Katharine Whittingham
Lecturer in Community Nursing & Clinical Skills, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences
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Biography
I qualified as a RGN in 1988. I have worked in various specialist areas of nursing including oncology, haematology, acute medicine and palliative care. Throughout all my staff nurse experience my responsibilities have included assessing, planning, implementing and evaluating patient care; regularly managing the ward and allocating staff; acting as mentor and trainer to newly qualified staff; ensuring I practiced evidence based care by keeping up to date with hospital policies and procedures and national guidelines; working with the broader multi-professional team.
In 1990 I was successful in gaining a post as a night sister on an acute medical ward at Derby City Hospital. My responsibilities included coordinating care for patients with respiratory and cardiac conditions; allocating staff throughout the hospital; attending medical emergencies as required; teaching and assessing students and newly qualified staff allocated to the ward. This post created the opportunity for further development of clinical leadership skills.
Between 1994 and 2003 I worked as a Health Promotion Specialist. The role is underpinned by national policies relating to health inequalities and prevention of ill health. I was expected to work strategically in order to influence policy development in Nottingham as well as implementing and evaluating specific projects.
I have had varied experience in developing, planning and delivering training to
I have had varied experience in developing, planning and delivering training to multi-agency groups including pre and post registered nurses . Examples of this include:
• Helping People Change
• Health Promotion Foundation Course
• Drugs awareness
In June 2004 I was appointed as a Cancer Support Nurse in the Clifton Supportive and Palliative Care Project. The role required the case management of patients with non- curative cancer to develop programmes of care to support patients from point of diagnosis to end of life. The post utilised a multi professional approach to patient care and worked in partnership with patients, carers, GPs, district nursing teams, Macmillan nurses, specialists nurses, secondary care teams, social services and arrange of voluntary organisations.
At the end of the project's funding I took up a post as a Community Matron to build upon my case management skills. I worked with patients living with complex long - term conditions. The role involved proactive case management utilising advanced nurse practitioner skills to support patient choice and reduce the rate of unplanned hospital admissions. The majority of patients in the case - load had heart failure and through the management of these patients I gained an in depth knowledge into the complex clinical and psychosocial issues facing this client group.
In April 2006 I was appointed as a BHF Heart Failure Nurse working within Nottingham City PCT. Key responsibilities of the role include:
• Support and education of patients/carers in recognising clinical symptoms that indicate decompensation
• Monitoring of clinical and psychosocial needs throughout disease trajectory
• Development of management plans in conjunction with primary and secondary care to optimise treatment in partnership with patient/carers
• Orchestrate packages of care in partnership with social services /welfare benefits service/voluntary sector to meet social care needs of patients/carer
• Liaise with Heart Failure Specialist Nurse in secondary care to provide effective communication pathway throughout the disease trajectory
• Facilitation of 'Preferred Place of Care' choices and 'Liverpool Care Pathway' in relation to end of life issues• Service development in conjunction with multi professional team including EMAS, pharmacy, GPs, District Nursing Service, Social Services, Secondary Care providers.
• Managing change in relation to role reconfiguration
• Training health professionals and pre and post registered nurses in best practice relating to heart failure management
• As an advanced nurse practitioner I am up to date with current national and local initiatives relating to CHD and Heart Failure and influence the implementation of these locally
•Supporting pre registration student nurses during clinical placement with heart failure team.
Expertise Summary
- Experience of promoting of an integrated approach to case management and the management of long term conditions.
- Specialist Heart failure Nurse expertise in developing clinical guidelines, clinical assessment and prescribing evidence based medication
- Palliative care guidance relating to management of end stage heart failure
- Physical and psychosocial needs of carers for patients with heart failure
- Wide range of experience of working a health care community based settings both in preventive interventions and proactive management of long term conditions.
Teaching Summary
Nursing Care Delivery and Management Adult Branch
Clinical Skills Teaching across Pre registration and Masters programmes
LBR teaching as follows: Cardiac Module, Consultation Module, Long… read more
Research Summary
I am currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Sheffield. The focus of the research study for the PhD is the experience of unpaid carers of patients with end stage heart failure.. I am… read more
Recent Publications
2011. Carer support from a community- based heart specialist nurse service British Journal of Nursing. 20(21), 1388 -1390
WHITTINGHAM,K and DRING,B AND QUINN,M, 2010. A Multi- Professional Approach to Managing Anaemia in Heart Failure – a Case Study British Journal of Cardiac Nursing. Vol 5(No 4), pp 163 -167 (In Press.)
WHITTINGHAM,K AND HODGSON, L, 2010. The complexities of caring for a patient with an ICD in end-stage heart failure British Journal of Cardiac Nursing Vol 5 No 10 pp 2-8. Vol 5(No 10), pp 2-8 (In Press.)
CARR, JACQUI, HEGGARTY, HEATHER, CARR, MARCIA, FULWOOD, DEB, GOODWIN, CLARE, WALKER, WENDY WALKER and WHITTINGHAM, KATHARINE, 2010. Reflect for success: recommendations for mentors managing failing students. British journal of community nursing. 15(12), 594-6