Your Role as a Private Nurse

Live in Nursing Care gives you the chance to really make a difference to the quality of your Clients' lives

Our Nurses look after individual Clients and couples who wish to remain in their own homes. Nurses are carefully chosen to meet a Client's particular Nursing needs and provide a source of expertise for the Client and their family. They provide a comprehensive Nursing and personal care service, which may include shopping, cooking, light housework and sometimes driving.

Clients provide Nurses with a private room, usually with a sitting area and a television, access to essential household amenities and the means to benefit from three nutritious meals a day.

As a Consultus Nurse you may be expected to travel some distance to bookings, either by car or public transport; the cost of travel is reimbursed.

Most of our work is with private clients but we also work with some health authorities to provide live-in Nursing to chronically ill NHS patients in their own homes.

As a Live in Nurse you will need to:

• Support and protect the rights and interests of your Client, including their right to dignity, respect, privacy and confidentiality
• Support Clients' right to control their lives, take reasonable risks and make informed choices about the services they receive
• Be flexible towards your working hours and the duties you perform
• Remember that you are a guest in the Client's home, and respect their wishes, beliefs and way of life
• Be open and honest, and communicate in a clear and appropriate way
• Carry out formal Care Needs Assessments and Risk Assessments, write Care Plans and keep them under review; complete all paperwork promptly and accurately
• Work openly and co-operatively with other ‘live-in’ colleagues and treat them with respect
• Keep the Nurse Consultants at Head Office up-to-date with any changes to care needs and circumstances
• Liaise appropriately with Clients’ relatives, friends and local healthcare professionals, while all the time respecting conventions of confidentiality
• Follow the Code of Practice and policies of the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC), as well as our own policies and procedures and your terms of engagement.

Duration of Bookings

Placements normally range between 4-17 days. For our longer-term Clients we prefer to offer continuity of care, with Nurses rotating on a 2-weekly cycle. Not only is this beneficial for our Clients but Nurses find they can then plan their time off more effectively.

Hours of Work

Consultus Nurses usually work between the hours of 08.00-20.00 with a 2-hour break (a 10 hour working day); these hours may change depending on the needs of the Client.

Our Nurses are available for night calls but these should not exceed two per night in the interest of health and safety; Consultus recommends that Nurses should get 8 hours uninterrupted sleep per night. If this is not happening, then our Nurse Consultants will discuss alternative arrangements for night care with the Client or a family representative . Nurses will be paid overtime rates for night calls and any extra hours that are worked over the basic 10-hour day.

Nurses complete a weekly time sheet that the Client or Client’s representative will sign to agree the hours worked. The time sheet is then sent to Head Office every Monday for payment by BACS within five days (also see Nursing Job Requirements).