Angela Williams

Accomplished PACU Nurse proudly offering more than 14 years' expertise in the healthcare field. Strong capacity to work within a team to develop successful, safe patient care. Detail-oriented team player with strong organisational skills. Ability to handle multiple projects simultaneously with a high degree of accuracy.

I have very effective communication skills and the motivation to take on challenging work. I am confident that I have the drive, knowledge and experience you require and meet the key attributes/workplace behaviours as outlined in the Clinical Nurse - Leave Relief, Domains of Practice and Specialist Clinical Knowledge as follows:

Domain 1: Throughout my many years of nursing experience in PACU, I have provided expert, direct care of countless patients of varying acuity. A particular patient of note whilst as a junior Registered Nurse, I cared for a gentleman who had a Urology procedure, therefore had his legs in lithotomy position. On arrival in PACU, he was complaining of severe pain in his left foot. On examination, his foot was pale, cold and no palpable pulse. Numerous phone calls were made to the Anaesthetist and Surgeon, all, unfortunately falling on deaf ears. I persisted to escalate my concerns with the relevant personel and eventually the Anaesthetist requested a vascular review. Upon this review, the patient was found to have occluded a femoral artery stent whilst in the lithotomy position and required vascular surgery.

I was very proud that I persisted to escalate my concerns and inevitably saved this patient from serious vascular injury. This was a very valuable learning experience as a junior Nurse and from that day on, shaped the nurse I am today by advocating for my patients no matter what road blocks may be put in the way.

Domain 2: Having worked for Metro South Health for many years, I have advanced understanding of and very supportive of the relevant standards and processes within this institution. These standards can be found on PAWeb or QHEPS. The PAH governance framework fundamentally incorporates both corporate and clinical governance systems to set standards of accountability and transparency to meet the organisational goals and support overall performance and compliance requirements.

Underlying the MSH culture are the organisational values -ICARE; Integrity, Compassion, Accountability, Respect, Engagement and Excellence. I support and withhold these values as evidenced in my day to day care of patients and whilst performing the in-charge role.

The Patient Safety and Quality Unit at PAH implement risk mitigation strategies and incident investigation such as Riskman, whereby Clinicians are able to report and have investigated clinical incidents which I am experienced in knowing when and how an incident should be reported.

Domain 3: As a senior Nurse in PACU, I thoroughly enjoy being a resource for Student Nurses, Graduate Nurses and new staff, offering advise and assistance based on my extensive skills, knowledge and experience whilst maintaining evidence-based practice. I often preceptor Student Nurses, Graduate Nurses and new staff and find this extremely rewarding.

I attend PACU in-services when offered and actively seek and request Professional Development Leave to attend workshops to further my learning and education. Notably, I have requested to attend the upcoming Trauma Workshop.

Domain 4: I often care for patients who are on a Clinical Research Trial. Two trials currently at PAH are the ROCKet Trial and the LOLIPOP trial.

I actively participate in the ROCKet Trial by signing out the vial with the Researcher and commence the Ketamine vs Placebo infusion for the patient who has consented to be a participant in the trial. I educate the patient regarding the infusion and advise the ward nurse of the patients participation in the trial as well as appropriate documentation on MAR.

The LOLIPOP Trial is a large, international, multicentre, double blind, randomised controlled trial that recruits women undergoing breast cancer surgery. I also care for these patients in PACU.

The trial will investigate whether chronic pain can be prevented by giving a local anaesthetic or placebo intravenously during and up to 24 hours after breast cancer surgery.

Domain 5: Through my several years of performing the role of in-charge, I have demonstrated advanced level clinical and problem-solving skills by undertaking any challenge encountered in a professional and caring manner. The role of in-charge in PACU, requires leadership, expert planning and the ability to apply critical thinking to ensure the safe transit of our patients through PACU and to a ward or home, ensuring quality standards are always met. This is evident in my handling of many complex situations I have encountered, whilst delegating appropriate staff to care for high acuity patients.

Often as the in-charge, decisions that are less than favourable to some need to be made to deliver a high standard of care and uphold professional standards in PACU. An example of such is keeping an operating theatre on hold whilst awaiting a nurse to available to care for a post operative patient. The Anaesthetist involved approached me and asked what the hold up was. I professionally explained the situation and negotiated an alternative solution with them by allowing his Registrar to transport the patient to PACU and commence recovery until a PACU Nurse was available. This allowed for the continuation of surgery within that theatre.

Another example recently, I was unable to send staff to their late break on time as it was particularly busy and not enough staff for the number of acute patients. I approached each staff member to communicate my plan and through appropriate, friendly communication, they were understanding and happy to abide.