Sharon Kay
89 Chadstone Road, Craigie
Summary
Adaptable professional senior nurse specialising in orthopaedic and trauma nursing with proven ability to work in fast-paced environment. Calm and level-headed when handling high-stress situations. Uses strong communication skills and humour to develop professional relationships with colleagues and consumers. Possesses a wide range of transferable skills in clinical care, team management, mentoring juniors, data management and research.
Overview
34
34
years of professional experience
Work History
Clinical Nurse
Trauma Registry, Royal Perth Hospital
2011.03 - Current
- Trauma Research Level 2.8
- Responsibilities include the collection and interpretation of data for the Trauma Registry and scoring injuries in accordance with the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine’s Injury Scaling system
- The support and mentorship of new staff
- Conducting regular ED Trauma Form audits
- Liaising with St John’s Ambulance (SJA) and the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) to obtain records required for the Trauma Registry
- Providing written Trauma Reports to SJA, RFDS, country hospitals and nursing posts for critically injured patients
- Recognising and reporting emerging trends in the data to assist with the Injury Prevention program
- Assisting researchers with data requests from the Trauma Registry
- Collecting data for the FEISTY II clinical trial, which is comparing the use of Fibrinogen Concentrate vs Cryoprecipitate in managing haemorrhage in the trauma patient.
- Identifying Missed Injuries for the Missed Injuries Audit and preparing data for the Mortality Audit
- Preparing and uploading quarterly Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) and Perth Children's Hospital (PCH) trauma data to the Australian and New Zealand Trauma Registry (ATR)
Acting Nurse Unit Manager, SRN Level 4, Ward 5H
Royal Perth Hospital
2024.07 - 2024.08
- Completed a 2-week secondment to ward 5H (orthopaedic, neurosurgical, urological and opthalmology patients) to cover leave. Attended daily divisional and hospital wide MS Teams meetings, reporting on bed demand and staffing levels for the ward; negotiating with other NUMs and senior staff in meeting that demand.
- Attended daily ward PROMPT meeting with ward staff and allied health team, to assess individual patient's progress towards discharge, which in turn assisted with managing ward's need for beds.
- Approving nurses' shift swaps, and annual leave requests, and had an introduction to using Lattice and Rostar for managing staff pay and rosters.
- Responded to an email of complaint from a ward nurse who had concerns about the care of a patient, his poorly managed behaviour which resulted in two members of staff being injured. Collaborated with various team members to ensure adequate staffing levels, a review of the patient's medication, and his discharge to his care home being expedited by the Social Worker. This resulted in his care being better managed, and the ward nurse wrote an email of appreciation for my actions, stating that she was "amazed at the improvement in his management" and that it was great to have a manager who "had their backs."
Acting State Trauma Program Manager
Royal Perth Hospital
2023.04 - 2023.07
- Clinical Nurse Manager ANF SRN Level 4
- I supported the Trauma Registry nurses, clerical staff and Injury Prevention Program nurse, as well as Trauma Consultants through a difficult transitional period with a change of management, with limited preparation for the role myself
- I participated in safety and quality activities such as the Mortality & Morbidity meetings, Mortality audit, Missed Injury audit, Trauma Committee Meetings and was on the investigating team for a Severity Assessment Code (SAC) 1 incident.
- I worked with the RPH Trauma Director, preparing the documentation for the Trauma Service to undergo intense scrutiny and 2-day audit of the service by a visiting interstate Trauma Verification Team; I also organised the accommodation, security permits and computer access for the visiting team, as well as obtaining 200 medical records for patients with specific conditions for the team to review. This was an immense undertaking during a difficult period of change; the hospital has since provisionally passed Trauma Verification.
- I negotiated with multiple people from the IT Department regarding some problematic automated data upload issues in order to reach resolution
- Downloaded, “cleaned,” and prepared quarterly data from RPH and Perth Children’s Hospital for submission to the Australian and New Zealand Trauma Registry (ATR).
