Victoria Harding

I am a dedicated and compassionate nurse with almost 10 years of nursing experience. I am highly focused on providing the best possible care for patients. I am organised and have excellent time management skills meaning that I work well under pressure and can manage the needs of individual patients effectively. I pride myself on my professionalism and carrying out every duty to the highest standards, resulting in patient confidence and trust. My previous employment pre-nursing includes working in Nursing homes with elderly clients and with young adults with learning disabilities. Both jobs provided me with some of the essential skills needed to embark on my nurse training in 2009. I have also been part of the British Superbike medical team, providing high level pre-hospital care for acute trauma to injured riders and members of the public. During my nursing career I have learnt many skills which are constantly evolving due to the nature of working in a specialist hospital and acute community sector. Whilst working in the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Admission unit, I was responsible for managing groups of patients waiting for a variety of surgeries. I had to organise pre-operative care, ensuring that patients were prepared for theatre. I was responsible for discussing each patient’s pre and post-operative needs and answer important questions they had about their surgery. This knowledge was gained whilst working in ADOS and in Theatres. It was important to pay attention to every patient and reassure them with the correct information. I was able to plan patients discharge after discussing the patient’s condition with the rest of the MDT, including the gathering and upkeep accurate results of the patients’ condition and investigations. I am equally confident working as an induvial practitioner or within a team, and on several occasions, I have been required in my current role to run the unit and manage agency staff. During my career it has been an essential part of my role to ensure I can communicate with all members of the MDT. Including the sometimes-stressful environment of Theatres or ensuring safe transfer of patients to and from the Emergency Department or delegating tasks to HCA’s. Whilst working in a Nurse-led Minor Injuries Unit over the last 7 years, I have cared for a diverse group of patients from different cultures and back grounds, sometimes in very unpredictable situations, I pride myself on being friendly, approachable and empathetic something that helps enormously when dealing with children and understandably anxious parents. We work within a small team daily; however, we work as autonomous practitioners and have accountability for our own patients from admission to discharge. As Emergency Nurse Practitioner I have developed and refined multi-emergency skills. This includes assessment and management of acutely sick or injured patients. I have developed practical skills, including X-ray interpretation, wound management and suturing, removal of foreign body, ophthalmology, Minor trauma and head injuries. I work in unscheduled care which requires an ability to recognise my scope of practice and refer patients on when necessary. A quintessential part of my role requires a knowledge and ability to provide and encourage health promotion to patients of all ages and social backgrounds. This can include smoking cessation, sexual health/family planning, drug - alcohol misuse and diet- exercise advice. Alongside managing patients with minor injuries, an integral part of my role is to recognise, support and act accordingly within safeguarding protocols to ensure the safe and well-being of children and adults under my care. A branch of this often involves caring for child and adult metal health patients and ensuring they are holistically managed and are referred on appropriately. A vast proportion of the patients we see often require specialist follow-up via clinics or acute interventions emergency surgery. All of this requires direct communication with registrars and consultants in the surrounding hospitals. Patients may also require urgent review or follow-up appointments with GP’s which also involves direct communication with GP practices across Shropshire and Wrexham. An extension of my role within the team is responsibility for the ordering of medication which includes a large PGD formulary, part of this role consists of regularly disseminating current medication updates and issues, I also take part in in - house training which involves discussing and reflection on information gathered whilst on training/ courses attended and interesting/rare case studies. During the pandemic I was involved in Shropshire’s vaccination programme, I continued this role alongside my current role at Minor Injuries. This was a very rewarding challenge and required an in-depth knowledge of the vaccines that were being administered, which allowed me to help with any questions and alleviate any concerns that patients may have had. I enjoy researching evidence-based practice in order to maintain and provide the best clinical care possible, whilst working within my scope of practice. Due to the nature of MIU, it is an integral part of our role to take part in and initiate Audits and discuss Datix issues in order to change practice for the better and share learning/experiences. Part of our responsibilities also include mentoring student Nurses and Paramedics and we as a team all play a part in supporting and teaching of the students. Working within a team of Emergency Nurse Practitioners has accelerated my learning, particularly within physical assessment and history taking, using the medical model which is structured and comprehensive. I have completed the 'Assessment of Minor Injuries’ module through Staffordshire University at level 7 and have more recently completed my mentorship module at Glyndwr University. I look forward to continuing my CPD portfolio. I am confident with computers and can use hospital systems such as; ‘Rio’ which has been introduced into the Trust, EPR and 'Synapse'.

M&K course - Minor Illness (3 days, 6-8th July 2022)

PDUK course Red dot interpretation (26/052021)