My name is Adam Bowen, and I am a Clinical Nurse Practitioner for District Nursing at Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust, since April 2020.
Background
I always saw myself as quite a caring individual and initially I thought I wanted to be a paramedic. I actually started my career as a care assistant in a residential care home at the age of 18. I saw the district nurses coming into the home and I thought I could look at making that my career, as what I really wanted to do was follow the patients’ continued care and journey rather than working under acute circumstances.
I worked up the ranks, qualifying in 2014 and working as a Staff Nurse in an acute hospital in Devon. Then as a Community Staff Nurse and then as a Tuberculosis Clinical Nurse Specialist before my current role.
My FNF Programme helped me develop as a leader
In 2019 I completed the FNF Community Nurse Leadership Programme. The experience was fantastic. It enabled me to network with other nursing leaders and to have the opportunity to receive coaching from expert nurse leaders and mentors. It gave me the opportunity to develop as a leader.
My Quality Improvement project resulted in TB diagnosis, treatment and risk reduction from UK entrants
On the Quality Improvement Project part of the programme, I worked on implementation of nurse led clinics for the screening of Latent Tuberculosis for new entrants to the UK, in partnership with Public Health England. This meant that we could diagnose patients that would otherwise have not known they had Latent TB and posed a risk of going on to develop active TB.
Like Covid-19, Tuberculosis (TB) can be infectious. It is passed by breathing in bacteria from another infected person after which it enters the bloodstream. Latent TB however is in roughly a third of the world’s population lying dormant. However, approximately 10% of those ‘carriers’ go on to develop active TB, which if not treated, can result in rapid deterioration and can become fatal.
Only by screening for Latent Tuberculosis, would someone know they had it. Yet when I joined, there were no screening services for it. Consequently, I implemented a new entrant TB Screening clinic as part of the Latent Tuberculosis Infection (LTBI) national programme. I furthermore assisted in promoting TB awareness in the community whilst also giving advice to clinicians as part of my role.
I gained the skills that helped me get the job
Two months after successfully completing FNF’s Community Nurse Leadership Programme, I applied for a Band 7 role as Clinical Nurse Practitioner. The course had increased my interest in what I was doing massively and gave me the skills to ensure I was prepared to shine at the interview and… I got the job!
End Thoughts
I would like to thank my sponsor, Health Education England, for releasing time for me to complete this programme and allowing my career to develop and grow. What puts a smile on my face is the satisfaction of providing excellent patient care both directly and indirectly through my newfound leadership.