Gillian McGowan
Irvine,North Ayrshire
Overview
6
6
years of professional experience
3
3
years of post-secondary education
Work history
Staff Nurse
Ayrshire Hospice
Ayr, South Ayrshire
04.2023 - Current
- Co-ordinated specialised palliative care, ensuring dignity and peace in final days.
- Conducting holistic assessments including pain management, skin integrity, cognition and psychosocial needs.
- Providing emotional support to patients, families, and staff during difficult periods.
- Administering controlled drugs to relieve patients' ongoing symptoms and reassessing symptoms frequently to ensure comfort.
- Collaborate and Participate in MDT meetings, advocate for my patients and ensure each patient feels valued, included in key decisions and supported to create a person centred plan they agree to.
- Demonstrating empathy towards each person under my care giving a comforting presence during challenging times.
- Mentoring and motivating students for successful completion of their nursing placements.
- Undertaking additional training to become a skin champion as well as being single nurse trained when it comes to administering medications myself.
Stroke nurse - Ward 3E
Ayrshire & Arran
North ayrshire, Kilmarnock
10.2019 - 04.2023
- Undertook yearly training to perform rapid neurological assessments using the NIHSS scoring tool. This helped identify stroke symptoms quickly.
- Prepared/assisted patients with imaging such as CT/MRI/C-doppler.
- Administration of emergency drugs such as TPA (Alteplase) or other thrombolytic preparations.
- Monitoring vital signs, neurological status, oxygenation and cardiac rhythm as regularly as every 15 minutes post thrombolysis protocol.
- Manage IV's, Oxygen therapy and other routine medications.
- Support swallowing assessments and safe nutrition plans.
- Reinforcing speech and cognitive rehabilitation strategies.
- Encouraging mobility when able and liaising with PT/OT's.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Nursing
BSc in Adult Nursing with Distinction
Ayr, South Ayrshire 09.2016 - 09.2019
Skills
- Communication - clear, concise verbal and written communication skills with the ability to communicate with wider members of the MDT, patients and their families
- Leadership - To delegate tasks effectively
- Advanced Clinical knowledge - Being familiar with protocols, safety standards and IPU specific procedures
- Decision making - Making unit level decisions regarding staffing, admissions and discharges
- Organisational skills - Time management - being able support a team whilst overseeing own workload
- Professional Accountability - Modelling high standards of care and understanding policies and procedures and ensuring compliance Not only this, advocating for staff when required
Timeline
Staff Nurse
Ayrshire Hospice
04.2023 - Current
Stroke nurse - Ward 3E
Ayrshire & Arran
10.2019 - 04.2023
Bachelor of Science - Nursing
BSc in Adult Nursing with Distinction
09.2016 - 09.2019