- I participated in the recruitment and interviews of Research Nurses for the Trauma Registry, as well as Clinical Nurses for a surgical ward
- I was able to identify that we had a team-wide deficit in knowledge regarding Structured Query Language (SQL), which is the tool use to extract data from the Trauma Registry; I negotiated with senior management to source training external to the hospital to meet this training need. This enabled us to extract data and continue to respond to requests for data from the Trauma Registry after our Data Manager resigned
- I liasised with our Financial Department regarding budget issues
- Prepared written quarterly reports for the Road Safety Commission
Clinical Nurse
State Major Trauma Unit, Royal Perth Hospital
2008.03 - 2011.03
- My role as Clinical Nurse gave me the opportunity to care for a range of traumatically injured patients, including those who require care in the High Acuity area of the ward
- I often co-ordinated the ward, ensuring that the workload was evenly distributed amongst the nursing staff and according to individual nurses’ level of ability
- I assessed patients in ICU, HDA and ED for their suitability for admission to the State Major Trauma Unit
- Daily I liaised with other members of the multidisciplinary team regarding patient care and discharge planning
- I participated in the Unit’s teaching program by delivering sessions about orthopaedic injuries, pelvic fractures & pulmonary contusions
- I was regularly called upon for advice regarding specific orthopaedic nursing issues by my junior colleagues
- I participated in the support and mentorship of newly graduated nurses
- My main achievement was passing the Masters Certificate in High Dependency Nursing
- I also completed a six-week placement in the High Dependency Area at Royal Perth Hospital as part of this course.
Acting Trauma Case Manager
Trauma Service, Royal Perth Hospital
2010.02 - 2010.08
- Completed 6-month secondment to this role
- Responsibilities included attending calls to ED to assess new trauma patients for admission to the Trauma Unit, ICU or HDA, handing over to the receiving ward and ensuring that a suitable bed was available
- Attending ICU and HDA daily to assess trauma patients to ensure the smooth co-ordination of care of these complex patients who often have several specialities involved in their care
- Acting as a support to families and staff
- Attending weekly meetings with the spinal Consultants and daily meetings with the Trauma Multidisciplinary team to plan patient care and communicate changes to the ward areas
- Assist with the complex discharges, particularly interstate or overseas
- Liaise with Major Crash Investigation (police), Coroner’s Department, the Press and hospital Public Relations Department
- Participate in Senior Nursing and Quality forums
- While in this role I co-wrote a protocol for the using of pelvic slings for patients with pelvic fractures; I also introduced the Injury Management Summary, a document used for complex patients detailing their injuries, teams involved in their care, post op orders and mobility orders, as an aid to all staff.
Registered Nurse
Ward 5G, Royal Perth Hospital
2007.11 - 2008.03
- My role was to provide care for a variety of patients with spinal and other traumatic injuries, including those who had surgery for muscle flaps and skin grafting
- Working in collaboration with my nursing colleagues and other members of the multidisciplinary team
- I participated in the Falls focus group meetings on the ward and was involved with the Falls documentation auditing.
Ward Manager
Queen Alexandra Hospital
2004.07 - 2007.01
- I had clinical and managerial responsibility for a 28-bedded acute trauma ward, which catered for a wide variety of adult patients, including those with head, spinal and multiple injuries
- I led a team of about 43 members of nursing staff, and I worked hard to create a happy, supportive working environment
- This in turn, enabled us as a team to provide a high standard of patient care
- My responsibilities included managing the roster, skill mix, establishment, budget, recruitment, annual leave, sickness & absence, disciplinary procedures, performance reviews, occupational health & safety, audits, quality improvement programs, preparing a report for the coroner, answering complaints, risk management
- Several times a week I held the Unit pager, taking responsibility for 90-120 acute trauma patients
- It involved supporting my colleagues clinically, as well as dealing with staffing problems, complaints, bed shortages, managing patient flow, complex discharge planning and dealing with any untoward incidences such as fire, cardiac arrest, or violent/aggressive situations
- I had the opportunity to work as the Acting Matron, taking on all the clinical and managerial responsibility for the three wards (90 beds) within the Unit
- I would take on this role to cover the occasional day’s leave or a week’s annual leave at a time
- My achievements included:
- Dramatically improving sickness & absence rates amongst staff
- Implementing new fluid balance charts and fluid balance competencies
- Managed a very difficult disciplinary case in which the member of staff was dismissed for misconduct
- I was involved in a hospital wide group formed to improve discharge planning with the introduction of the Four Hour Rule in the NHS – we implemented Predicted Discharge Dates, improving service from pharmacy & the creation of Discharge Planning Nurse roles within each Unit
- Changed the timing of the morning drug round on the ward to reduce the risk of drug errors and improve patient safety
- I was also responsible for the setting up of a Trauma Admission Bay.
Senior Staff Nurse, F Grade
Queen Alexandra hospital
2001.01 - 2004.01
- My role was to support the Ward Manager, managing a 28-bedded trauma ward
- Several times a week I held the Unit Pager, taking responsibility for 120 acute trauma patients
- It involved supporting my colleagues clinically, as well as dealing with any staffing problems, complaints, or any untoward incidents
- I was also involved with teaching on the Unit
- My main achievement during this time was proposing a change of shift pattern for the ward, which was approved and implemented
- This was later then adopted by the other two wards within the Unit.
