Why I like working at NHS 24
Case Studies
We firmly believe that NHS 24 is a great place to work. However don’t just take our word for it! Here, a number of our colleagues give you their views on why they work at NHS 24 and what their roles here mean to them.
Helen Paterson
Team Leader
“I’ve been here from the very beginning. I’d had experience in a range of nursing, A E, ICU, anaesthetics, and theatre, and one of the attractions for me was being able to use this broad range of knowledge rather than concentrating on one area at a time. The work here has evolved hugely in the last five years. I thought that I’d ‘just be speaking to people on the phone’, but in reality NHS24 isn’t like that at all. It’s nurse-led, and many people who ‘don’t want to bother the doctor’ are happy talking to us and taking our advice. There are so many things I’ve learned, from how to build a picture of the patient, how to ‘voice-match’ and appreciate geographical issues – although because I’m from the Western Isles I am very aware of these anyway! We are also taught how to deal with those whose first language isn’t English, or who are deaf or have other communication difficulties. These are all things I’d not have had in ICU.
You can deal with so many things on a daily basis. From social problems to life-threatening emergencies, to people waiting for results or just generally worried; we get a huge number of things from 'I can’t put up my curtain rail' to medication queries, and from an ingrowing hair to cardiac problems.
Since I joined as a Nurse Adviser I’ve been amazed at how much information and training is available here. The librarians are fantastic, and the coaching side, which I’ve worked on, is excellent. I really do enjoy this, and being promoted to a Team Leader in August 2007 was especially satisfying. It would be a bigger challenge to get the development and opportunity to progress to Band 7 elsewhere in the NHS.
Triage and assessment work is attractive to most nurses and I really like being able to help a patient from their initial call through to the end point of care. We’re able to help people and that’s very rewarding, being able to advise and speak to 40-50 people a day. Some people say ‘don’t you miss the patient contact?’, but you don’t really not have patient contact – it’s actually more rather than less! Getting them to the best end point of care is very rewarding. I also enjoy the fact that we’re in an open-plan area, with lots of support and encouragement, especially after the initial training. You wouldn’t get that level of initial support in any other nursing job that I’m aware of.”
