Nurse – Referrals

Main Purpose:

Providing nursing care, treatment and follow-up of patients, according to doctors’ prescriptions, protocols applied in service and universal hygiene standards/precautions, in order to ensure the quality and continuity of care for the targeted population.

Accountabilities:

• Knowing, promoting, implementing and following up the universal hygiene standards/ precautions, bio-hazard prevention and infection control, security rules and other protocols and procedures in the medical premises and ensuring high standards of hygiene of his/her working environment. Respecting medical secrets and confidentiality at all times.
• Organizing and carrying out care and treatments according to medical prescriptions, and assisting during consultations, daily rounds and other medical procedures. Participating in health education of the patient (and family) when necessary. 
• Identifying Sexually Gender Based Violence victims and referring them to the medical team so they can receive the necessary treatment. Knowing and is aware of the importance and appropriate use of the Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) Kit
• Ensuring patients are properly received and installed and that those with lack of autonomy are assisted, especially regarding their feeding, personal hygiene, movements and comfort. For ER and OPD nurse, ensuring triage of patients in waiting areas, wards or during emergencies, detecting the priority acute/emergency cases,  carrying out first aid care and referring them to the doctor when necessary
• Sending material to be sterilized and recuperates it from sterilization
• Carrying out admission, surveillance and follow-up of patients (i.e. assessment of the evolution of their state of health and the identification of any emergency situation or deterioration
• Carrying and supervising administrative procedures and documents (fill in patient’s files, forms, consumptions, statistics, registers, health files, etc.), ensuring an appropriate written/oral handover, and reporting any problematic situations and cases that may arise. Participating in data collection and keeping doctors/supervisors informed .
• Participating in the department-related pharmacy and medical equipment control and maintenance (quality and its functioning, storage conditions, follow-up of expired drugs inventories, stock takes of medicines and material at every team changeover ensuring no material is taken out of nursing area/wards without prior authorisation, etc.) 
• Perform cleaning and minor maintenance for  biomedical equipment used. Fol-lowing the user manual and  protocols and alert supervisor in case of malfunctioning. 
• Supervising and training nurse-aids, nutritional assistants, cleaners and other related staff under his/her supervision, ensuring teamwork and adherence to all appropriate protocols and procedures.

Specific Context:

• Systematically follow up on clinical and multi-sectoral referrals to ensure service uptake and address any barriers, with the aim of improving patient outcomes and quality of life.
• Conducting social assessments, identifying the social support needs of patients, including legal, protection, shelter/housing, financial/vocational, food security, and access to medical and psychosocial support services beyond the project intervention scope.
• Supporting the provision of comprehensive care to patients and their families, by actively coordinating their work with the other members of the MSF multidisciplinary team (eg. medical, MHPSS) and linking with multi-sectoral services such as protection, safety, security, legal, justice, education, and livelihood.
• Providing direct social support based on social assessments and facilitating referrals to evaluated external resources. Provide systematic follow up care regarding attendance of clinical appointments, and following up on referrals made to relevant multi-sectoral services aimed at improving the quality of life of patients. Screen and monitor referred cases throughout the referral pathway, identify bottlenecks or inefficiencies, and propose improvements or adaptations to the line manager and relevant partners.
• Participating in the creation and maintenance of any material needed for the activities of social workers, including facilities and equipment in order to ensure continuity.
• Maintain updated mapping of available formal and informal support services (including community-based resources) and assess their quality and accessibility. Report identified gaps and suggest options to fill them.
• Report concerns, barriers, or system weaknesses to the line manager, propose feasible solutions, and contribute to the continuous improvement of the referral and social support system.
• Ensure effective communication and collaboration with service providers, medical focal points, and partners assisting populations, to maintain a functional and coordinated referral network.
• Provide support at triage and ensure temporary coverage of the medical referral nurse role when operationally required.
• Maintaining records, statistics, files, and reports on all referral activities and follow up care either provided by MSF or other support services. Identifying gaps in the available services and with the team prioritizing and developing plans following the objectives of MSF.
• Engaging in regular supervision meetings with MSF line manager and functional manager.