Nursing career pathway

After receiving a GOSH hospital badge at the completion of the first year (Band 1), nursing staff follow the career pathway below.

Healthcare Support Workers play a vital role in our ability to deliver the best care for our patients.

You will be part of a multi-professional team of friendly and experienced staff committed to delivering a high quality and compassionate care to children, young people and their families.

This role provides the opportunity to develop your skillset and carry out clinical and non-clinical duties, to include undertaking and recording a range of physiological measurements, wound care, obtaining and testing samples, checking pain levels and contributing to the patient discharge process.

Our apprenticeship programme is a fixed term contract (between 12-18 months), and upon completion you will be promoted to a Healthcare Assistant automatically within your ward/clinical area. As an organisation we are at the forefront of children’s and young people’s healthcare education and training.

Healthcare Assistants work as part of the wider health care team in providing high quality and compassionate care to the child/young person and family in the Hospital. As part of this role you will carry out clinical and non-clinical duties under the direct supervision of the senior nursing team.

You will also be expected to successfully complete the Care Certificate within 3 months of commencing in post.

You will be actively involved in a variety of patient care elements and their day to day life on the wards, as well as undertaking and recording a range of physiological measurements, wound care, obtaining and testing samples, checking pain levels and contributing to the patient discharge process.

You will work as a skilled member of the theatre workforce team, to provide a high standard of holistic family centred care to the children and families.

You will have the ability to promote family centred care and establish good relationships with children and their families, whilst demonstrating the ability to communicate effectively at all levels within the multi-disciplinary team.

Assistant Theatre Practitioner Trainees play a vital role in the patient pathway through admission, intraoperative, post-operative and discharge, ensuring excellent patient care is maintained throughout.

ATP trainees form part of a friendly, supportive and innovative multidisciplinary team. The role provides an opportunity to develop new clinical skills and knowledge through a specifically tailored programme of education and support.

As an ATP Trainee you will receive a bespoke training programme on all aspects of care for patients on a pathway. You will be supported throughout your training programme which will provide a wide range of opportunities to develop new clinical skills, competency and knowledge.

Once you have successfully completed the programme, you will be expected to work independently, within defined parameters of practice, under direction without direct supervision, with the potential to work across disciplines to implement programmes of care and therapies in order to support the whole team.

You will act as role model for others to aspire to, promoting best practice and the delivery of high quality, patient centred care and will be eligible to transition into a Band 4 Assistant Theatre Practitioner role.

You will work as part of the wider health care team in providing high quality and compassionate care to the child/young person and their family, and carry out clinical and non-clinical duties under indirect supervision, in which you have been trained and assessed as competent, in line with relevant standards, policies and protocols.

You will work as part of the multi-disciplinary team, demonstrate effective communication skills, exhibit independence in working and have the ability to review effectiveness of the your actions, in addition to demonstrating best practice and supervising others as required. 

You will assist Nurses and the wider multi-disciplinary team in ensuring that a high quality service is delivered to patients during their intraoperative stay therefore you will need to have a broad knowledge of intraoperative practice.

You will possess excellent communication skills, critical thinking skills, numeracy and literacy skills, an understanding of surgical procedures and basic anatomy.

You will be expected to perform minor scrub procedures in the same standard as a theatre nurse but will cover a limited number of simple cases such as scrubbing/assisting for removal of CVC port devices, minor plastics, general and urology cases.

You will also be responsible for running the procedure lists such as Rheumatology and skin and muscle biopsies, in addition to performing circulating duties and assist in the preparation of sterile trolleys.

This is a developmental role. The trainee will work towards progression into the post of Nursing Associate through successful completion of the Nursing Associate training programme which includes the attainment of a level 5 Foundation Degree equivalent qualification.

You will develop and maintain knowledge, skills and competencies related to the role of Nursing Associate within the service and through completion of the Nursing Associate training programme which includes working in care settings and delivery of person-centred care.

The Nursing Associate training programme combines and integrates both academic and work-based learning through close collaboration between employers and education providers.

A trainee Nursing Associate will be based, as an employee, in a particular organisation, in a specific setting, but will experience working in alternative settings in order that they gain a wide appreciation of many health and care contexts and are able to fulfil all the requirements of the programme.

On completion of the programme, you will be equipped with the knowledge, understanding, skills, attitudes and behaviours relevant to employment as a Nursing Associate and will work to a nationally recognised code of conduct.

You will be part of a team of nurses working within the Trust as a registered, accountable and autonomous nurse. You will work as part of a multi-profession team working in your area providing direct patient care.

You will care for a number of patients and will be responsible for the assessment, planning, delivery of safe and compassionate care and evaluation of the effectiveness of care.

You will be responsible for organising you own workload, will monitor and administer medications, provide physical and psychological support to patients, friends and families, in addition to assisting with the learning and development of colleagues; supervising junior staff and student nurses.

As a Senior Staff Nurse you will provide clinical leadership and ensure the provision of high quality nursing care to children and families.

