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Setting: Large provider of residential care, with and without nursing, specialist mental health provision for working age adults, domiciliary care.
When I see a nurse or senior carer I am supporting have a 'lightbulb moment' and can recognise how they can lead quality improvement in their service and influence the outcomes. Also when you hear compliments about the care where people have had a really good experience both in life and in a 'good' death
Lisa
on what brings joy to the role
Overview of current role
I hold professional and clinical oversight of around 55 homes as part of the quality team. This involves data analysis, looking at themes and trends, reviewing root cause analysis and incident reporting, including our digital medication system.
It also means ensuring we have the right equipment and advising on specialist provision. I support recruitment including newly qualified nurses and internationally educated nurses, seeing them through the NMC Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) programme. I go into the home environments to support with leadership development of nurses and senior care assistants. This might include shift planning, Governance, quality assurance, training and development as well as leading and developing forums.
How did I get here
I started my career working in a local hospital for people with a learning disability which encouraged me to apply to do my nurse training. To make sure I was making the right decision I got a job as a fork-lift truck driver for six months in a water company. This confirmed my decision was right and I completed my training to be a learning disability nurse whilst continuing to work in social care.
When I qualified in 1995, I worked in an NHS in a respite care unit and then a learning disability hospital where I stayed until 2001. I fell back into social care due to a car accident which made me in need of a less physical role and became a manager of a residential care home before going back into nursing home care and working nights for a while to suit my lifestyle. Nights soon became more nights and then back to days and promotion to senior sister before returning to nights to work around having a family. After this time, I soon progressed into a Deputy Manager role, before becoming the care home's Registered Manager.
I worked as a Registered Manager here for two years and then moved into a role supporting other home managers. This role became more formal, and I progressed to a role as a 'Turnaround Manager' working in services with difficulties and challenges. From here I knew my passion was around quality and improvement, but I also did various manger roles that supported operational activity before moving into my current role which used to be called a 'Clinical Support Specialist' but now I retain Nurse in my title and I'm in a job I really enjoy. These roles have supported me to develop the knowledge and skills I need in my current role.
Training, knowledge and skills
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sound knowledge of nursing skills and evidence based practice
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understanding of Quality Improvement methodology
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root cause analysis and systems factors
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developing the workforce
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business management
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budget management
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clinical supervision.
Qualifications and education
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registered nurse learning disabilities
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registered managers award
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post graduate certificate in dementia care
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leadership and management
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clinical supervisor.