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Children's Community Nursing (CCN)

The Den.png

Our Aim

 

To support children,

young people

and their families in their own homes and other community settings offering specialist skills to increase their quality life.’

Who Are We

 

A team of specialist children’s nurses, who visit sick

children and their families at home to give nursing care and support.

What Services

Do We Provide?

 

Assessment of the child or

young person’s needs to

develop a package of care.

Support and teaching for parents

and other carer’s.

Hands-on nursing care, ensuring provision of necessary supplies

and equipment.

Liaison with schools and

other agencies.

To be an advocate for the

child and family.

 

 

 

Where Are We

 

Based at ‘The Den’ at

Chesterfield Royal Hospital

and can visit children who have

a North Derbyshire family doctor (GP).

The service is available Monday to Friday – 8am to 7pm. An on-call service is available 24 hours a day for urgent nursing advice.

 

Contact us 01246 514563

Who is in Our Team?

 

We are a team of specialist paediatric nurses. There are 9 qualified nurses in the team, 1 x band 5, 5 x Band 6’s and 3 x Band 7’s.

 

  • Michelle Tait is a band 7 nurse and Team leader for the team.

Michelle has a Nurse Specialist Community Qualification and as well as being Team Leader is the lead for facilitating support for families and carers at home called ‘Home Based Support’. Home Based Support is an organisation where carers are hired and trained to care for children with complex needs and disabilities.  Michelle provides and facilitates a monthly support group for siblings.

Michelle takes the lead for children with complex renal conditions and also holds a case load of children with complex needs and disabilities.

 

  • Louise Bennett is a band 7 nurse

Louise has a Nurse Specialist Community Qualification and is the lead for neuro-muscular degenerative conditions, long term ventilated patients, cleft lip and palate and rheumatology. Louise also administers and trains parents/carers to give cytotoxic injections. Some of Louise’s patients have tracheostomies and are full or partially ventilated at home. Louise is also the ‘Learning Environment Manager’ and has experience of being a sign-off mentor and preceptor.

 

  • Tracy Twyman is a band 7 nurse

Tracy has a background in oncology and palliative care and is the lead for Paediatric Oncology, palliative care and complex cardiac conditions. Part of her work requires Tracy to give chemotherapy agents and supportive drugs by central venous access devices.

 

  • Sharon Noble is a band 6 nurse

Sharon has a background of caring for children with complex needs in the school setting. Sharon holds a case load of caring for children with complex needs and takes the lead for children with complex bladder and bowel conditions and supports Michelle with the complex renal conditions.

 

  • Kate Little is a band 6 nurse

Kate has a background of caring for children in a hospice setting. Kate holds a case load of children with complex needs and disabilities.

 

 

  • Hannah Roebuck is a band 6 nurse

Hannah has a background of caring for children in a hospice setting and also managing a continuing care team. Hannah holds a caseload of children with complex needs and disabilities.

 

  • Jenny Abbott is a band 6 nurse

Jenny has a background of school nursing and working on an acute paediatric ward. Jenny holds a caseload of children with complex needs and disabilities and a small caseload of children with cystic fibrosis.

 

  • Laura Wilson is a band 6 nurse

Laura has a background of deputy ward sister on an acute paediatric ward. Laura holds a caseload of children with complex needs and disabilities, holds a small caseload of babies on home oxygen and supports Louise with the rheumatology caseload.

 

  • Denise Buck is a band 5 nurse

Denise has a background of critical care. Denise holds a small case load within the team, assists Jo Stout in the Training Team and Clare Faulkner in the continence service.

 

  • Lucy Goucher is a band 2 housekeeper/administration assistant

Lucy supports the children’s community nursing team by co-ordinating medical equipment and supplies that go out to our families and all other administration duties. 

 

 

We work closely and collaboratively with the Paediatric Epilepsy Team, the Paediatric Continence Team and the Children’s Community Nursing Training Team.

 

Paediatric Epilepsy Nursing Team

​

  • Jon Hickey is a band 7 Children’s Epilepsy Nurse Specialist and has a Nurse Specialist Community Qualification.

  • Rachel Parker is a band 6 Children’s Epilepsy Nurse and has a Nurse Specialist Community Qualification.

 

Jon and Rachel hold a caseload of children and young people with a diagnosis of epilepsy, providing high level clinical care across the North Derbyshire region to children and young people with epilepsy, their parents or carers, and other professionals such as school teaching staff. 

