Family Integrated Care Senior Sister/Charge Nurse - NICU

Published: Published today

North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) have merged as of 1st July 2026 to become Bristol NHS Foundation Trust. This creates an exciting future that brings together the best of both organisations. As a single, strong and sustainable organisation, we will not only be able to deliver better outcomes for our patients and fairer care for our population, but it will also provide greater opportunities for our people.

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Job overview

An exciting new role for NICU Family Integrated Care lead has arisen for an enthusiastic, forward thinking Nurse/Midwife with previous Band 6 experience in a clinical NICU setting. The postholder will fulfil a key role within the unit and will ensure that Family Integrated Care ethos is embedded within the service. They will play a key role in optimising the clinical environment using a Family Integrated Care (Ficare) framework such as BAPM Framework for Practice, providing resources for staff, parents and their families. They will collaborate with AHP teams, nurse education teams, clinical psychology leads, chaplaincy teams and infant feeding liaison on Ficare education and training. The post holder will show leadership in the management of consistency of practice, high standards of care, innovative practice with a focus on family care, patient safety and as a subject-matter expert for staff and parents throughout the family journey.

You will be part of an MDT working within a level 3 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit within the Southwest Neonatal Network serving the northern part of the network. The unit has 32 cots comprising of 8 intensive care, 8 high dependency and 16 special care cots.

To ensure that nursing practice is contemporary, the role will include a clinical shift once a week, supporting the NICU roster. A minimum of 34.5 hours over 4 days per week will be considered.

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To collaborate and work in partnership to promote, support and assess a Ficare culture across all aspects of neonatal care. This includes liaison with the local neonatal and maternity services (LMNS); community neonatal, maternity, and paediatric services; network neonatal and maternity team, health visiting, social services; and national groups where necessary to achieve National/local guidelines and accreditation.

Ensure the service has a written philosophy of Ficare and all staff are fully aware of the standards required
To initiate and educate around the principles of family integrated care to all care givers
Work alongside infant feeding leads, lactation Consultants to support the unit in maintaining UNICEF Baby Friendly Accreditation
To support in the achievement of Ficare international, national accreditations
Collaborate with nurse education teams to promote and deliver Ficare teaching strategies
To educate the family and staff members to understand the baby’s psychological and behavioural cues during the routine medical and nursing ward rounds
Participate in relevant Network meetings and MDT groups to represent your local unit and ensure there is a good communication feedback mechanism in place within the neonatal unit

Working for our organisation

Bristol NHS Foundation Trust brings together more than 28,000 staff to deliver over 160 clinical services across thirteen hospital locations, operating from three main sites at Southmead, Bristol city centre and Weston.

With an annual turnover of £2.3 billion, we are now one of the largest NHS trusts in the United Kingdom. Our hospitals are spread across Bristol and Weston, join us and you can enjoy the very best of both worlds; city living within a stone’s throw of the countryside or beside the seaside, both with easy access to all that the South West has to offer. 

Bristol NHS Foundation Trust values all people as individuals. As an equal opportunities employer actively working towards a diverse workforce we aim to recruit and retain a workforce which represents the rich diversity of the local population at all levels and are committed to designing our services around the needs of individual patients and those around them. Anonymous information will be used from your application in order to ensure we’re meeting our pledge.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Work closely with all the neonatal nursing, medical, Clinical Psychology (CP), and AHP team along with other disciplines in the hospital, community and wider Network who provide services for the baby and family during their neonatal stay. This includes ODN Parent Engagement Leads, Parent Advisory Group (PAG) AHP and CP Network leads, and Care Coordinators. They will also need to work closely with the families at all stages of this journey and afterwards to ensure their voices are heard, represented, and integrated into all service development. This will contribute to the provision of a high standard of care which can be accessed by all families
Collaborate with Discharge Coordinators, repatriation link nurses and Outreach teams to promote and enable early discharge and timely repatriation
Build and maintain relationships with Network, local neonatal psychology and community- based services to help facilitate timely and appropriate referrals for individuals and families
With the MDT lead on developing clear guidelines, signposting documents, and referral pathways
Supporting the development of parent engagement in the service
Proactively participate in relevant groups and meetings to promote a FIC approach in all forums e.g., handovers, safety huddles, audit, governance, and staff meetings
To develop the practice of family focused care and measure achievements and outcome improvements by undertaking regular auditing of the nursing care quality indicators and parents experience
Act as a strong advocate embedding the ethos of ‘parents as partners in care’ –empowering staff to educate and support parents to be fully involved in provision of care and decision-making.

For full information of job description and role responsibilities please see the job description and supplementary evidence documents attached

We hope that you will decide to join us and become part of this exciting journey, helping us to shape our future together.

· As an equal opportunities employer actively working towards a diverse workforce we aim to recruit and retain a workforce which represents the rich diversity of the local population at all levels and are committed to designing our services around the needs of individual patients and those around them. Anonymous information will be used from your application to ensure we’re meeting our pledge.

· The Trust is committed to investing in and caring for all our staff. We will support you in maintaining and improving your health and wellbeing, as well as your career development through management and training support - developing exceptional people for exceptional careers.

· BFT is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults.

· To comply with Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016 all applicants must be able to speak fluent English to an appropriate standard which will be assessed at Interview.

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· The Trust uses electronic new starter forms on Trac to collect personal details. Information collected is securely stored and used to set up the employee record on the ESR HR system.

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IMPORTANT:

Please note that if you apply for a position with this Trust, you may be contacted via Trac or via email. This includes invites for job interviews. We therefore recommend that you regularly check your Trac account and email accounts. We may also contact you by texting the mobile number, if provided, on the application form.

Due to the high number of applications that are received for some posts we may close this vacancy before the advertised closing date. Therefore, please apply for this post as soon as you can, if you are interested and you meet the requirements of the Person Specification

Only those candidates who clearly demonstrate how they meet the person specification will be shortlisted for this job.

As a guide interviews should usually take place within 3 weeks of the closing date.

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