Tell us a little about you?
I qualified in 1993, with a Diploma of Higher Education in Paediatric Nursing at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington. I then later went on to gain a Bachelor of Science Honours as a Community Specialist Practitioner.
It was during my training that I developed an interest in Children’s Community Nursing while on placement with the local team. Family centred care was a constant aspect of clinical practice while children and families were admitted to hospital. However, I felt it was only when you worked with them in their home environment that you could truly understand the impact of the condition/illness on their everyday life, and how this may alter health outcomes.
How do you see the role?
I am the Matron for the ‘Evelina at home’ service. This encompasses the Children’s Hospital at Home and Community Nursing team for Lambeth and Southwark. The teams manage acute/short-term and complex childhood conditions, as well as palliative care (specialized medical care for people with serious illnesses) within the community setting.
I am a passionate advocate for treating children and young families as close to home as possible. This role allows me to support the clinical nursing team to develop and provide a service for children in another aspect of care. Specifically, enabling children and young people with long-term conditions to have the added support and education that they need to self-manage their conditions with the support of their local GP surgery.
What is your hope for the CYPHP programme?
In my practice working as a Children’s Community Nurse, it is anecdotally evident the huge benefits that can be gained from managing children, young people, and families closer to home. This model empowers the nurse to adopt a truly holistic approach within the primary care setting. My hope for CYPHP is that through a rigorous research process it will provide the scientific evidence to support this theory.
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