Patient Experience
7 December, 2023
The St James’s Hospital Nursing Conference, ‘No Boundaries’, was held in the Davis Coakley Seminar Room in the Mercer’s Institute for Successful Aging (MISA), on Friday, 20 October. The ‘No Boundaries’ concept for this year’s conference was one of pushing limits and raising the bar, while embracing change to become the next nurse leaders in promoting person-centred care with patient first at the core of nursing advancement. The conference saw roughly 190 attendees throughout the day.
The opening address by Sharon Slattery, Director of Nursing, invited all participants to exhale, to give themselves permission to be here and to connect with each other. Sharon then introduced a video recording from members of the hospital’s Patient Representative Group (PRG). The PRG members acknowledged and thanked the hospital’s nursing team and numerous disciplines in the hospital who were instrumental in their recovery.
The first keynote speaker was Prof. Yvonne Wengström, Director of Nursing Development at Karolinska Comprehensive Cancer Centre in Karolinska University Hospital, Sweden. Yvonne proclaimed, “there are actually no boundaries for developing nursing!", while kindly sharing her nursing career trajectory and speaking about the importance of ’precision nursing' in healthcare.
The hospital’s nursing team would like to acknowledge the generosity of the Trinity Visiting Professor Award fund which was awarded to Dr Patricia Doherty, who generously enabled Prof. Wengström’s visit.
This was followed by Carmel Daly, Registered Advanced Nurse Practitioner (RANP) in Pain Management, providing a fantastic overview of the pain service in St James’s Hospital. She described many new innovative treatments in pain, e.g. treatments in conjunction with the hospice to optimise end of life care for patients.
Julie O’Grady, Assistant Director of Nursing (ADoN) for Evidence Based Research & Innovation, chaired the mid-morning sessions, introducing in St James’s Hospital, who entertained the audience with her hilarious outline of her journey Snehal Prabhukeluskar, Nurse Tutor/Regional Education Co-Ordinator South Dublin, Kildare & Wicklowat the Centre for Learning and Development including her professional and personal journey from Kerala in the southwest corner of India to St James’s Hospital in Dublin 8.
Peter Laurent, Staff Nurse in the Haematology Oncology Day Centre (HODC), then represented the Magnet4Europe Coucil, where he spoke about the council’s achievement’s since its inception and conveyed the ethos of shared decision making and governance. Peter also provided insights of working closely with Sharon and how his perception of leadership in the hospital has changed for the better due to “Sharon's openness to ideas and the creation of a safe space to voice concerns.” Leading on from Peter’s presentation, Marian Broderick, CNM3 Magnet for Europe presented on the DAISY® and BEE Awards (see page XX for more information on these awards) and St James’s Hospital’s current proposed plans for M4E Pathway to Excellence® Designation, while inviting all attendees to become involved in this designation plan.
Claire Behan, RANP Epilepsy & PhD Candidate, St James’s Hospital & Trinity College Dublin (TCD) presented, “From bedside to bench and back again, navigating epilepsy nursing and research”, documenting the expansion of the neurology ANP service throughout the years and her ongoing research on Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC), a rare form of inherited epilepsy which can affect multiple systems in the body. Claire then introduced Eoin Corrigan who spoke from the heart about his initial diagnosis of TSC in 2008, his experience of living with TSC, navigating the healthcare system and how TSC has impacted on all aspects of his life.
During lunch, attendees had the opportunity to network and view the 23 SJH Nursing Poster submissions displayed outside the venue which showed the breadth of the SJH Nursing Team leadership and innovation in promoting the tenets of the SJH Nursing Team values. These posters were appraised by Dr Gobnait Byrne, Assistant Professor from Trinity College Dublin, School of Nursing & Midwifery in Trinity College Dublin and Charlotte Stuart, Assistant Director of Nursing & M4E Programme Director/DAISY® Award Co-ordinator
Avril Lowry, Head of the Centre for Learning & Development (CLD) introduced the second Keynote Speaker Dr Colman Noctor, Mental Health Nursing Lecturer in South East Technological University Waterford and a Child & Adolescent Psychotherapist for the afternoon session. He spoke about the possibility of people living a balanced life if people aim for the middle ground - a philosophy outlined in his book ‘the 4-7 Zone’.
Catherine O’Brien, RANP, presented “Cancer Survivorship: The Ultimate Challenge”, which placed emphasis on the challenge that cancer survivorship has on the patient, their family, nurses, healthcare professionals in general and also for the healthcare service. Catherine spoke about her experience in Cancer Survivorship in 2012. Catherine won an award for her research for her master’s programme where she was given the opportunity to spend a week as part of an education programme in Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York. In the course of this week, Catherine spent time with the cancer survivorship ANPs and was blown away by what they were doing and the effects they were having on patients and their families. This very much inspired Catherine on what she wished to do.
For the second year running, the ‘New Voices’ segment of the hospital’s nursing conference saw three of our nurses - Divya David Puthooran, Úna Coss and Orfhlaith Brennan - who successfully completed their post graduate diplomas in specialist nursing, speak about their experiences when undertaking their respective post-graduate programmes which enabled them to develop their clinical expertise and leadership skills.
At the end of the Nursing Conference was the poster prize presentation where the below Nurses were awarded prizes based on their Poster presentation submissions:
The Catherine Deegan Nursing Research and Innovation Memorial Award was presented to Lorraine Dolan candidate ANP (Tuberculosis (TB)) and the Respiratory Team, on a ’A Randomised study of Video Observed Therapy versus Directly Observed Therapy in Tuberculosis care’ by Julie O’Grady, ADoN, for evidence based research and innovation. A special commendation was awarded to Emily Naylor, Clinical Facilitator, ICU and MDT, on their quality improvement project entitled “ADE-ICU - Antibiotic allergy DE labelling- ICU - Quality Improvement project at St James’s Hospital ICU”
Pictured from L to R: Julie O’Grady (ADoN), Sharon Slattery (Director of Nursing), Lorraine Dolan (TB cANP), Clodagh Quinn (ADoN), Val O’Brien (Nursing Practice Development Coordinator)
Proceedings were brought to a close by Sharon Slattery echoing her opening words and reflecting on the success and common themes of the conference, and putting the patient first in everything that nursing does.