I applied to start a degree in nursing just 3 months shy of 18 years old after helping a peer at school manage her immunisation anxiety. An ‘off-the-cuff’ comment from one of the school nursing team wedged itself in my brain, telling me nursing was the career for me. I liked science and I liked helping people, so it seemed like a good fit!

After 3 years at university, financially supplemented by auxiliary nursing across a variety of wards and departments in my local hospital between academic terms, I qualified with a Bachelor in Science and became a registered Nurse with the Nursing and Midwifery Council. I worked in Orthopaedic Trauma, followed by a busy Emergency Department and Major Trauma Centre.

During my student placements, I spent time with a Nurse Practitioner, a ‘rare-breed’ at the time...I had always remained in awe of her autonomy, skills, and experience and how she could problem-solve whatever her patients brought to her. Consequently, I applied for a job in an Urgent Care Centre offering a development pathway to be an Emergency Nurse Practitioner, an autonomous role dealing with a variety of urgent illness and injuries, and shortly after qualified as a Non-Medical Prescriber (because I’m a nurse – not a ‘medic’, but I can prescribe!).

After 10 years of experience in Emergency and Urgent care, I decided to take the next challenge of Primary Care. I had continued to study at university whilst working and was able to complete a Masters in Advanced Practice, which I was pleased to pass with Merit. I applied for a job as an Advanced Nurse Practitioner at a GP surgery. The Masters qualification itself, contained amongst others, education and rigorous assessment on physiology, physical assessment, and diagnostic reasoning. I have continued to gain experience across different surgeries and primary care facilities, seeing patients of all ages with a wide variety of different problems. I also work for an out-of-hours GP service and more recently Doctor Care Anywhere.

I particularly enjoy forming relationships and rapport with patients, consciously aware of the impact we can have on them when they are unwell and at their most vulnerable. I respect that people can be vulnerable with me and believe in the importance of listening to and understanding the patient’s needs, with shared decision making between myself and the patient an objective of the outcome of the consultation.

My interest in health is generalised and varied, I believe that there are many intertwined factors into people feeling and being “well” and patients should be primarily considered as a holistic individual rather than a single complaint or issue.

Joining Doctor Care Anywhere has been incredibly fulfilling to see how technology and innovation can thrive in healthcare. The company prides itself on patient-centricity and being able to provide accessible and flexible healthcare.

Part of the organisation’s plan to continue to offer more flexibility and support to our patients is the growth of our Advanced Nurse Practitioner team. We work alongside our GP colleagues, following the same evidence-based care pathways, to help patients of all ages suffering from acute or chronic illness, injury or pain, and physical and mental health concerns.

We can help you make a treatment or management plan, prescribe medication if needed, refer you for investigations, or on to consult with a specialist. We are available for both new assessments and for ongoing review of your symptoms and really are, very happy to meet you and help.

 Written by Hannah Lines, Advanced Nurse Practitioner.