Joanna Mitham

Working as part of the Community Nursing team I am responsible for delivering patient care, support and completing ongoing assessments for a range of adult patients and their families. I am keen to learn and develop new skills and have completed all mandatory training as well as attended courses that I feel would benefit me and my patients. My main duties include:

• Establishing a rapport with patients, fostered trust and cooperation.
• Delivering compassionate care and easing patient and family anxieties
• Ensuring continuity of care by maintaining accurate records.
• Working with carers offering them support and advice for better support at home.
• Administering medications to manage symptoms effectively and maintaining MAR charts
• Developing personalised care plans to enhance patient recovery.
• Actively participating in professional development activities to stay updated on latest practices.
• Maintained confidentiality in all aspects of nursing practice.
• Managed patient care for improved health outcomes.
• Providing health education to promote community well-being and sign-posting to other services available
• Assisted families with end-of-life care decisions

After completing an Apprenticeship Degree in Adult Nursing I started working on an Emergency Assessment Unit caring for a range of patients with acute and chronic physical and mental health conditions.

This position offered me the opportunity to learn about the operations of running a ward as well as developing knowledge and understanding of a wide variety of conditions.

As well as caring for patients on the ward I also took on the role of Staff Wellbeing Champion offering support and guidance to my colleagues. This role allowed me the opportunity to work with the Senior Leadership Team providing them with feedback and implementing support and training where required. I produced a monthly newsletter signposting to various different support networks that were available. For this role I was nominated and received a You Made a Difference Award.

My main responsibilities were:

• Improved patient comfort by providing expert bedside care.
• Administered medication for pain management and symptom control, this included preparing IV medications and co-signing controlled drugs
• Handled emergency situations calmly
• Collaborated with multidisciplinary team to enhance patient care.
• Provided compassionate emotional support to patients and families.
• Updated patient records to ensure accurate documentation.
• Identified early warning signs of deteriorating health through monitoring and working with my colleagues when concerns were raised
• Coordinated with pharmacy staff ensuring timely delivery of medicines.
• Assisted the Nurse in Charge with discharge planning and ensuring patients were discharged appropriately.
• Managed wound dressings, promoting healing and preventing infection.
• Assessed, planned and implemented treatments prioritising patient wellbeing.
• Mentored student and junior nurses, building confidence and competence.

I worked in the Endoscopy Department as a Healthcare Assistant and was involved in supporting procedures in theatre and working in the Recovery Ward caring for patients after their endoscopy. Here my responsibilities were:

• Ensuring that all equipment was ready and available for a variety of endoscopic procedures
• Assisting with therapeutic procedures including taking biopsies
• Updating patient records throughout the procedure including the recording of medication administration
• Monitoring patient vital signs and alerting doctors and nurses to any changes
• Manging patient airway during gastroscopic procedures
• Cleaning theatre between patients ensuring all infection control protocols were followed
• Monitoring patients post procedure and assisting with safe and efficient discharge
• Raising concerns to Senior Team

Young Enterprise is a charity working with young people providing entrepreneurship and careers training.

My role was to engage with local and national businesses and introduce them to volunteering opportunities with schools in their areas. This opportunities included mentoring, supporting training, fundraising and organising events.

I was also responsible for working with schools in the area to provide training opportunities for students from primary school through to further education.