Janine Gargett
Matron for community nursing in Welland, South Holland and Boston
On a typical day
My day starts at about 8am and each day varies so much. That is what I love about nursing; I can honestly say I have never had two days the same. I am extremely fortunate to work with many other professionals in my teams and within others to look at how services are running, what improvements can be made to the care we deliver to patients and to ensure that LCHS develops services that meet the needs of our ever changing population.
Tell us how you have made a difference as a nurse
Nursing is the best job in the world. I have been fortunate over my 15 years as a registered nurse to get involved and influence many areas, especially within community nursing.
I work with the Band 6 and Band 7 leaders in my area in an initiative called Time to Act, where we look at how we can continue to grow as leaders to ensure that teams are supported to deliver great patient care. With a need to ensure that care is delivered closer to home for many more people in the future, this is the most exciting time for community nursing and part of my role is to help influence and implement new ways of working to allow this to happen. At present I am working on a project to look at community nursing caseloads and implementing a different way of working. If you’re like me and love people and data then you will know why I get so excited about these kinds of projects. My project includes reducing and standardising care plans, looking at time spent with patients, improving equalities in caseloads and working days for the community teams. By doing this, it will allow our systems to support teams so they can spend as much time as possible with patients.
What inspired you to go into nursing? What would you say to a young person interested in a career in nursing and midwifery?
I had never considered nursing as an option and studied business studies at college after leaving school. When I realised that you didn’t get to spend time with lots of people I decided that I needed to rethink my options. I worked with a careers advisor who, after an assessment, suggested nursing as an option. I went to university and spent three years training to be a nurse.
I used to be extremely shy and lacked confidence and, in my first year of my nurse training, I was told by a member of staff on one of my placements that I wouldn’t make a nurse as I was too shy around new faces. That was the beauty of nursing for me, as over the years of my training I became much more confident in myself and found I could talk to anyone. Nursing has shaped me into the person I have become today.
Nursing is so diverse. It offers you so many opportunities and really has something to offer to everyone. It is a profession that you never stop growing in and you never stop learning. I feel you could never get bored of nursing and it truly is the most rewarding job in the world. I have had the privilege of working with and caring for some of the most wonderful people you could ever wish to meet. Now I want my daughter to see how amazing nursing is in the hope that she will follow in my footsteps and join the most amazing profession!
Tell us your most memorable moment
I don’t think I will ever forget or learn from the experience as a newly qualified nurse when I was giving a patient an enema. I had lifted the bed to the correct height and, just as I had finished giving the enema, let’s just say the patient was successful in opening their bowels and I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I certainly learnt my lesson on where I may or may not want to stand in future when delivering such a procedure!