Paediatric nurse consultant

Rachael Bolland
Nurse Consultant Paediatrics, joined the Trust in 2001

What is your role?

I work as a Nurse Consultant in Acute Paediatrics at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The role of a Nurse Consultant is to strengthen clinical leadership as well as improve practice and the patient experience. I also have research, education, training and staff development responsibilities. A key part of my role at the moment is service development and how we meet the challenges of delivering an NHS fit for the 21st Century. I am currently focusing on how we can develop nursing roles.

What does a typical working day look like?

I start the day by visiting the paediatric wards offering advice and support to the interdisciplinary team. I also review children that have been referred to me by my medical consultant colleagues and advise on care and treatment plans. The rest of the morning I will spend working alongside the team in particular supporting students and junior staff nurses.

In the afternoon I may have meetings to attend or a teaching round where I help the team to focus on the care needs of a particular child. Time will also be spent undertaking audits or research.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

The fact that no two days are ever the same. That I am able to influence care and service delivery at a local and national level.

What level of patient contact do you have in your role?

I spend at least fifty percent of my time with the children and their families/carers. Some of this will be spent with the parents/carers teaching and supporting them to take on the care of their child once they are discharged home.

What other members of the healthcare team do you work with?

I have contact with all members of the interdisciplinary team. I work especially closely with the nursing and medical teams and I am currently supporting two paediatric nurse practitioners as they develop this new role. I also manage the team of hospital play specialists, who provide therapeutic play programmes to help prepare children for what is going to happen in hospital and provide ways for them to work through anxieties and fears and deal with their experiences in hospital.

What do you like about working for the Trust?

The opportunities that it offers me to develop both personally and in my role and the excellent educational facilities it provides. It is also a very friendly place to work.

Why did you join the NHS?

From being a small child I always wanted to be a nurse and it is a career choice that I have never regretted.