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

- 2 + years of post-graduation Registered Nursing experience

preferably in either paediatrics, palliative care or disability

- Experience working with multidisciplinary teams and volunteers

vsk.org.au

- 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.

Guiding Principles





- We offer compassionate, individualised care for families across their

entire journey

- Our approach is forward thinking, positive and authentic

- We collaborate to deliver the best support for families

- We are purpose driven and act with integrity, respect and kindness

Key Areas of Responsibility

vsk.org.au

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 childcare 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.

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.

vsk.org.au

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.

Actively participates in attending and

supporting organisational meetings and

committees as required.

Professional 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.

100% attendance at all mandatory

training and completion of all online

training modules. Annual 1:1

competency face to face assessment

successfully completed.

vsk.org.au

Support volunteers

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 skilled

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.

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 Child Safety and Wellbeing

Framework and associated requirements

Conditions of Service

Hours
Full time and Part time/ up to 3 FTE available

There will be a rostered on-call component.

Classification /

Remuneration

Grade 3A – Year 2

$52.13 base rate per hour; plus penalties, allowances and 12%

superannuation.

In accordance with VSK Nurses and Personal Care Workers

Enterprise Agreement 2024- 2026

vsk.org.au

Salary Package
As per Charity, Aged Care and Disability Services - $15,900 +

$2,650 (Meal Entertainment) = $18,550

Tenure
As per contract ie; 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.

Owner: General Manager Clinical Services

Approved by: General Manager People and Culture

Date of Last update: August 2026

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