We are UHB: Peaches Mandebvu, Clinical Support Nurse

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust runs Good Hope, Heartlands, Queen Elizabeth and Solihull hospitals and Solihull community services.

I am a Clinical Support Nurse in clinical haematology and oncology, and my role involves support for other nursing staff and allied health professionals on the two wards I cover. It’s predominantly focused on training new starters; however, it is not exclusive to newly qualified staff or preceptors. I also work with our current qualified nurses, introducing new initiatives, helping them use new products, refreshing clinical skills, as well as providing general assistance with all things clinical.

In haematology and oncology, the conditions we treat and therefore the care we give as well as the interventions we use, are incredibly niche. So, some nurses may have been doing this job for years but may be new to the speciality and haven’t come across some of these things before. Also, there are always new therapies in cancer treatment, so I help support colleagues with them.

It wasn’t too long ago that I was a new starter; I qualified a year and a half ago and I’m still very much in touch with what it’s like to be a preceptor. What I remember most about being a newly qualified nurse is knowing the basics, but, it was the little things I was most nervous about, like forgetting who to contact or not knowing where to find something I needed. For new starters now, I am that person who can help in those situations. I can point people in the right direction, teach them things, or just be that hand to hold while they settle in. I would define my role as a clinical ‘Ask Jeeves’!?

My journey into nursing was a pretty straight forward one. I trained in London where I got my degree in undergraduate nursing. While I was in nursing school my family relocated to the Midlands, so on the weekends and over the summer I would go home to them. I actually did my last placement on a haematology ward, which is where I fell in love with the specialty. Once I finished university, I decided I wanted to work in Birmingham. I looked around at the various trusts in the area and UHB stood out for me, mostly because it was the only Trust doing stem cell transplants and Car-T therapy, like the hospital I trained at in London.

I had always said to myself that I wanted to be a nurse who worked in life-sustaining care because I wanted to help people live - that was always my objective all the way through my training. I thought surgery was the speciality I wanted to work in, as I thought that would be where I could do just that; help people to live longer. But then I did my last placement in haematology… after I was exposed to this specialty, I realised there is so much life-sustaining care in cancer treatment, particularly with new therapies, and that more people are living through these interventions.

When I was a newly qualified nurse in the haematology department at UHB I was scared to bits. I was terrified because I was in a new hospital and moving from London to Birmingham felt like a whole new country! Everything was different – from the computer systems to the people. Everyone was calling me “Bab” and I didn’t understand why!

I had so much support from a lot of really great nurses. It quickly became my objective to make sure I checked in on other newly qualified nurses, especially if I could see them struggling. I naturally gravitated towards being that person who people would go to if they needed help. So, when this role of Clinical Support Nurse came up, my colleagues and my Matron suggested I go for it. Since I’ve started, it just fits me like a glove. I’m really enjoying it!

I used to think the best thing about my job was taking care of the patients, but actually it's taking care of other nurses. I feel like nurses are some of the most neglected people in society. They spend so much time taking care of other people, it's nice being that person who takes care of them. Sometimes that means just saying: "I'll cover your patient" or "I can do a few of the drug rounds, whilst you go on break, have a cup of tea and just relax" or "go and sit down and do some notes". I think the only thing that beats that is seeing someone who was a new starter and a bit nervous, coming into their own and becoming a really good practitioner, being super confident and being able to handle a medical emergency.

Despite everything we hear, I honestly think nurses are probably some of the happiest and most optimistic people in society; we get to see little miracles every single day. We see people who come in looking very unwell and very poorly, sometimes with a very poor prognosis, and we get to see them go home happy and healthy to their families, which is something that other people don't get to see. Nursing is one of the most riveting and exciting careers you can have. It teaches you a wide range of transferable skills that apply in any situation and scenario. I think it genuinely does make you a better human being. It's a career that will push you to your limits in terms of compassion, in terms of endurance, in terms of intellect; but it brings out the very best in you.?

Currently there seems to be a big focus on death rates, mortality and morbidity, because those are the things that have been prevalent in our society over the past three years. But I want to remind people that there is still a lot of life-sustaining care being delivered; medicine is still working. Nurses, doctors and everyone working in health are still very much hard at work and working together. There's a lot of support for the patients, and but there’s also that support for the staff, and we all support each other.

Thinking of a career in haematology and oncology nursing? Why not apply to join Peaches and the team at UHB? Apply here:

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