What Are The Roles And Responsibilities Of A Band 6 Nurse?

"Your team will be looking up to you for help and advice and you should be comfortable with being a good leader and role model for them."

Claire gives a comprehensive overview of what the role of a band 6 nurse could look like based on her first-hand experience, with a dose of encouragement along the way.

Introduction

Are you looking for a band 6 nurse position or maybe you have already been offered a role?

I’m here to give you all the information I can on the role and responsibilities of a band 6 nurse.

As always, a disclaimer: Every area you work in will be different and may expect different requirements from you. It is important you always check the job description and person specification for any role you are going into. However, this should give you an overview of the main parts you will need to know.

Transitioning To Band 6

Firstly, there is no real time frame on when you can apply for a band 6 nurse position. I have seen newly qualified nurses apply after 6 months of working and get it!

I was a newly qualified nurse and went straight into General Practice Nursing (GPN). The idea is, that you start as a band 5 type of role, to get you trained up as a confident GPN and then once you are trained you progress up to a band 6 role with a pay increase to reflect this.

I was given all the training package and support to help me progress within my role to become a competent band 6 GPN. However, all GP’s are independent contractors and not everyone is on the agenda for change and all GP’s will work your training and pay differently to other clinics. It’s a known issue within primary care and hopefully we will see some standardisation across the board one day.

Nevertheless, this is the main tip of the day; always get support and training no matter what role you are in. Given the right support and training will really help you flourish as a nurse.

As a band 6 nurse you will still be following your NMC Code of Conduct at all times.

What Skills Will I Need?

As part of your role, you will be more confident in making autonomous decisions. Furthermore, you will have good leadership skills.

Your team will be looking up to you for help and advice and you should be comfortable with being a good leader and role model for them.

However, I know some people don’t like to think of themselves as a leader and quite often people confuse leadership with management.

Every nurse at every level should be a leader and will be a leader without realising it.

What Does Leadership Mean?

If you are giving health promotion for example, as a way of educating your patient to make better life choices and they follow your advice. Or if you are empowering your patients to make the right choice maybe? This is leadership.

To me, leadership is about encouraging and empowering others to be their best self. They will follow your advice and guidance because they trust you.

As a student nurse, I was a leader (so I was told haha).

Because I loved my General Practice (GP) Placement so much that I had to blog about, share stories on socials and just tell everyone how amazing GP Nurses are. By doing this, I inspired so many people to come into GP Nursing and I raised the profile for GP Nursing as a result.

So, my first piece of advice is, be that leader, be that person people look up to and trust. The NMC Code (2018) states this about leadership:

“25. Provide leadership to make sure people’s wellbeing is protected and to improve their experiences of the health and care system

To achieve this, you must:

25.1 identify priorities, manage time, staff and resources effectively and deal with risk to make sure that the quality of care or service you deliver is maintained and improved, putting the needs of those receiving care or services first

25.2 support any staff you may be responsible for to follow the Code at all times. They must have the knowledge, skills and competence for safe practice; and understand how to raise any concerns linked to any circumstances where the Code has, or could be, broken

Throughout their career, all our registrants will have opportunities to demonstrate leadership qualities, regardless of whether or not they occupy formal leadership positions.”

What do you think?

What Will The Role Entail?

Here are some of the main roles you may have as a band 6 nurse:

• Overseeing a shift with several band 5 nurses / Healthcare Assistants under your instruction

• Delegation to your team members – this is important as we can’t physically do it all ourselves, we must recognise when we are struggling and delegate to the appropriate team member

• Handling situations which may challenge you such as staff shortages and defusing angry situations

• Leading the shift and decision making

• Prioritising and organising your workload

• Clinical supervision / appraisals of staff

• Provide orientation of department for any new staff and students

• Provide support to all clinician and non-clinical staff

• Training and educating staff and students

• Investigating incidents

• Completing audits

• Attending MDT meetings

• Filling out agency time sheets

• Providing holistic care for patients

• Discussing health information with patient families when required

• Communicating with your colleagues, patients, and families at all times

• Ordering of stock such as medications and medical equipment when required

What Will Be My Responsibilities?

Here are some of the main responsibilities you may have as a band 6 nurse:

• Always follow your NMC Code of conduct

• You will be accountable for your own actions within NMC Code of Conduct

• Always act in line with the company / trust values, policies, and procedures

• Always maintain a high standard of care and professionalism

• Always ensure safe practice

• Ongoing Continuous Professional Development (CPD)

• Will compile a personal & professional portfolio (In line with your NMC revalidation every 3 years)

• Encouraging feedback from staff to be able to make change in the workplace

• Maintain effective communication between departments

• Recognise own scope of competence and seek further training and development when needed

• Maintain equality and diversity in the workplace

Essentially you are responsible for your team and patients at all times.

Your Team, Your Patients

A band 6 role is a step up from a band 5 role and you should be confident with autonomy and quick decision making.

Your team will be looking up to you for help and advice and you should be comfortable with being a good leader and role model for them.

For me, a band 6 position is not a ‘management’ or ‘you’re the boss’ type of position. It’s about working with your team to get them to be their best self for the benefit of their patients.

Every nurse at every level should be a leader and will be a leader without realising it.

Every area / department / trust / company will have their own set of roles and responsibilities, and this will completely vary from place to place. For example, within my General Practice (GP) role as a band 6 nurse, I had full autonomy over my days, how my clinics run, and my patients care.

On top of this I had to:

• Ensure protocols were up to date

• Ensure PGD’s were up to date

• Clean my room down between patients

• Stocking up and ordering stock for the clinic

• Making referrals to other departments such as district nurses

• Provide education and training to staff

• I was also a mentor for any students coming into our clinic

• Assess patients and implementing ‘care plans’ for their care such as wounds or asthma management

• Keeping up to date with guidelines and research so I can give evidence-based practice to my patients

I don’t think people realise how much a GP Nurse does! But this is just to show the differences between different areas and what is expected of you.

Always remember to check your local trust / company you are applying to roles and responsibilities on the job description to find out more.

I hope this has given you some insight into what could be expected of you as a band 6 nurse.

I wish you all good luck – You’ve got this!