Navigating Nursing

Navigating Nursing

by Laura Whitehead
EducationMedicine
Season 6
Hayley Smith, Deputy head of children's services
In this episode Laura meets with Hayley Smith who is the Deputy head of children's services at St Andrew's hospice. She talks through her current role and discusses how she is enjoying developing her leadership and managerial skills. Hayley discusses her role as a health care assistant and the impact that had on her nursing career. She shares her role as a newly qualified paediatric nurse and how she developed key skills during that time. Hayley discusses the continual professional development she has completed and her desire to continue focusing on her professional development. Hayley's passion for palliative care nursing for children and youth people shines through in this episode as she explores the care they provide child and their families after receiving an end of life diagnosis. Hayley also discusses the fantastic person centred care the hospice provides and the impact it has on the local community. If you would like to learn more about St Andrew's hospice please access their website: http://www.standrewshospice.com/
S6 · E5
Jun 10, 2026
15:48
Naomi Turrell, Senior Palliative care nurse in the wellbeing team at a hospice
In this episode Laura Whitehead interviews Naomi Turrell who is a Senior Palliative care nurse in the wellbeing team at St Andrew's hospice. Naomi shares how she started working in palliative care as a newly qualified nurse and gives advice for anyone who wants to work in this speciality. Naomi is a Practice Assessors for student nurses and she shares her passion for the role. Since becoming a Senior Palliative care nurse Naomi now has a split clinical and managerial role. She discusses how a leadership course she attended has helped her with this transition and the importance of a supportive team when working in palliative care. Laura and Naomi talk about resilience, the importance of support mechanisms and the role a uniform can play when developing your resilience and emotional capacity. Naomi shares her excitement at starting a history taking and physical assessment module and her career plans for the future.
S6 · E3
Jun 3, 2026
15:21
Jade Parr, Advanced Nursing Assistant
In this episode of Navigating Nursing Laura Whitehead interviews Jade Parr who is a Advanced Nursing Assistant at St Andrew's hospice. Jade discussed her NVQ in health and social care and her first role in Adult domiciliary care. She shares about her move into working at St Andrew's hospice and what she does in her role as an Advanced Nursing Assistant. She provides advice for anyone wishing to work in this field. She shares her career aspirations and how she is starting a BSc in nursing in September.
S6 · E2
May 27, 2026
6:06
Michelle Rollinson, Chief Executive of St Andrew's hospice, Children's nurse
In this episode Laura meets with Michelle Rollinson, who is a Chief executive of St Andrew's hospice. Michelle shares what motivated her to start her nurse training and her first job as a Neonatal intensive care nurse when she first qualified. Michelle discusses her first role and how engaging with post graduate training and education changed her practice and how this also helped when she was supporting students. She shares her move to work at the hospice and how she has held a variety of leadership and management roles, including Head of care for adult and children and now as CEO. Michelle shares her motivations for studying for a MSc in Palliative care. She discusses how the multi disciplinary focus on the modules has assisted her in her leadership roles. Michelle shares advice for any student listeners or anyone wishing to work in palliative care. The episode finishes with Michelle discussing her career goals and plans for the future, working on a local, regional and national level. Please see below for some information about St Andrew's Hospice: At St Andrew’s Hospice, we aim to make each day count. As a registered charity, we provide palliative care services for adults, children and families who are living with life-limiting conditions, as well as family bereavement support. We have delivered palliative and end of life care for more than 45 years to people across North East Lincolnshire, and for 25 years to children from the whole of Lincolnshire, Hull, and the East Riding of Yorkshire. We employ just under 200 staff and are supported by more than 450 volunteers, meaning we can provide 24-hour care, seven days a week. It currently costs £7million a year to run the hospice, of which only a fifth is funded by the Government. We rely on the generosity of our community to fund the rest. Anyone can refer – the patient, their family or a medical professional – in writing, by telephone or in person. We are independent of the NHS but work with other healthcare organisations to provide the best possible care. You may know St Andrew’s Hospice as a place that looks after adults in the final stages of their lives. We offer the comfort, care