Senior Nursing Assistant, Children's Community Services, South Eastern HSC Trust
What attracted you to become a Senior Nursing Assistant?
As a carer through a care agency, I was trained by community children’s nurses to care for a child in the community with complex care needs.
This was a very rewarding role which I enjoyed, and felt privileged to be able to care for and support the child and family during day to day life and very difficult times.
An opportunity then arose for me to apply to become a community children’s specialist support worker within the Children’s Community Nursing team.
I was extremely happy to be selected, as this was a great opportunity for me to upskill and train to provide much needed respite care for many children and their families with complex healthcare needs and end of life care.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
The thing I enjoy most about my role is that families are so grateful and appreciative and it is a privilege for me to be able to help support and provide care at home for the children and allow parents and family much needed respite.
Tell us about your most memorable moment in your role?
During early days in my role, a child I cared for became seriously unwell very quickly.
I remained as calm as I could and followed all the training I was given. It was quite a stressful and frightening time as we are mainly lone workers with no other staff at hand to help. Afterwards, the parent said to me how calm and professional I had been throughout. This made me feel more confident that this was a role that was definitely for me.
How do you see your career developing as a Nursing Assistant?
I am happy in my role, however I would very much like to have the opportunity to be supported with undertaking a nursing degree in paediatrics or adult nursing.
What advice would you give to someone considering a career as a Nursing Assistant?
It is a very rewarding job and if they feel it’s something they would like to do I would advise them to apply and give it a go, but also to explore possible opportunities for career progression if that’s what they want in the future.