Charity Knowles

Sexual Assault & Family Violence Forensic Services

• Coordinate and provide forensic and medical examinations for adult victims of alleged sexual assault and family violence cases.
• Practice within best practice frameworks, in accordance with state and national policies and guidelines.
• Excellent assessment skills pertaining to non intimate and intimate examinations and their findings.
• Collection and documentation of forensic specimens, in accordance to state requirements.
• Ensuring to maintain a trauma informed approach to each survivor, ensuring informed verbal and written consent is maintained throughout the process.
• Provide options to survivors within the realm of examinations, police involvement, after care, emergency contraception and STI prophylaxis to ensure informed choices can be made by survivors.
• Creating and delivering external education for THS colleagues and health practitioners in the wider community.
• Coordinate and participate in 24/7 on call roster.

• Streamlined unit operations for increased efficiency through effective resource allocation, scheduling, and workload management.
• Implemented successful healthcare program through professionalism, quality of care, medical teaching and patient satisfaction.
• Evaluated staff performance regularly through constructive feedback sessions, performance reviews, and goal-setting exercises.
• Served as a positive role model for junior nurses by demonstrating exceptional clinical skills, professionalism, and ethical behaviour at all times.
• Investigated and independently resolved complaints from staff, physicians, and patients by leveraging clinical judgment and unit management expertise.

• Provided care patient care to people across the lifespan with varying conditions from infants, children, pregnant women, and the elderly
• Upheld and adhered to all legislation requirements, acts, governing policies, and procedures within the healthcare setting
• Independently and collaboratively maintained safe and effective care to patients with diverse acuity levels in a time-restricted and demanding environment
• Merged empathy and strong interpersonal skills by ensuring both physical and emotional needs of patients and families were maintained
• Multitasking and prioritizing responsibilities based on patient conditions in a timely manner maintaining confidence in critical situations
• Effectively integrated, interpreted and reported changing patient data to ensure optimum care
• Served as preceptor to several registered and enrolled nursing students
• Demonstrate exemplary documentation skills by accurately maintaining nursing notes
• Team member of resuscitation and code team, assisted with rapid sequence intubations, ventilator management, defibrillation, procedural sedation, non-invasive respiratory support, and thrombolytics of STEMI patients
• Proficient in all aspects of emergency triage, decisively and confidently made clinical judgements on patient conditions based on vital signs, patient information and initial assessment; triaged to appropriate area
• Working as team leader on all shifts offered in department, providing support and guidance to fellow registered nurses, enrolled nurses, nursing, and medical students
• Working closely with Emergency Department Consultant, Hospital Bed Managers, and state Ambulance Services to facilitate transfers within the hospital or to other tertiary centres by road and/or air
• Actively participate in self-directed learning to enhance my professional development by undertaking local and interstate education or training days.

• Supervised, directed and motivated high-quality performance from nursing staff.
• Evaluated skills of nursing personnel and verified staff certifications for validity.
• Fostered improvement in staff development, personnel training and standards of patient care.
• Engaged and participated in consults, patient care plan development and patient monitoring.
• Established and continuously optimized unit schedules and individual work assignments.
• Designed and introduced leadership development, coaching and team management model, resulting in promotion of employees into increased levels of responsibility.

• Overseeing complex medical needs in a disability setting, providing 1:1 nursing care for chronic wounds, indwelling device care, chronic medical condition cares
• Accurately and successfully complete NDIS required complex medical care plan and delegation of care plans for participant’ support workers to ensure high quality cares are being achieved and maintained
• Advocated for participants' physical, psychosocial, developmental, spiritual and emotional needs during planning.
• Developed support worker education and training, to ensure yearly credentials of NDIS standards for Complex Cares are maintained
• Work closely with large multidisciplinary teams for participant supports to foster a more independent lifestyle
• Rostering a team of six nurses, ensuring adequate coverage for nursing cares that are delegated to appropriate scope of practice of nursing staff.
• Coordinated departmental operations according to administrative, legal and medical guidelines.
• Finalised service agreements, ensuring nursing hours were billed appropriately, and with in budgetary requirements.

Undergraduate Support

• Supporting Registered and Enrolled Nursing Students in their clinical placements in the Emergency Department through feedback and clinical guidance
• Assisting Lead Clinical Facilitator with learning needs of students through 1:1 training or education sessions
• Providing safe, supported, and intentional learning opportunities
• Providing students with progress reports throughout placements to ensure student goals and clinical competencies are met
• Able to create learning plans where students require additional supports from clinical placement area and provide bridge to university unit coordinators
• Completed final clinical assessment sign off requirements for several Australian Universities

Staff Nursing Support

• Team member of the implementation of Transition to Emergency Nursing Program (TtENP) at the Mersey Community Hospital
• Assisting new nursing staff to the Emergency Department, through ward orientation, clinical coaching and supported 1:1 clinical shift support
• Facilitating safe, supported, and intentional learning opportunities for new Emergency Nurses in all sections of the Emergency Department
• Facilitating study/training days in line with the TtENP course guide, workbook, and the Emergency Minimum Care Standards
• Mentor and precept in high stress areas of resuscitation and triage