Position
Description

Very Special Kids believes that all children and young people have the right to a
quality of life, no matter how long or short their life may be.

Position Title: Registered Nurse

Location: Malvern

Department Hospice

Reporting To: Hospice Manager

Main Purpose of

Position:
A Very Special Kids Nurse is responsible for ensuring that clinical practice

and delivery of care is consistent with Very Special Kids and Nursing and

Midwifery Board of Australia Standards. The position is responsible for

providing comprehensive, safe, evidence-based practice to facilitate

optimal care; performing self-assessment of scope of practice and

competence related to assigned responsibilities.

Commitment to providing high quality care to the children and families

accessing Very Special Kids Hospice.

Working effectively as part of a skilled, creative, professional, and

compassionate team.

Number of

Direct Reports

0

Decision Making

Authority

As per Very Special Kids’ Delegation of Authority

Key

Relationships

Internal

- Hospice Manager

- Intake & Assessment Coordinator

- Clinical Nurse Educator

- Hospice and Family Support staff

- Chief Medical Officer and Visiting Medical Officers

- Very Special Kids staff and volunteers

External

- Very Special Kids children/young people and families

- Hospitals and allied health providers

- Community agencies

Key Selection

Criteria

Qualifications/ Education Training and Work Experience

- Registration as a Registered Nurse with AHPRA

- Qualification as a General Nurse

vsk.org.au

- 2 + years of post-graduation Registered Nursing experience

preferably in either paediatrics, palliative care or disability

- Experience working with multidisciplinary teams and volunteers

- Post graduate qualifications/working towards/or preparedness to

work towards same, in palliative care or related field is highly

desirable.

Knowledge and Skills

- Demonstrated commitment to ongoing personal and professional

development, as evidenced in a Continuing Professional Development

(CPD) record/Professional Practice Portfolio (PPP) and self-care.

- Commitment to child-safe work practices and environment

- Teaching/Mentoring of junior staff experience

- Basic life support

- Experience in paediatric hospice care

- Demonstrated experience with nasogastric tubes, tracheostomy care,

gastrostomy care and seizures

- Advanced assessment, intervention, and review skills

- Ability to work with a high level of independence and autonomy

- High level shift organisation and time management skills

- Demonstrated capacity and experience in working collaboratively

with other stakeholders and systems

- Commitment to quality improvement and ongoing evaluation

- Utilisation of IT systems to document and record nursing activities

Other Requirements

- Employees are required to undertake a National Criminal Record

Check and a Working with Children Check prior to commencing

employment.

- Employees are required to maintain a valid Working with Children’s

Check and undertake a National Criminal Record Check every three

years throughout their employment.

- Employees are required to provide and maintain required

immunisations and serology results as part of their employment.

Personal Attributes

- Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills, both

written and verbal, and a proven track record in engaging with a

range of stakeholders.

- Demonstrated ability to work effectively and collaboratively with both

clinical and non-clinical staff.

- Proven ability to work independently and demonstrated initiative in

performing duties.

- Ability to work well under pressure and be flexible to changing

priorities and environment.

Values

All employees are required to demonstrate the Very Special Kids Values:





- Respect - by recognising the individual, welcoming diversity, and

nurturing choice

- Collaboration - by building connections, strengthening relationships,

and partnering

- Community - by creating supportive relationships and a sense of

belonging

vsk.org.au

- Compassion - by being welcoming and showing warmth, hope and

empathy

- Learning - by enhancing and sharing our skills, experiences,

knowledge, and wisdom

- Integrity - by acting ethically, honestly, fairly and with accountability

Key Areas of Responsibility

Clinical Care Key Performance Indicators

Maintain the proficiency to assess, plan, implement,

and evaluate nursing care to meet identified outcomes

on an ongoing basis.

Care is provided in accordance with

Very Special Kids policies and

procedures, practicing within own

scope of practice in accordance with

Nursing and Midwifery Board of

Australia guidelines.

Individual child care plans are

formulated, implemented and

evaluated in collaboration with

parents / care givers to achieve

identified outcomes.

A range of assessment techniques

utilised to collect relevant and

accurate data.

Determines agreed priorities for

care of individuals.

Prioritises workload based on the

individual/shifts needs, acuity and

optimal time for intervention.

Identify and escalate care in an

autonomous environment.

Ongoing assessment processes are

adhered to with participation in

discharge planning to ensure the

provision of timely and appropriate

services.

Lead the delivery of nursing care within the hospice

on shift/support the Nurse in Charge of the shift in the

delivery of nursing care.

