“I would really recommend a career in dialysis”
25 November 2015
Robyn Morris has been in post as a clinical practice educator in haemodialysis and home therapies at the Royal Free London for just a month – and she says it is one of the most exciting and interesting areas to work in.
Robyn’s job is to support the nurses in their training and to make sure everyone is trained so they can deliver world class care to patients. She travels to a number of different sites, including the St Pancras Kidney and Diabetes Centre, the Tottenham Hale Kidney and Diabetes Centre, Barnet Hospital and the Royal Free Hospital as part of her role.
She first worked in dialysis as a student nurse, at the Royal Free’s satellite dialysis unit at Barnet Hospital. On qualifying she worked in renal for two years at a different hospital and then returned to the trust in 2011, where she has since worked as a staff nurse in Barnet’s renal dialysis team and as a junior sister at the private patients unit at the Royal Free Hospital, before taking on the challenge of her new role.
"My main job is to make sure all nurses are supported and competent in the varying types of dialysis that the Royal Free Hospital provides,” she explained.
“I find working in dialysis so interesting – dialysis patients have lots of co-morbidities which stretch into other specialities such as haematology, surgery, and cardiology, which means you are constantly learning. As a nurse, this is paramount in your personal development.”
Robyn also explained that nurses in dialysis get to form a bond with their patients, in a way that nurses in other specialities may not.
“For example, nurses in A&E will often see patients for a short period of time before they are admitted to a ward and often do not see the outcome of the care they have provided,” she said. “Whereas in dialysis, a patient will see the same nurse up to three times a week. As a nurse this really allows you to get to know your patient and you almost become their ‘second family’. I would really recommend a career in dialysis.”
Image: Robyn Morris, clinical practice educator
ENDS
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About the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
The Royal Free began as a pioneering organisation and continues to play a leading role in the care of patients. Our mission is to provide world class expertise and local care. In the 21st century, the Royal Free London continues to lead improvements in healthcare.
The Royal Free London attracts patients from across the country and beyond to its specialist services in liver, kidney and bone marrow transplantation, haemophilia, renal, HIV, infectious diseases, plastic surgery, immunology, vascular surgery, cardiology, amyloidosis and scleroderma and we are a member of the academic health science partnership UCLPartners.
In July 2014 Barnet Hospital and Chase Farm Hospital became part of the Royal Free London. Read 'A bigger trust, a better future'.