographers, student radiographer sonographers.
• Work as part of a close-knit team of highly skilled sonographers.

Leadership and Management

• Develop and provide leadership across professional & organisational teams aiding and improving person-centred care though team development, keeping a focus on quality improvement and service excellence as appropriate to the role.
• Develop leadership skills and foster a culture of promoting a safe and supportive working environment for students’, practitioners’ and colleague’s health and wellbeing to ensure the highest Quality service user care.
• Perform professional supervision and systematic peer review of colleagues on an individual or group basis and engage with supervision.
• Develop as a role model, learning to providing professional leadership to the team and promote the desired behaviours of being proactive, positive, respectful, supportive reliable and trustworthy as appropriate to the role.
• Act a supervisor, coach and mentor and seek to instil and develop the confidence of others as appropriate to the role.
• Build capabilities to critically apply advanced clinical expertise in appropriate facilitative ways to provide consultancy across professional and service boundaries, influencing clinical practice to enhance quality, reduce unwarranted variation and promote the sharing and adoption of best practice.
• Demonstrate team leadership, resilience and determination, managing situations that are unfamiliar, complex or unpredictable and seeking to build confidence in others as appropriate to the role.
• To supervise, train and appraise student radiographer sonographers and senior Sonographers.
• Effective staff communication both within the Imaging Department and the organisation.
• Be responsible for the safe use and maintenance of specialist ultrasound scanners.
• To manage of patients images and data, including processing and archiving.
• To promote awareness of and compliance with policies and protocols for the correct use of radiological services.
• To report faults with equipment immediately to the appropriate company.
• To ensure compliance with Health and Safety policies and procedures within the area, including infection control and manual handling techniques, to provide a safe and secure environment.
• To report any Adverse incidents in line with HSE and local Policy
• To attend MDMs in area of Specialist Interest and cascade back to rest of team. Use feedback to underpin and maintain high standards of scanning within the dept.
• Develop capabilities to assess and establish the need for change, support lead and manage change at local and national level. Monitor the effectiveness and impact of change for service users, relatives, staff and services. Consider cost, efficiency, access and quality when making care decisions and improvements/ developments in practice.
• As appropriate to role, contribute to strategic review of clinical effectiveness and management of resources at local and national level and contribute to developments and innovation in services related to a relevant area of clinical practice, (e.g. national clinical programmes/national groups/clinical interest groups/local improvement groups) both within and external to the profession.
• Continually develop practice in response to changing population health needs, engaging in horizon scanning for future developments (e.g. impacts of genomics, new treatments and changing social challenges).
• To organise and plan, on a daily basis, the allocation of time and resources to enable an efficient service, whilst dealing with an unpredictable workload caused by, for example, an emergency patient and working flexibly within a changing environment.
• To be responsible for their own professional actions and to work unsupervised as a member of a multi-disciplinary team in unpredictable circumstances.
• To be responsible for junior /newer members of staff to ensure safe working within departmental guidelines.
• To regularly supervise the work in the ultrasound department of other non-ultrasound qualified staff and students.
• To deputise for the modality lead in their absence as appropriate.
• To be a first line response for any problems, complaints or issues which may arise during normal working conditions.
• To be able to generate reports and feedback on service delivery to modality lead or Radiology Manager