Staff Nurse, E Grade
Queen Alexandra Hospital
1996.01 - 2001.01
- Clinically based, Team Leader on trauma and elective orthopaedic ward
- Some time spent working part time on nights
- Completed the BSc (Hons) Nursing during this time.
Staff Nurse, E Grade
Orthopaedic Unit, St Richard’s Hospital
1994.01 - 1996.01
- Clinically based Team Leader on mixed trauma and elective orthopaedic ward
- Set up nurse-led Pre-Operative Assessment Clinic
- Completed ENB 998 Teaching and Assessing in Clinical Practice.
Staff Nurse, D Grade
Queen Alexandra Hospital
1991.01 - 1994.01
- Clinically based on mixed trauma and elective orthopaedic ward
- Consolidated training
- Completed nine-month secondment to the Accident & Emergency Department, where I gained skills in suturing, plastering and burns care
- Completed the ENB 219 Orthopaedic Nursing course.
Education
Certified Abbreviated Injury Scale Specialist - AIS 2005, Injury Scaling: Uses & Techniques
Assoc' For The Advancement of Automotive Medicine
Perth, WA2013
Master of Clinical Nursing Certificate - High Dependency Nursing
Curtin University
Perth, WA2009
Bachelor of Science (Honours) - Nursing
University of Portsmouth
Portsmouth, UK1999
English National Board - 998 - Teaching And Assessing in Clinical Practice
Chichester School of Nursing
Chichester, UK1995
English National Board 216 - Orthopaedic Nursing
Solent School of Health Studies
Portsmouth, UK1994
Registered Nurse Training - Registered General Nurse
Portsmouth District & Royal Naval Nursing School
Portsmouth, UK1991
Skills
- Excellent communication skills, verbal and written
- Advanced ability to keep calm in a crisis, de-escalate volatile situations and manage conflict resolution
- Highly organised, able to multi-task and to deal with competing priorities
- Advanced leadership skills, creating a happy and supportive work environment
- Impeccable consumer/customer service skills, reflecting the professionalism of the organisation
- Well versed in the use of Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, a variety of databases, including data input, and some SQL experience
Referees
Ms Kathy Young, Coordinator of Nursing, Surgical Division, Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, WA, 6000.
E-mail: Kathy.young@health.wa.gov.au
Dr Dieter Weber, Director of Trauma Services, Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, WA, 6000.
E-mail: Dieter.weber@health.wa.gov.au
Ms Lola Sikora, Trauma Program Manager, Trauma Services, Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, WA, 6000.
E-mail: Lola.sikora@health.wa.gov.au
Timeline
Acting Nurse Unit Manager, SRN Level 4, Ward 5H
Royal Perth Hospital
2024.07 - 2024.08
Acting State Trauma Program Manager
Royal Perth Hospital
2023.04 - 2023.07
Clinical Nurse
Trauma Registry, Royal Perth Hospital
2011.03 - Current
Acting Trauma Case Manager
Trauma Service, Royal Perth Hospital
2010.02 - 2010.08
Clinical Nurse
State Major Trauma Unit, Royal Perth Hospital
2008.03 - 2011.03
Registered Nurse
Ward 5G, Royal Perth Hospital
2007.11 - 2008.03
Ward Manager
Queen Alexandra Hospital
2004.07 - 2007.01
Senior Staff Nurse, F Grade
Queen Alexandra hospital
2001.01 - 2004.01
Staff Nurse, E Grade
Queen Alexandra Hospital
1996.01 - 2001.01
Staff Nurse, E Grade
Orthopaedic Unit, St Richard’s Hospital
1994.01 - 1996.01
Staff Nurse, D Grade
Queen Alexandra Hospital
1991.01 - 1994.01
Certified Abbreviated Injury Scale Specialist - AIS 2005, Injury Scaling: Uses & Techniques
Assoc' For The Advancement of Automotive Medicine
Master of Clinical Nursing Certificate - High Dependency Nursing
Curtin University
Bachelor of Science (Honours) - Nursing
University of Portsmouth
English National Board - 998 - Teaching And Assessing in Clinical Practice
Chichester School of Nursing
English National Board 216 - Orthopaedic Nursing
Solent School of Health Studies
Registered Nurse Training - Registered General Nurse
Portsmouth District & Royal Naval Nursing School
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