Sussex Equine is looking for a full time Head Nurse working 08:00 – 17:00 Monday to Friday.
We offer a 1-hour unpaid lunch break ensuring you take that much deserved break throughout the day.
Manager to:
*4 qualified nurses
*3 nursing students (this can vary)
*1 Equine Nursing assistant
Sole Responsibility for:
*All hospital-based equipment ensuring good functioning and maintenance, broken equipment and equipment needing servicing is reported to the Dispensary and Equipment Manager.
*All clinical and equipment training and quality control of your whole team. The training needs to be held in a timely manner and refreshers planned throughout the year.
*Planning off the OOH rota
*Have weekly catch up meetings with the Clinic Receptionist and Head Groom to assist in planning the workload for the week ahead.
*Work with the Clinic Receptionist to ensure all Student nurses have 1 hour a week to spend with their clinical coach.
*To ensure all PPE is worn and policies and procedures are adhered to by whole of your team.
Weekday duties include (but are not strictly limited to):
*Assisting with general inpatient care, critical care, neonatal critical care and nursing in the isolation unit. Ensuring that medical records are professionally written, clear and complete
*Providing an excellent service to our clients in a professional manner
*Assisting with lameness examinations
*Radiography - obtaining high quality radiographs and assist with plate holding.
*Ultrasonography - Patient preparation and assisting during the procedure
*Gamma Scintigraphy – Patient preparation, acquisition of images, image processing and patient care during the procedure
*Magnetic Resonance Imaging – Patient preparation, acquisition of images, patient monitoring and care during the procedure, liaising with MRI provider
*Maintaining a clean and tidy working environment within the clinic grounds: treatment rooms, barns and stalls, diagnostic areas, surgery suites and imaging suites and record as such on the boards.
*Following biosecurity measures outlined in the standard operating procedures
*Maintaining adequate stock in all treatment rooms, surgery areas and barns and checking sheets.
*Preparation of patients and instruments for aseptic surgery
*Assisting the surgeon during various procedures in the standing or anaesthetised patient
*Organise your team for the cleaning of surgical instruments and sterilisation of instruments
*Assisting with routine reproductive procedures
We employ both week-day and weekend grooms who will muck out the inpatient stalls, get feeds/hay-nets ready, keep the yards tidy etc, However, it will be your responsibility to assign nurses to assist with these tasks when the hospital is at high capacity or the groom team are short due to sickness or holiday.
Weekend/On Call Duties:
On a weekend you will be on call from 17:30 on Friday until 08:00 Monday. You may be called at any time, day or night, to assist with general duties similar to those expected during usual working hours. Any work that is required will be authorised by the senior clinician on call or a Director of the practice. After a weekend on call, you are entitled to the Monday am/pm off.
About Sussex Equine
We are a state of the art, purpose- built, referral hospital providing patients and clients with the best standards of equine veterinary health care, based in a beautiful location in Sussex. We have a total of 27 stables, isolation block and Repro/Bonescan blocks. We have some excellent equipment, naming MRI and CT to name a couple! We excel in our medical workups and treatment and cover both minor and major surgeries, allowing for excellent clinical exposure.
Being nestled in the countryside offers lots of beautiful country walks in the area, and the seaside is just 20 miles away. We have great city links being close to Worthing and Brighton and quick and accessible train links to London.
We are part of IVC Evidensia.
Our Team and Culture
We have an experienced and dedicated team at Sussex Equine consisting of, 25 Veterinary Surgeons, 5 Veterinary Nurses and 30 Support Team Members. We offer 4 specialists in Equine Surgery, 2 Internal Medicine Specialists
and 2 Diplomates in Equine Reproduction. This of course providing excellent clinical exposure, great learning opportunities and a knowledgeable team to support you in practice.
We consider ourselves to be active within the local community, we hold bi yearly Open Days. We love to get involved in charitable activities and have a collection bucket in practice, and all proceeds that are donated will
be given to the chosen charity decided by our team.
What we are looking for
We ask for you to be a qualified Veterinary Nurse who is registered or eligible to register with the RCVS. Our new Head Nurse will have great customer services skills, be an excellent communicator and be a proven leader We
hope you are an enthusiastic individual with a hands-on approach to Equine care and welfare.
Because our people matter
We recognise that our people are fundamental to the success of our business. Investing in our people, premises and processes is at the heart of what we do. In addition to a competitive base salary, you will benefit from -
Work-life balance
*6.6 weeks annual leave
*Additional holiday entitlement for your birthday
Wellbeing
*Enhanced family-friendly policies, including maternity/paternity/adoption/shared parental and surrogacy pay
*Private Medical Insurance
*Cycle to Work scheme
*Initiatives focused on employee wellbeing, including discounted gym membership
*Non-accidental injury support
Development
*£550 CPD allowance with 24 hours paid CPD leave pro rata
*Certificate support
*Learning and development opportunities via the IVC Evidensia Academy
*Access to Vetlexicon - our online encyclopaedia provider
*All our Vets & Nurses can apply for research funding
*Infection Prevention and Control Programme
*Quality Improvement Programme
Professional Memberships
*VDS cover
*RCVS fees
Additional
*Pawsome Benefits - reward gateway giving discounts and cashback with 100’s of retailers
*Pension 5% Employee/3% Employer
*Discounted staff pet care
For a confidential chat or to discuss this role in more detail, please contact Bartosz Piasecki, Talent Partner, on bartosz.piasecki@ivcevidensia.com / 07977242349.