Education and Facilitation of Clinical Learning

• Develop capabilities to critically assess and address own learning and development needs, negotiating a personal development plan to maintain currency of knowledge and skills that reflect the breadth of ongoing professional development across the four pillars of advanced clinical practice. Engage in self-directed learning, critically reflecting to maximise advanced clinical skills and knowledge, as well as own potential to lead and develop both care, services and service user advocacy.
• Work in collaboration with the wider team and support peer review processes to identify ongoing individual and team developmental and learning needs, and work in partnership to address these.
• Support the wider team to build capacity and capability through evidence-based practice and interprofessional learning.
• Educate and develop others in advanced practice by supporting and facilitating colleagues.
• Advocate and contribute to continuous learning and development and succession planning.
• Promote the profession and share learning and experience by presenting at local, regional and national meetings, courses and conferences.
• Act as educator, supervisor, mentor and coach to support continuous professional development of individuals and the team.
• Collaborate with the service manager, higher education institutions, practice tutors and practice education co-ordinators to provide and support practice education of students.
• To demonstrate, maintain and update skills and knowledge of evolving practice and legislative requirements.
• To contribute to the training and development of staff within the team by running dedicated training lists and support new staff in induction.
• To provide professional support to other radiographer sonographers particularly in own Specialist Interest area.
• To develop and adapt learning programmes for training with regard to the departmental and individual learning needs.
• Assist in the design and/or delivery of education programmes, including undergraduate and post-graduate programmes, as part of a partnership approach with education providers, based on identified and emerging learning needs.
• Provide practice Placement opportunities for radiography students and candidate advanced practice radiographers in sonography.
• Lead and contribute to a range of audit and evaluation strategies to inform education and learning developments.
• To ensure the four pillars of advanced clinical practice are incorporated into everyday practice: Clinical practice, Leadership and Management, Education and Facilitation of Clinical Learning, and Evidence Research and Service Development.

Evidence, Research, Development & Audit

• Develop skills to critically evaluate and synthesise the evidence available and make appropriate judgements on implementation in practice despite incomplete or paradoxical evidence.
• In collaboration with other staff, ensure that the approach to all levels of clinical practice is person-centred, evidence based in accordance with professional practice, national guidelines/models of care and national/local/international benchmarks.
• Develop capabilities to lead and develop a culture of enquiry that promotes supports and encourages participation in evidence-based practice, including research, service evaluation, quality improvement (Q.I.) and audit.
• Take a critical approach to identify gaps in the evidence base and its application to practice, alerting appropriate individuals and organisations to these and how they might be addressed in a safe and pragmatic way and where possible also plan and deliver the research to address these gaps.
• Develop capabilities to lead audit of service and evaluation of clinical activities to ensure a person-centred focus, enhance quality, safety, productivity and value for money and mapping to national models of care/clinical pathways and guidelines/standards of care.
• Bring critical analysis to the practice of the evolving clinical/scientific specialism, ensuring that regular review of research and evidence is undertaken so that where adaptation to practice is required, it can be made in a timely and cost-effective manner.
• Ensure own practice is evaluated regularly to determine whether interventions are effective and remain relevant to client needs. Assess the demand and specification for evolving scientific/clinical services with service users, clinical colleagues, and other relevant stakeholders.
• To undertake audits in own Specialist area of responsibility.
• To contribute and participate in practice development in reaction to the findings of audit and recent evidence, implement recommendations, and monitor their effectiveness.
• To participate in clinical research within the department.
• To work with others in the development of research protocols.
• To ensure research standards, protocols and documentation are adhered to
• Working collaboration with RSM and Registered Candidate Advanced Practice Radiographers in Sonography, facilitate collaborative links between clinical practice and research through proactive engagement, networking with academic, clinical and other active researchers locally and nationally.

Risk Management, Quality, Health & Safety

• Exercise professional judgement in development of policies/procedures/guideline and protocols to support risk management as appropriate and as required, especially where there may be complex and unpredictable events and supporting teams to do likewise to ensure safety of individuals, families, and carers.
• Adequately identifies, assesses, manages and monitors risk within their area of responsibility.
• Have a working knowledge of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) Standards as they apply to the role for example, Standards for Healthcare, National Standards for the Prevention and Control of Healthcare Associated Infections, Hygiene Standards etc. and comply with associated HSE protocols for implementing and maintaining these standards as appropriate to the role.
• Support, promote and actively participate in sustainable energy, water and waste initiatives to create a more sustainable, low carbon and efficient health service.
• Engage in the HSE performance achievement process in conjunction with your Line Manager and staff as appropriate.

The above Job Specification is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all duties involved and consequently, the post holder may be required to perform other duties as appropriate to the post which may be assigned to them from time to time and to contribute to the development of the post while in office.