“Life in all its fullness” John 10:10
JOB DESCRIPTION – PRINCIPAL NURSING OFFICER
Grade:
Essential qualifications:
C
Registered Nurse and Midwife
Accountable to:
Reports to:
Sits on:
Medical Superintendent
Management Committee
Board of Governors
Staff accountable to you:
All Nursing staff + Midwives (including auxiliary staff)
MAIN AIMS OF THE POST
At Church of Uganda Kisiizi Hospital we expect the nursing care of patients to be of the highest achievable
standard and be holistic in nature, characterised by compassion and providing for the physical, socioeconomic, psychological and spiritual needs of the people we serve. Kisiizi is committed to continuous
improvement in standards of care and to continuous learning for all staff and the hospital as a whole.
1. You will provide vision, leadership and direction for all nursing staff to move Kisiizi Hospital towards
its goals.
2. You have continuing responsibility for the effective management of all nursing staff (whether you are
actually on duty or not), maximising the skills and resources available.
3. You will be a role model for your staff and you are expected to lead, motivate, encourage and
support them and to develop their knowledge and skills.
4. As a member of the Management Committee and Board of Governors, you will advise about nursing
services and contribute to the corporate decisions of the Board. You will attend meetings of the
Board of Governors and report to them as required.
Important relationships
Good clinical care involves teamwork. You are expected to maintain effective working relationships with all
other staff and in particular to liaise and cooperate with the Principal Nursing Tutor and medical staff.
THE DUTIES OF THE POST
MANAGERIAL
As a senior manager at Kisiizi Hospital you have professional duties as follows.
1. You must respect the views of patients, relatives, other staff and the public.
2. You will promote teamwork and a ‘can do’ approach for finding solutions to problems.
3. You will give information promptly to anyone entitled to receive it about your work and those whom
you manage and your plans for the future.
4. You must ensure there are good channels of communication between you and those you manage.
5. You must be honest and act with integrity. You may not offer or accept inducements in the course of
your work.
6. You will safeguard the money and resources of the hospital and deploy the resources available to
you in an efficient, effective and timely manner to achieve the best value for money.
7. You accept responsibility for your own work and for the performance of the staff you manage.
8. You will ensure that your staff arrive for work on time and are not absent from the workplace
without your permission.
9. You must ensure that patients and staff are protected from discrimination. You will ensure that
favouritism has no place in relations with your staff.
10. You will investigate complaints, accidents and errors in your area of work promptly, fairly and
thoroughly and take action to improve working arrangements and, when appropriate, arrange
training/retraining to prevent errors from happening again.
11. You must ensure your staff have a safe working environment and know the steps they should take to
protect themselves from danger.
12. You are responsible for your own professional development and the development of the staff you
manage.
You are responsible for nursing workforce planning; ensuring that Kisiizi Hospital has the nursing staff it
needs to carry out its planned activities.
You have specific managerial responsibility for the smooth running of the outpatient department, to ensure
that waiting time is kept to a minimum. In this role, you will liaise with the Medical Superintendent regarding
the role of doctors in achieving these aims.
You are responsible for receiving the contents of containers, recruiting helpers and ensuring that the
contents are fairly and speedily distributed.
You have managerial responsibility for the hospital laundry and its staff.
PROFESSIONAL
You must ensure that the nurses you manage understand and carry out their professional duties, as follows.
As a qualified nurse or midwife, you are personally accountable for your practice. This means that you are
answerable for your actions and omissions. You are also a role model for others so how you do your job will
affect how other people behave. In caring for patients, you must observe the Uganda Code of Conduct and
Ethics for Health Workers and in particular
‘A health worker shall hold the health, safety and interest of the patient or client to be of first
consideration and shall render due respect to each patient or client at all times and in all circumstances’
In addition, you must
 Relate to patients or clients without any form of discrimination and focus only on their needs.
 Ensure that the nursing record for the patient is a legible and accurate account, providing clear
evidence of the care planned, the decisions made, treatment given, the care delivered and the
information shared.
 Ensure that, when you delegate care delivery to others who are not qualified nurses, the needs of
patients are met. You remain accountable for the appropriateness of the delegation, for ensuring
that the person who does the work is able to do it and that you adequately supervise and support
them.
 Deliver care based on current evidence and best practice.
 Know the limits of your professional competence; only undertake duties for which you are trained
and competent to carry out. You need to show good judgment about seeking help and advice.
 Act to identify, minimise and report any risk to patients from any source.
 Use every moment of your shift for the benefit of patients or, when time permits, to develop your
own skills and those of others.
You will make unscheduled visits by day and night to all nursing facilities to satisfy yourself that
 Nursing care is being properly planned, implemented and monitored.
 Nursing records are properly kept.
 Nurses know about their patients.
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Nursing observations are being properly carried out.
Procedures are done according to protocols.
That patients are satisfied with their nursing care,
and take any necessary action in discussion with the Nurse in Charge of the department.
EDUCATIONAL
You are responsible for your own professional development.
You are also responsible for creating opportunities for the professional development of all your staff.
You have a particular responsibility to ensure that all the nursing facilities of the hospital and outreach are
available to the Principal Nursing Tutor, her staff and students for teaching purposes and that your staff
willingly give their time to share their knowledge and skills.
PERSONNEL
You are responsible for the personnel function for your staff including
 Job descriptions
 Recruitment, appointments and staff induction
 Probation assessments and job appraisals
 Grievances and disciplinary matters
 Annual leave, sick and maternity leave
 Duty rotas
 Training and staff development
 Maintaining personnel records.
You must ensure that those who act up for you in your absence know the responsibilities of your role.
Your own job appraisal will be done with the Medical Superintendent.
ALTERING THE JOB DESCRIPTION
This job description is intended as a general guide to your duties but cannot cover everything you may be
required to do. As circumstances change, you or the Medical Superintendent may wish to change this job
description. Whilst you are in post, it can only be done by mutual agreement.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE
This post is subject to the terms and conditions of service as set by the management and board that are
available on request.
Updated 2013