Why I value my time as a trustee
I have enjoyed being involved in different aspects of BAUN since winning the inaugural Bruce Turner Award in 2017.
I was fortunate enough be invited to the BAUN trustee meeting and team building event in January 2018 and this really piqued my interest. I enjoyed learning and seeing the inner workings of the organisation, as well as the commitment, motivation, and dedication that the trustees and president clearly have. I also had a great mentor in Jane Brocksom (who some of you will know and is one of BAUN’S past-presidents), she really encouraged and supported me, and having a ‘buddy’ / mentor for a whole year was one of the perks of winning the award.
Since then, I have remained involved with BAUN in lots of different ways and have enjoyed all the work that I have been part of so far. Most recently working on BAUN intravesical treatment guidelines.
I enjoy the challenge that comes with new projects, I like to have a project or deadline to work towards, otherwise I do find myself getting a bit twitchy. I love learning and talking to people.
When sitting in the trustee meeting back in January 2018 I thought to myself… I want to do this one day. I finally plucked up the courage to apply and feel so fortunate to have been accepted to be a BAUN trustee. What a privilege to be involved in shaping urological nursing nationally (even globally), and ultimately improving the care and safety of our patients for the future.
I look forward to being able to continue networking and supporting urology nurses throughout my time as a trustee. Particularly early career urology nurses, as I feel strongly about protecting our roles and ensuring that we have a urological nursing workforce for the future.
Why I have a passion for urology
As I have heard many other people say, urology chose me in a way. I enjoyed cardiology and medicine as a student nurse, but I had my final sign-off practice placement on the urology ward just before I qualified – and I absolutely loved it! I just fell in love with urology from there and have never looked back. There’s no better feeling than washing a bladder out, right?!
I have been fortunate because I have always been well supported throughout my career, both by BAUN and my colleagues. I have been fortunate to have supportive managers who I have guided and encouraged me, as well lots of hard work, determination, (and a bit of stubbornness on my part) – but it has got me to where I am today.
I love the diversity of urology, when talking to people I like to hear about all our different roles and what they entail. I just find it fascinating and 11 years on I am still learning every single day. I think urology is such a broad speciality, and there are so many opportunities for urology nurses now in the field, particularly when we think about advanced practise and how that has evolved over the years; with nurses now performing prostate biopsies, TULA and many other surgical procedures.
Biography
She has worked in urology for the past 11 years, since qualifying as a registered nurse in 2012. She got her first job as a newly qualified staff nurse on a urology surgical ward, and she loved it!
From there, she worked on a surgical high dependency unit and then urology outpatients. She now works for Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust as a senior urology specialist nurse on a urology assessment unit. She has been in this role for 5 years now and she absolutely loves it, of course it is not without its challenges, but she truly enjoys it and continues to learn every day. She works in a small community hospital, where everybody knows each other – it is a pleasure to get up and come to work each day and she works with a fabulous team.
Her role is now mainly working in the one stop haematuria clinic, performing flexible cystoscopy, and assessing patients who have been referred with a suspected bladder cancer. Having been on the other side of things having had a cancer diagnosis myself in the past, she knows the importance of ensuring that it is right for patients, you never forget the day you were told that you may have cancer, and how this is delivered will be remembered by the patient and will impact them for rest of their lives. She also sees
- Patients who have been referred with UTI’s, LUTS and for those on the surveillance cystoscopy protocol – who have had a previous bladder cancer
- Patients in a nurse-led clinic who have been referred with LUTS or a raised PSA and I deliver intravesical treatment for bladder cancer.
She has a special interest in Bladder Cancer and the impact this disease has on patients, she is also interested in female urology, recurrent UTI management and benign LUTS. She is going to be undertaking training on how to perform intradetrusor Botox in the future.
She enjoys networking and talking to people, She is particularly interested in the development and support of early-career urology nurses, and the futureproofing of urological nursing is something that she feels very passionate about. She hopes that during her time as a BAUN trustee she can positively influence this area of the membership, and encourage all urology nurses no matter where they work or what stage they’re at in their career, to join BAUN or become involved and put themself forward for opportunities within BAUN. For those aspiring urology nurses who are just starting out and wish to specialise in urology there are a wealth of opportunities available to further their development, so please get in touch with BAUN and ask how we can support you.