 

Jon and Rachel offer both home visits to children young people and their families and community visits to various settings.  Jon and Rachel work with Consultant Peadiatricians and provide joint Epilepsy Clinics within the hospital setting.

Jon and Rachel provide telephone support to families in between home visits and clinic appointments to discuss the child’s ongoing care, providing specialised information in line with NICE guidance.

Jon has recently completed the full Non-Medical Prescribers Course, enabling him to undertake prescriptions for epilepsy medications.

 

Jon and Rachel offer counseling to children’ young people and their families on:-

 

  • Issues such as epilepsy type or syndrome including probable future prognosis.

 

  • Management of preventative medications therefore improving seizure control and reducing untoward side effects.  This in turn improves the patient’s compliance and adherence with their medications.  Improved seizure control helps reduce the risk of physical injuries, emotional distress and lowers the risk of epilepsy related deaths.  It also helps reduce both hospital and emergency department admissions, therefore reducing cost to the NHS.

 

  • Psychosocial aspects of care including information on lifestyles, hobbies, sports, jobs, behaviors, first aid, driving, alcohol, and safety around the home.  Therefore maintaining or improving the child’s quality of life and reducing the associated stigma and misdiagnosis rates.

Continence Team

​

  • Clare Faulkner is a band 7 Continence Nurse Specialist and manages the continence service for North Derbyshire, which is part of the county wide service. She has a team of 2 band 6 nurses Nicole Atkinson and Shelley Stuart, a band 4 continence assistant Helen Smithurst, a clinic co-ordinator Julie Hall and a housekeeper/admin assistant Linda Ashmore.

 

Clare has developed the service to provide nurse led clinics across north Derbyshire in health settings and special schools. The team provides continence assessments, including nocturnal enuresis, constipation, daytime wetting and delayed toilet training.

Within the assessment they offer pre and post void bladder scans, issue enuresis alarms, prescribe medications and provide incontinence products as the condition dictates.

The team run joint clinics with school nurses and education staff within special schools to support children and young people to reach their continence potential.  

However...

Unfortunately due to the nature of our work and high level of specialism much of your placement will be observational. You will be allocated to a practice assessor and supervisors but we hope you will have the opportunity to work with all members of the team so you can optimise your experience.  

 

Your working hours will be Monday to Friday each week 9am-5pm, however if you have the opportunity to go on a visit with a CCN outside of these hours, you can take the time back on another day. You will be expected to wear your own clothes (not uniform) and these should be smart but casual (no jeans) and no open toed shoes or sandals.

 

If you have any questions prior to your placement please don’t hesitate to contact us on 01246 514563.

Children’s Community Nursing Training Team

​

  • Joanna Stout is a band 6 nurse and is the Nurse Training Co-ordinator for the Training Team in North Derbyshire.

  • Amanda Young is the Administrative Training co-ordinator and organises the training programme for the year

 

The Training Team provide specific training and education to parents, carers and education staff in caring for children with complex needs and disabilities in North Derbyshire.

​

The primary training sessions taught are:

  • Epilepsy Awareness and Emergency Medication

  • Respiratory Awareness including oxygen delivery, suction and nebulisers/inhalers

  • Trachesotomy Awareness

  • Enteral Feeding – Gastrostomy Awareness

  • Medicines Management and Safe and Accurate Administration 

The Training team also provide bespoke training on:

  • Nasogastric Tube placement and feeding

  • Epipen Awareness

 

 Jo delivers the taught sessions and then follows up by going into the care setting to ensure carers’ competencies are checked.

What learning objectives could a student nurse gain from a placement in our team?

 

  • A children’s community nursing experience which involves working and caring for children and their families in the home setting.

  • Develop an understanding about the needs of children and their families who have complex and life limiting conditions.

  • Develop an understanding of how all the community children’s services work collaboratively together to provide nursing care and support to families in North Derbyshire with children with complex needs, life limiting conditions and a range of complex medical conditions.

Teach Team Sessions: Epilepsy, Gastrostomy, Tracheostomy, Oxygen and suction.

 

Clinics: Continence, Epilepsy, Rheumatology, Cystic Fibrosis, Feeding, Wheelchair, Allergy, Cardiac.

 

Other Professionals:

 

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