Five Minutes With… a District Nurse Team Manager
“I never come to work without a smile on my face.”
Starting her career as a Healthcare Assistant over 30 years ago, Debra Clayton now manages Broadmeadow's Planned Community Nursing team based at Broadmeadow Health Centre, Kings Norton.
Community nursing services deliver a wide range of support to people in their own homes and play a key role in supporting independence, management of long-term conditions, prevention and treatment for acute illnesses. The services are required for many reasons, but are commonly needed by adults with a disability, older adults living with frailty and long-term conditions and those who are near the end of their life.
With the government's plan to shift healthcare away from the hospitals and into the community, this edition of Five Minutes With gives a helpful insight into how valuable community nursing is.
Hi Debra, please could you tell us about your career path at BCHC?
I am a District Nurse Team Manager at Broadmeadow's Planned Community Nursing team. I wanted to be a nurse from a very young age and after an initial first job in hair and beauty I realised healthcare was the career I wanted to pursue. I began my career as a Healthcare Assistant 34 years ago for BCHC which at the time was North Birmingham Primary Care Trust. In 2005 I was privileged to be seconded by BCHC to complete my nursing training, I still have the letter offering me the role - it was a very proud moment. In 2018 I completed my District Nurse Specialist Practitioner qualification and that is when I became a Team Manager.
For those who aren't aware, what type of care does Broadmeadow's Planned Community Nursing team provide?
Whilst the team is 'based' at Broadmeadow Health Centre, Broadmeadow's Community Nursing team is rarely in one place. Covering a patch within central locality of Birmingham, my multidisciplinary team has around 224 patients on their case load, each with their own individual needs. We are part of the wider central locality team that works together with GPs, pharmacists, social workers, acute trusts, hospices, early intervention teams, mental health and care agencies to care for over 1,200 patients in their own home.
As a Community Nursing team, our patients are some of the most complex and vulnerable individuals, many of whom are housebound and unable to access other health services.
A typical day for the team will include providing diabetic care and insulin administration, medication administration including injections and syringe drivers for end-of-life patients, wound care, bladder and bowel care and long-term condition management.
The care provided by my team ensures the patient is seen by the right person at the right time within their own homes. We focus on holistic assessments of our patients, ensuring hospital avoidance is a priority in line with the NHS' 10 Year Plan.
The focus of Broadmeadow Community Nursing team is always to provide the very best care and support to our patients and their loved ones. It is important that carers/ loved ones are included in all aspects of care planning and feedback from some of our end-of-life patients has shown how much of an impact this approach has made.
What is the most difficult thing about your role?
Community nursing can be very challenging with the complexity of our patients and an aging population, but I never come to work without a smile on my face. Every day is different and together as a team we support each other to ensure even on a difficult day, all staff leave feeling supported and thanked.
I have worked at BCHC for 34 years and consider working for the NHS a privilege. I am proud to work for the NHS and on reflection of the challenging times throughout COVID, I'm proud of what we were able to achieve as a community nursing service -ensuring our patients continued to receive the very best care when needed.
What is your proudest moment working as a nurse?
My biggest achievement and proudest moments as a District Nurse Team Manager come from looking at my team and the team spirit we have created. At Broadmeadow, my team live our Trust Value of 'caring' not only for our patients but for each other. We have been recognised by students and universities as providing exceptional leadership and invaluable contributions to practice education, I am passionate about community nursing as are my whole team which is why we always prioritise investing in our future workforce.
Tell us something that people might not know about you
Many people who know me know how important my family is to me, my husband, three sons and two grandsons are my absolute world. This year we welcome our first granddaughter, and I am over the moon to buy everything pink in sight! As a team we celebrate both work and personal celebrations, this will be the third baby girl we have welcomed in our team this year!
Describe yourself in three words
If I was to describe myself in three words I would say I am cheerful, compassionate and supportive.