You will be undertaking delegated responsibility for the department in the absence of the Sister/Charge Nurse and working to promote a progressive attitude to the continual improvement of patient care through research and evidence based practice.

As a Practice Facilitator, you will be part of the education team and will be involved in teaching and supporting existing staff, newly qualified staff as well as students from all professional backgrounds.

You will play a key role in the induction education and continuing development of staff nurses working on the wards, to assist in the safe, effective and efficient management of the department within allocated resources. Working alongside the rest of the Practice Education team, you will demonstrate your clinical expertise, excellent communication skills, and a passion for teaching.

You will support the Practice Educator in the provision of professional development of staff nurses, and assess and document the progress of participants, identifying concerns under the guidance of the Practice Educator to formulate action plans for further development.

You will work alongside the Practice Educator to audit and evaluate the effectiveness and management of the staffs progress and development.

You will work as a skilled member of the team, providing a high standard of holistic, family-centred clinical care to children and their families participating in research studies.

With support from the Children’s Research Sisters, you will lead on the co-ordination and implementation of a number of research programmes from a variety of different specialities.

You will be responsible for the recruitment of participants, facilitation of the consent process, administration of the clinical interventions required as part of the study (e.g. IV drug infusions), observing and responding to side effects (e.g. anaphylaxis), as well as liaising with drug companies and other study sponsors and ensuring the accurate collection and submission of data, in line with the study protocols and research regulations.

You will also be required to deputise for the Children’s Research Sisters in their absence and to take an active role in supporting and developing new members of the CRF team.

The CRF will initially operate between the hours of 08.00-18.00, however some early evening, night and weekend work may be required at times. You will also be required to take part in the on-call rota for the freezer alarm system in the CRF Laboratory.

As Theatre Practice Facilitator you will be part of a highly specialised team which performs over 20,000 surgical procedures a year.

You will be involved in teaching and supporting existing staff, newly qualified staff as well as students from all professional backgrounds. Working alongside the rest of the Practice Education team for Theatres, you will demonstrate your clinical expertise, excellent communication skills, and a passion for teaching.

You will use your teaching skills and expertise to enhance the learning environment and facilitate staff development to promote continuous quality improvement of patient care.

This role requires you to work two clinical shifts per month. You will have the opportunity to enhance their supervision and teaching skills, alongside some exposure to more formal teaching.

As a Ward Manager you will provide effective leadership, expertise, advice and support to a ward/department team and ensure the provision of high quality care to children, young people and their families.

You will act as a role model and expert practitioner, and undertake delegated responsibility for the Ward/Clinical Area in the absence of the Matron/Head of Nursing.

The role of the Practice Educator will be to work alongside the Lead Nurse for Education and the ward managers to ensure high quality, effective and safe care for all children, young people and families.

The Practice Educator is charged with ensuring the continuing education and training of all nursing staff. You will be committed to developing staff through an integrated strategy that combines individual strengths and personal interests within the overall unit goals.

The Education Team is the catalyst which drives forward the boundaries of excellence within the unit so as to foster the learning culture which is vital to our success.

Working through the personal level allows the practice educator to identify individual strengths and weaknesses and so match them to the relevant education/training and staff development.

You will be responsible for promoting high standards of care through the demonstration of clinical expertise and lead in the creation of a clinical area that encourages practice development, audits practice and disseminate information on developments.

The Practice Educator also facilitates the creation of a positive learning environment where staff development are encouraged and supported, as well as facilitating the induction, education and continuing professional development for all levels of trained nursing staff within the clinical unit and works within the individual clinical units, and as a team of Practice Educators who will undertake a key role in practice development.

Your role is to lead, motivate and support the clinical band 3-6 team in delivering, co-ordinating and implementing the CRF and CRN research portfolios. Working with the team you will promote high standards of both patient care and research practice.

Along with the clinical manager, you will also look after forthcoming studies and work alongside R&D in the set-up of trials. You will line manage the clinical team and work with them in their induction period.

You will ensure the smooth running of the unit on a day to day basis and will be responsible for the co-ordination of staffing and workload for your own team, their line management and management of your specialities research portfolio.

You will work within the wider MDT across the hospital as well as providing teaching opportunities to staff on their research studies.

As an member of the management team, the Matron will actively contribute and assist the Head of Nursing with the strategic direction of the unit providing professional and clinical nurse leadership, advice and development, and contributing to the unit and Trust-wide projects to develop innovative solutions to workforce and capacity management.

Reporting to the Head of Nursing, the Matron is responsible for the operational and budgetary management of nursing, quality and standards of care, safety, patient involvement and experience, safeguarding and infection control of clinical services.

They are able to demonstrate effective, visible, authoritative leadership across the unit and Trust, in the role of responsible person for patient and staff experience and standards within the Unit. The Matron will be responsible for managing complaints and act on the findings of investigations into clinical incidents to prevent recurrence.

They will actively contribute to the development of the Trust’s Patient Care Quality strategy and take responsibility for developing department action plans to ensure the Trust meets all local and national professional and regulatory standards.