Job description and selection criteria

Job title Research Nurse

Division Medical Sciences

The George Institute for Global Health/ Nuffield Department of Department Population Health

Location New Richards Building, Old Road Campus, Headington, Oxford

Grade and salary Grade 7: £29,837 - £36,661 p.a.

Hours Full time (part-time considered)

Contract type Fixed-term, 1 year

Reporting to Dr Kazem Rahimi

Vacancy reference 112109

Introduction

The University The University of Oxford is a complex and stimulating organisation, which enjoys an international reputation as a world-class centre of excellence in research and teaching. It employs over 10,000 staff and has a student population of over 22,000.

Most staff are directly appointed and managed by one of the University’s 130 departments or other units within a highly devolved operational structure - this includes over 6,500 ‘academic-related’ staff (postgraduate research, computing, senior library, and administrative staff) and over 2,700 ‘support’ staff (including clerical, library, technical, and manual staff). There are also over 1,600 academic staff (professors, readers, lecturers), whose appointments are in the main overseen by a combination of broader divisional and local faculty board/departmental structures. Academics are generally all also employed by one of the 38 constituent colleges of the University as well as by the central University itself.

Our annual income in 2011/12 was £1,016.1m. Oxford is one of Europe's most innovative and entrepreneurial universities: income from external research contracts exceeds £409m p.a., and more than 80 spin-off companies have been created.

For more information please visit www.ox.ac.uk/staff/about_the_university.html

Medical Sciences Division The Medical Sciences Division is an internationally recognized centre of excellence for biomedical and clinical research and teaching. We are the largest academic division in the University of Oxford.

World-leading programmes, housed in state-of-the-art facilities, cover the full range of scientific endeavour from the molecule to the population. With our NHS partners we also foster the highest possible standards in patient care.

For more information please visit: http://www.ox.ac.uk/divisions/medical_sciences.html

Nuffield Department of Population Health The newly established University Department of Population Health provides an excellent environment for multi-disciplinary research and teaching. The Head of Department is Professor Rory Collins. It is one of the largest departments of the University. There is a staff complement of over 550, and an annual turnover of almost £50 million. The Department has over 60 postgraduate research students and a taught MSc course with 25 students per year. The Department contains world-renowned population health research groups, including the Clinical Trial Service Unit and Epidemiology Studies Unit (CTSU), the Cancer Epidemiology Unit (CEU), the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit (NPEU) and other groups working on public health, health economics, ethics and health record linkage.

The wide range of opportunities for research within the department includes access to very large data-sets from clinical trials, meta-analyses and epidemiology cohorts. These research programmes are well supported by scientific teams which include statisticians, analyst programmers and research coordinators, and by excellent computing and laboratory facilities.

Teaching is provided for undergraduates reading Medicine and Public Health doctors and specialists in training.

For more information please visit: www.ndph.ox.ac.uk

The George Institute for Global Health at the University of Oxford The George Institute for Global Health at the University of Oxford has been established as a joint venture between The George Institute for Global Health (headquarters in Sydney, Australia) and the Oxford Martin School of the University of Oxford. It is situated within the Nuffield Department of Population Health of the Medical Sciences Division at Oxford University in the United Kingdom.

The vision of the founders is to create the world’s pre-eminent translational research facility devoted to global health. The George Institute at Oxford is building a major new program of research and development focused in large part, on the health priorities of disadvantaged populations, including those in China, India and other large emerging economies. These countries, while geographically and culturally disparate, have many shared healthcare needs, such as practical solutions for the control of cardiovascular risk and chronic health conditions, the prevention and management of road injury and other trauma and the provision of rehabilitation services.

In an effort to find such solutions, The George Institute at Oxford is working with partners around the world to establish four complementary streams of research and development. The first, entitled Healthcare Innovation, strives to develop innovative approaches to the

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delivery of essential affordable health services for management of common and chronic conditions. The second, entitled Affordable Healthcare Technologies, focuses on facilitating the development of effective affordable health care products tailor-made for the world’s major populations, including those of China and India. The remaining two streams of work focus specifically on developing collaborative research between the University of Oxford and colleagues in China and India respectively.

In each of these four areas of endeavour, the specific activities undertaken involve substantial end-user input to ensure that the Institute’s research projects answer priority questions of the funders, providers and consumers of healthcare in relevant regions. In addition, each of the streams seeks academic input from a wide range of disciplines than has normally characterised biomedical research and development: specifically, we involve experts in social sciences, economic sciences and engineering sciences from a range of countries including China, India and Iran. Finally, each stream includes a capacity development program, the major goal of which is to support the development of expertise in healthcare innovation for the populations of the world’s major emerging economies.

Oxford Martin School The Oxford Martin School was founded as the James Martin 21st Century School at the University of Oxford in 2005 through the vision and generosity of Dr James Martin. The School is a unique, interdisciplinary research initiative addressing key global future challenges. The School is working on the frontiers of knowledge in four broad areas: health and medicine; energy and environment; technology and society; and ethics and governance. Institutes, Programmes and individuals (known as James Martin Fellows) that receive funding are members of the Oxford Martin School. Together they constitute a unique, interdisciplinary community of scholars who collectively are tackling the challenges of the 21st century. www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk

Ethos The George Institute at Oxford aims to undertake research and develop capacity in an effort to improve the health of disadvantaged and vulnerable populations worldwide. Its focus is on innovative strategies that are affordable and accessible to a wide cross-section of communities for whom such strategies may be worthwhile. The Institute seeks to recruit staff who share this interest and wish to pursue it in a mutually supportive and caring environment. We strongly believe in the pursuit of excellence but we also believe that this is best achieved if our staff enjoy their work and the fellowship it provides.

