Helping people to live independently

Debbie Slater is currently a community nurse. She first worked for the trust whilst on placement and enjoyed it so much, she wanted to return...

“I’m passionate about community services because
I help support people to live independently
in their own homes and live a fuller life as possible.”

"When I was a student nurse, I worked with the Intermediate Care Unit (ICT). It was one of the areas I enjoyed most and learnt a lot from. Once qualified, I wanted to return as a permanent part of a rehabilitation team. For the first two years after qualifying I worked at St James Hospital on an acute medical ward before joining the trust’s Intermediate Care Unit (ICT).

I wanted to work for ICT so I could experience a different type of nursing and for me, being in the community meant I could get to know patients better because they were in their own homes.

A typical day for me involves going to the office in the morning, where I will find out which patients need to be seen and what referrals have been sent in. I will then discuss and plan the day with my nursing colleagues and the Multi-Disciplinary Teams. The rest of the day I will be out in the community visiting patients. Sometimes I will have to rearrange visits through the depending on whether I get a call about new referrals or patients that need to be seen quickly. Being a community nurse allows me to work independently, however I know I can discuss any issues that have cropped up with the rest of the team, and normally have a debrief once I return to the office at the end of the day.  

For me there are many rewarding parts to my role including; preventing admission to hospital by picking up on a patient becoming unwell early, helping people recently discharged from hospital to stay at home or assisting people as they adjust from being dependant on staff to living independently.

I enjoy the variety the day brings, every patient and situation is different, I never know what I will find when I arrive to do a visit."