Provides appropriate supervision

and delegation of tasks to other

RNs, ENs and Personal Care

Workers (PCW) on shift.

vsk.org.au

Support of Systems Key Performance Indicators

Maintain administrative systems for children ensuring

up to date case notes and statistics are recorded on

client management systems.

Assessments and clinical notes are

provided with relevant statistics in

accordance with agreed time

frames.

Documentation of all care provided

together with concise note taking.

Ensure maintenance of confidential family records. All records maintained in

accordance with the Very Special

Kids Privacy and Confidentiality

policies.

Manage complaints and grievances related to families

and the provision of care.

All complaints and grievances dealt

with in accordance with approved

policy.

Assist in the implementation and execution of audit

schedules.

Participation in audits and

timeframes as required.

Safe practice and incident management Measures are implemented to

evaluate the safety of work

practices with correction and

reporting of non-compliance in

accordance with Very Special Kids

policies and procedures

Reporting of actual or near miss

events are reported in accordance

with Very Special Kids policies and

procedures.

Participate in hospice program activities and outings

as required

Successful implementation of

hospice programs.

Teamwork Key Performance Indicators

Works together with medical, nursing, personal care,

allied health and family support team to provide best

quality care.

Quality of care provided in the

Hospice.

Communicates and collaborates to build positive and

harmonious working relationships across the

organisation.

Effective relationships built with

Fundraising, Corporate, Family

Support teams.

Work collaboratively with Family





Support Practitioners to provide

holistic clinical care for children and

support to their families.

Implements strategies for the

resolution of conflict in a timely

manner.

vsk.org.au

Actively participates in attending

and supporting organisational

meetings and committees as

required.

Career development Key Performance Indicators

Review own work performance, identifying learning

needs and demonstrate planned professional

development.

Active participation in the annual

Performance and Development Plan

and Review (PDP) process.

Demonstrates competency in the

core clinical nursing goals and

demonstration of the Very Special

Kids Values.

Attendance and participation in the Hospice Team

Meetings, in-house training days/sessions, Group

Clinical Supervision sessions to promote learning, self-

development, and reflective practice.

Support volunteers

100% attendance at all mandatory

training and completion of all online

training modules. Annual 1:1

competency face to face

assessment successfully completed.

Minimum of 75% of All Team

meetings attended annually.

Attendance at mandatory In House

Training Days and Group Clinical

Supervision (minimum attendance

75% of meetings).

Active participation in team and

organisational meetings and

activities.

As part of a service delivery team,

provide guidance to Volunteers as

required.

Accept responsibility for the professional development

of delegated personal care workers and mentoring of

student placements.

Undertakes performance reviews

and development (completion of

PDPs and ongoing mentoring) of

PCWs/ENs under supervision.

Acts as a mentor/professional role

model and contributes to the

professional development for other

nurses, PCWs, and students in the

hospice.

vsk.org.au

Quality, Safety, and Improvement

Very Special Kids Employees have a responsibility and accountability to contribute to the

organisation’s commitment to Quality, Safety, and Improvement by:

- Acting in accordance and complying with all relevant Safety and Quality policies and

procedures

- Identifying risks, reporting, and being actively involved in risk mitigation strategies

- Participating in and actively contributing to quality improvement programs

- Complying with the requirements of the National Safety & Quality Health Service

Standards

- Complying with all relevant clinical and/or competency standards

- Complying with the principles of Patient and Family Centred Care that relate to this

position

- Understanding and upholding the Child Safety Standards and associated requirements

Conditions of Service

Hours
1.0 FTE, hours as per roster.

There will be a rostered on-call component.

Classification /

Remuneration

Grade 3A – Year 2

$48.95 base rate per hour; plus penalties, allowances and 12%

superannuation.

In accordance with VSK Nurses and Personal Care Workers

Enterprise Agreement

Salary Package
As per Very Special Kids Nurses and Personal Care Workers

Enterprise Agreement

Tenure
As per contract ie; Permanent full time position available

following the conclusion of a six months probationary period.

General
Employment with Very Special Kids will be subject to a satisfactory

Police Check and Working with Children Check.

Clinical Services staff are also required to provide evidence to

demonstrate vaccination against COVID-19 and seasonal flu

vaccinations.

Privacy Statement: Personal Information may be collected and stored for the purpose

of recruitment and selection. The information will only be used and disclosed for the

primary purpose of its collection. Some exceptions exist. These may be obtained from

the Privacy Officer.

Approvals:

Owner: General Manager Clinical Services

Approved by: General Manager People and Culture

Date of Last update: Match 2026

📌 Registered nurse (Malvern)
🏢 Very Special Kids
📍 Malvern