For further information please visit: http://www.georgeinstitute.ox.ac.uk

Overview of the role

SUPPORT-HF (Seamless User-centred Proactive Provision of Risk-stratified Treatment for Heart Failure) is an innovative programme of research aimed at improving the care of patients with heart failure in the community by using integrated remote monitoring systems.

SUPPORT-HF 1 is the development phase of the programme of work, which aims to develop a user-friendly system of home monitoring and management in patients with heart failure. In this ongoing study, participants measure their vital signs, weight and report symptoms by using a hand-held Tablet PC with a touch screen. The data they upload is sent to a secure server where clinicians and other researchers can review it.

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The programme of work is being carried out in collaboration with the University Departments of the Nuffield Department of Population Health and Biomedical Engineering.

We are now looking to appoint a Clinical Research Nurse with relevant clinical experience to assist with further development of the system in preparation for a planned large-scale randomised trial. The post-holder will take on a key role in a research programme as part of a multidisciplinary research team (cardiologists, engineers, social scientists) to develop and evaluate the home monitoring and management system.

The research nurse will assist with participant recruitment for this study. This will involve screening, identification, initial contact, telephone calls, consent during home visits, follow up administration and calls for the study which has been adopted into the CLRN portfolio. Working closely with the Principal Investigator, the successful candidate will support the development of drug titration algorithms and will assist with piloting of safety algorithms, which include monitoring of blood tests.

Training in relevant research procedures and methodologies will be offered. However, research background in the NHS is highly desirable.

You will work with an interdisciplinary team of researchers nationally and internationally. The focus of this post is research however it may be appropriate for limited relevant clinical duties to be undertaken in an area of interest and relevance in order to maintain skills and understanding of current practice. This would be managed through an honorary contract with either the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust or the Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust.

This post is partly funded by the CLRN and is available for one year (full-time or part-time) in the first instance. Opportunities for expansion of the role and extension of the post are currently being explored.

The successful applicant will report to the Deputy Director of the Institute, Dr Kazem Rahimi, and is expected to start as soon as possible.

Responsibilities / Duties

 To work as the lead research nurse in a multi-centre and multi-disciplinary research study.  To evaluate study eligibility and seek informed consent of potential participants and their carers as per protocol (consenting will usually take place in participants’ homes).  To train and support study participants (and frequently their carers/partners) to use the SUPPORT-HF tele-monitoring equipment.  To monitor user experiences with the tele-monitoring system and report these to the research team so that the system can be iteratively improved according to users’ needs and capacity.  To liaise with potential research nurses from other sites to support efficient and safe participant recruitment  To work with other clinical members of the team to develop a self-management algorithm, including drug titration.  To attend at regular internal SUPPORT-HF meetings and to liaise with other research staff and clinical staff.  Assist with organisation and administration of stakeholder meetings and other aspects of study administration.  Contribute to the preparation of the results of research and present as posters or scientific presentations at meetings and conferences as appropriate.

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Other Responsibilities / Duties Undertake any other reasonable duties appropriate to the grade and role that may be assigned by the directors to meet changing demands.

For an informal discussion about the post please contact Dr Kazem Rahimi, Deputy Director (01865 617201 or [email protected])

Selection criteria The successful applicant will be expected to meet the following criteria:

Essential  Registered RGN/RN nurse in the UK with at least five years post-registration experience.  Experience of working clinically with patients with heart failure, ideally in the community.  Proven aptitude and ability to engage with patients and their relatives and possess well- developed communication skills.  To have excellent verbal and written communication skills.  To be reliable and meticulous in the gathering and recording of data.  Excellent management and organizational skills including the ability to work autonomously.  IT literacy including the ability to use standard office programmes  The ability to accommodate a flexible work pattern and travel within the Thames Valley and Cotswolds area.  A full current driving licence.

Desirable  Experience of working as a research nurse or participation in clinical research  Interest in healthcare management, service delivery and telemedicine  Experience of, or qualifications in, teaching or training  Possession of a BSc or BA qualification.  Good Clinical Practice training

How to apply If you consider that you meet the selection criteria, click on the Apply Now button on the ‘Job Details’ page and follow the on-screen instructions to register as a user. You will then be required to complete a number of screens with your application details, relating to your skills and experience. When prompted, please provide details of two referees and indicate whether we can contact them at this stage. You will also be required to upload a CV and supporting statement which explains how you meet the selection criteria for the post. The supporting statement should explain your relevant experience which may have been gained in employment, education, or you may have taken time away from these activities in order to raise a family, care for a dependant, or travel for example. Your application will be judged solely on the basis of how you demonstrate that that you meet the selection criteria outlined above and we are happy to consider evidence of transferable skills or experience which you may have gained outside the context of paid employment or education.

Please save all uploaded documents to show your name and the document type.

All applications must be received by midday on the closing date stated in the online advertisement.

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Information for Priority Candidates

A priority candidate is a University employee who is seeking redeployment owing to the fact that he or she has been advised that they are at risk of redundancy, or on grounds of ill- health/disability. Priority candidates are issued with a redeployment letter by their employing departments and this letter must be attached to any application they submit.

The priority application date for this post is noon on Monday 24th March 2014.

Full details of the priority application process are available at: www.admin.ox.ac.uk/personnel/end/red/redproc/prioritycandidate

Should you experience any difficulties using the online application system, please email [email protected]

To return to the online application at any stage, please click on the following link www.recruit.ox.ac.uk

Please note that you will be notified of the progress of your application by automatic e-mails from our e-recruitment system. Please check your spam/junk mail regularly to ensure that you receive all e-mails.

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