Nicola Killon

I have been working in a Paediatric Nursing role within the NHS continuously since January 2014. My experience ranges from ward to community nursing, including safeguarding. I am an honest, compassionate and committed individual who behaves with professionalism to gain the trust and confidence of the people I meet on a daily basis. I can form strong, effective relationships quickly and enjoy using this quality to provide both support and excellent care at all times. I have previously been described as positive, approachable and enthusiastic and use these attributes when working with colleagues and the range of agencies involved in caring for children, young people and their families. I have very good interpersonal skills and embrace opportunities to meet and collaborate with new people.

My interest in people was ignited during my Psychology studies and has continued to grow throughout all stages of my career. I place great importance on my continuing professional development and believe that the courses I have completed have equipped me with invaluable skills, such as time-management, communication, decision-making, analytical thinking and problem-solving, that I have been able to transfer into the nursing environment and utilise regularly, in order for the people I work with to feel supported by a knowledgeable and experienced advocate.

The Community Specialist Practitioner (CSP) degree that I completed with a first class result, has changed my approach to my role and I believe I am a confident and proactive practitioner, with high levels of judgement and discretion. For example, when making the decision to refer a child to children's social care, using both a sensitive and assertive approach, as necessary, and also when supporting a young person with self-harming tendencies and suicidal ideation to access the required intervention from Healthy Young Minds, the local CAMHS provision.

As well as the transferable skills already mentioned, my nursing career to date has equipped me with both the ability to work flexibly and under pressure and also with the prioritisation skills necessary to manage a busy and diverse school health caseload effectively.

I have the confidence and competence required to complete a wide range of clinical skills, including the assessment, planning and implementation of care for children with special educational needs and complex social, behavioural and emotional needs. This is with regards to tracheostomy care, gastrostomy care, care of children who may have fluctuating oxygen levels, enteral feeding, administration of rescue medication for patients with epilepsy and support with conditions such as asthma and diabetes.

I have previously completed a Teaching and Assessing module and enjoy working with both students and colleagues, supporting them to develop their knowledge and skills and leading by example in order to guide them to develop valuable attributes, such as commitment, compassion, empathy, flexibility and emotional stability. I am self motivated and can motivate others, so work well autonomously and also as part of a team. Evidence of this is the positive feedback I received in my post as a Special Needs School Nurse where I worked autonomously for the majority of the time. This was in the form of feedback from my line manager, about my high levels of organisation and efficiency, as well as from teachers and parents who I worked closely with on a daily basis, about my motivation, patience and dedication to provide an excellent standard of service.

In my current role as a Special Needs School Nurse, I manage a caseload of 280 children with a range of special educational needs and disabilities and I have developed the skills necessary to ensure that these children are safe in their school environment. An example of my ability to assess a clinically unwell patient is when a child in the profound and multiple learning difficulties class deteriorated quickly, during a seizure, and I was able to assess him efficiently as being in respiratory distress and ensured he was taken to hospital in an ambulance to receive the necessary emergency treatment. Following this, I also worked closely with the palliative care team to contribute to an advanced care plan for the child. Whilst I currently have exposure to children with clinical care needs including tracheostomies and gastrostomies and with conditions including asthma, diabetes and epilepsy, since relocating from Manchester to Hathersage, I would like to refresh and build on my clinical skills by providing nursing care to children in a range of settings and feel that working for NHSP will help me to do this.

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