and compassion that we believe each one of us deserves, easing pain and managing symptoms whilst providing a holistic hand hold to both our patients and their families. But did you know that the breadth of our care reaches far beyond the confines of our adult inpatient unit? Each year, we also provide thousands of Hospice at Home visits for children across Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire, wellbeing sessions in our garden and creativity room, physiotherapy and lymphoedema treatments, bereavement counselling and complementary therapies. Our hospice is a vibrant, happy place, which celebrates life and living. Whether through a movie marathon at our onsite cinema, art therapy groups in our Coffee Retreat or ukulele groups entertaining patients in our Hub, our focus is on making each day count. Thanks to our donors, supporters and community, we do this at no cost to our patients, for the majority of our services. Their generous support means our hospice care services continue to be delivered both in the community and in our buildings, under one roof, providing high quality, person-centred, holistic palliative care. Our community is at the heart of everything we do. Without them, we simply wouldn’t exist. With their support, our aim to ‘Make Each Day Count’ is more than words – it is a reality for the adults, children and families who use our services. https://www.standrewshospice.com/
S6 · E1
May 20, 2026
29:24
Series 6: Palliative care and hospice series
Trailer
Welcome to series 6 of Navigating nursing! In this series Laura interviews nurses and a nursing assistant who work in palliative care and the hospice environment. They discuss their careers to date, why they decided to move into this area of speciality, how they cope with the emotional aspect of the job and share their career plans for the future. Thank you for listening, if you enjoy listening please leave a review and share with your friends and colleague.
S6
May 18, 2026
0:37
Season 5
Sergeant Laila Wallace, Nurse recruiter for the RAF, Registered Adult Nurse
In this episode Laura meets with Sergeant Laila Wallace who is a Nurse recruiter for the RAF and is a Registered Adult Nurse. She shares what made her apply to be a nurse and what led her to applying to join the RAF after qualifying. She discusses the transition from working in a Medical Admission Unit to being in the RAF and working as a Quality Improvement Sepsis nurse. She talks about the opportunities available within the military and how the opportunities she has had have shaped her career. Laila has also worked as part of the Deployable Aeromedical Response Team Sqn at Tactical Medical Wing and has also worked as part of the Aeromedical Evacuation Sqn in 2020, tasked with delivering global Aeromedical Evacuation. She shares her experiences and discusses how pre-hospital care courses has shaped her as a nurse. Laila has worked in various leadership positions and she shares how she adapted to these roles. During the pandemic Laila was deployed to co-ordinate and run a vaccination programme in partnership with the Southeast NHS hub in support of Military Assistance to Civilian Authority. She discusses the importance of saying yes to all opportunities when they present themselves and talks about her role as Nurse recruiter for the RAF. Laila gives advice anyone interested in joining the military. Laila shares her career aims and goals for the future. For further information please follow: X = @DMS_MilMed Linkedin = Defence Medical Services Insta = @StrategicCommand UK armed forces You can browse regular and reservist roles here: Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps Princess Mary’s RAF Nursing Service Civil Service The MOD employs civilians in clinical and other relevant business and technical roles: Civil Service Jobs Flexible Resource Pool (Bank)
S5 · E11
Jul 15, 2024
27:34
Lieutenant Emily Williams, Hospital Officer on the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ARGUS, Registered Nurse, Critical Care nurse
Lieutenant Emily Williams is a Hospital Officer on the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ARGUS. Emily shares her reasons for applying for her nurse training and why she decided to join the Royal Navy. She discusses her time deployed to Norway and her experiences during this deployment. During the pandemic Emily was deployed as part of the Covid rapid response transfer team during the pandemic and she talks about how this sparked her interest in critical care. Emily discusses how she has completed post graduate training and modules in critical care, she shares advice for anyone considering this speciality. Emily gives advice for anyone interested in applying to the military and the Royal Navy. She shares her plans and career aims for the future. For further information please follow: X = @DMS_MilMed Linkedin = Defence Medical Services Insta = @StrategicCommand UK armed forces You can browse regular and reservist roles here: Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps Princess Mary’s RAF Nursing Service Civil Service The MOD employs civilians in clinical and other relevant business and technical roles: Civil Service Jobs Flexible Resource Pool (Bank)
