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You鈥檝e worked in infection control for some time, what does that area of nursing involve?
It鈥檚 extremely high up the national agenda right now and it鈥檚 embedded with the anti-microbial resistance agenda and patient safety. They all integrate and work side by side.
Our day-to-day role for NHS Tayside involves advising on patient care and infection prevention and control听precautions that clinical听teams need to adopt.听
We also carry out听monitoring and surveillance, auditing, provide听education and carry out听research.听
It鈥檚 a never ending exciting list I suppose!
When did you decide that infection control was the area you wanted to focus on?
When I qualified and went into post, it actually wasn鈥檛 such a popular speciality. There wasn鈥檛 the widespread knowledge of infection,听prevention and听control that听there is now and there were only a few听nurses specialising in it in Tayside.
I worked in Royal Victoria Hospital in Dundee at the time and some of my colleagues had suggested that this was the correct career direction for myself.听
It’s always a great time to become a nurse, but I think right now that’s even more true.Pamela Davidson | NHS Tayside | Lead Nurse, Infection Prevention and Control
It seems as though your Abertay degree really helped you get to where you are?
Definitely. What we do is very much evidence based work. If I didn鈥檛 have my BSc Hons degree early on I probably wouldn鈥檛 be sitting where I am now.
What advice do you have for our current students?
Make sure you make the most of the experience. Because it鈥檚 a smaller university it鈥檚 easier to integrate. Make the most of the day-to-day opportunities you have as a student and use the time and support lecturers and other staff can give you.
What would you say to anyone considering studying nursing?
It鈥檚 a very rewarding post. It can be challenging and you鈥檙e always learning every day. It鈥檚 such a dynamic time for nursing right now and the way we鈥檙e able to change and mould the posts as time goes on is exciting. It鈥檚 always a great time to become a nurse, but I think right now that鈥檚 even more true.
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