A Different Type of Nursing Role

I work as a nurse advisor for Ashfield Healthcare, as part of one of many teams working up and down the country to educate and advise patients and healthcare professionals.

Just like any other nursing role, all nurse advisors are registered and fully qualified. Teams are sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry, and we’re protected by and work within the guidelines of the NMC Code of Conduct and the ABPI Code of Practice.

As a nurse advisor, you focus on promoting patient care rather than certain products, so you’re always maintaining a high professional and ethical standard. I saw it as a golden opportunity to specialise in one or two particular therapy areas, as well as help to fulfil demanding clinical targets in primary and secondary care. Another thing that attracted me to the role was the huge scope for furthering my career within the company. Ashfield is dedicated to providing quality training and I’ve just managed to secure myself a place in the prestigious Ashfield Academy, a fast-track career development programme designed to help you realise your full potential.

As a nurse advisor, you focus on promoting patient care rather than certain products

One of the most refreshing things about working as a nurse advisor is being welcomed into a practice or hospital, knowing your recommendations can improve the standard of care. The work’s hugely varied, which, again, makes it really rewarding. You’re in contact with a number of GP practices and hospital consultants, all with different ways of thinking, different policies and different ideas, yet all with patient care as their top priority.

My role varies from day to day, week to week. Because you’re responsible for filling your own diary and building up your workload, you need to be flexible and able to keep yourself motivated. It’s a challenge, but the results are really satisfying.

My objectives for a project can include:

• Auditing and producing detailed reports for individual surgeries

• Reviewing patient therapy and recommending changes to drugs and dosages

• Administering to patients

• Educating both patients and healthcare professionals within the disease therapy area

• Raising the profile of the sponsoring company

• Data trawling

My typical day looks like this:

• Arrive at a surgery for a practice meeting. This could be an initial meeting to explain a new service or project, give some background information and determine which patients the practice would like to be reviewed. We’ll often discuss just how involved in the project I’ll be.

• I may then carry out some computer searches, and type patient letters into the practice system.

• This is followed by the day’s phone calls, including making follow-up calls to surgeries, confirming future visits, arranging appointments, and keeping up to date with the nurse manager and GP representatives.

• On to the next surgery. This may be a drop-in to another practice to collect some draft plans or letters, allowing me to finalise the paperwork before my next visit.

• I often spend the afternoon reviewing patients’ conditions and therapies on my computer, implementing any changes I’ve agreed with the practice and letting the patients know. I may see some patients myself to advise them on the best ways to manage their treatment or condition.

• My evenings are sometimes spent answering and sending emails, preparing reports for surgeries, updating spreadsheets and itineraries and preparing for the following day.