S5 · E10
Jul 8, 2024
8:31
Sergeant Jayne Lum Kin, Emergency Department nurse, RAF Reservist, Flight Nurse
In this episode Laura meets with Sgt Jayne Lum Kin who is an Emergency Department Nurse and an RAF Reservist. Jayne talks about how travelling to Africa led her to decide to train to be a nurse. She has worked in the ED throughout her career, and she shares how she decided this speciality interested her. Jayne joined the RAF as a reservist when she was 50, and she talks about what led her to apply at this stage in her career. Jayne discusses her time in the RAF and gives advice for anyone also interested in joining the RAF. She shares her passion for travel and adventure and how developing as a Flight Nurse has been a fantastic experience. She shares advice for anyone interested in joining the RAF and for anyone who is interested in ED nursing. Jayne shares how she has worked as a contract nurse in Kabul and how she has worked within elite sports and at sporting events. Jayne talks about her career aims and goals for the future. For further information please follow: X = @DMS_MilMed Linkedin = Defence Medical Services Insta = @StrategicCommand UK armed forces You can browse regular and reservist roles here: Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps Princess Mary’s RAF Nursing Service Civil Service The MOD employs civilians in clinical and other relevant business and technical roles: Civil Service Jobs Flexible Resource Pool (Bank)
S5 · E9
Jul 1, 2024
12:08
Captain Stephen Worsley, Deputy Senior Nursing Officer at Defence Primary Healthcare, Registered Adult Nurse
In this episode Laura meets with Captain Stephen Worsley who is a Deputy senior nursing officer at Defence Primary Healthcare in the Army. Stephen discusses why he decided to train as a nurse and the reason he chose Primary health care as a speciality. Stephen gives advice to anyone interested in Primary Health care and he discusses his experience studying for a Post graduate certificate in Unscheduled Primary Health care. He talks about how he joined the army and gives any advice for anyone interested in joining the military. He discusses the opportunities he has had whilst being the in the Army and how the Army has enabled him to develop outside of Nursing, including becoming a Physical Training Instructor. Stephen has just completed the Negotiated Learning module in order to top up to BSc Hons Nursing practice development and gives advice for anyone wishing to complete any post graduate study. Stephen is currently a deputy senior nursing officer and he talks about his role. Stephen shares advice for anyone who is a student nurse or a newly qualified nurse. He shares his career goals and aims for the future. For further information please follow: X = @DMS_MilMed Linkedin = Defence Medical Services Insta = @StrategicCommand UK armed forces You can browse regular and reservist roles here: Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps Princess Mary’s RAF Nursing Service Civil Service The MOD employs civilians in clinical and other relevant business and technical roles: Civil Service Jobs Flexible Resource Pool (Bank)
S5 · E8
Jun 24, 2024
22:51
Sergeant Emmanuel Ebrada, Trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioner in the NHS and Critical Care nurse in the Army reserves
Sgt Emmanuel Ebrada is a Trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioner in the NHS and Critical Care nurse in the Army reserves. Manny shares his journey to studying to be a nurse and how this was driven by his passion for travel. Manny shares how he worked in the Philippines, Singapore and then moved to the United Kingdom. He discusses his career in Intensive care and why he was drawn to working in this speciality. Manny is a Critical Care nurse in the Army Reserves and he gives advice for anyone interested in joining the military. He talks about the support he has received from the Army in terms of his educational development, and how completing further postgraduate study has shaped his career. He shares the opportunities the Army has provided him, including travel and taking part in triathlons. Manny provides advice for anyone wishing to study at level 7 as he is currently completing a MSc alongside working full time in the NHS and being in the Army reserves. Manny shares his career aims for the future. For further information please follow: X = @DMS_MilMed Linkedin = Defence Medical Services Insta = @StrategicCommand UK armed forces You can browse regular and reservist roles here: Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps Princess Mary’s RAF Nursing Service Civil Service The MOD employs civilians in clinical and other relevant business and technical roles: Civil Service Jobs Flexible Resource Pool (Bank)
S5 · E7
Jun 10, 2024
15:02
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