International Nurses Day 2023 – Jean’s Story

Jean Bryson is a qualified nurse, working as a pre-hospital practitioner within the Trust.

Hello, I'm Jean. I'm a pre-hospital practitioner (PHP) at EEAST in north Essex.

I have been a qualified nurse for 18 years, working in different areas of nursing. I joined the Trust in November 2022 when the PHP role was introduced.

Our role is currently similar to a paramedic working to the same scope of practice, just with a different job title.

On a typical day we work as part of a double crew ambulance attending all categories of patients. With previous nursing knowledge, and new knowledge gained, we look to provide the best holistic care for a patient. This means not always conveying patients to hospital and working with other health care professionals to find the best suitable care pathway for a patient and trying to avoid hospital admissions by making use of the Trust's pathways already available.

Working within emergency medicine for six years, in an emergency department, I had reached a comfortable level of emergency medicine knowledge and ability to care for the vast conditions that came to the department. I wanted to expand my knowledge, gain new skills and have more ability to work autonomously with my nursing qualification.

Since joining the Trust as a pre-hospital practitioner, it has met my expectations plus more.

My own locality has been very welcoming and supportive which has made a huge impact on work life balance, my own mental health and passion to continue to follow this new role. EEAST have some very positive aspects that out way any negatives.

The pressures are different to the normal nursing pressures and one aspect that is a very positive is that you are able to give patients 1-1 care and time.

Would I recommend working for EEAST as a pre-hospital practitioner? The answer would be 100% yes, it's been a rewarding five months so far, and all staff have been very welcoming and supportive to myself and other PHPs.

The training team at Abbeygate for my course PHP01 were a fantastic, supportive and encouraging team. From day one there has always been support and someone to answer any questions or concerns.

The future is unknown but having the collaborative, inclusive working that EEAST promotes is an exciting journey to be part of.

Does this role sound like it could be for you? We are hiring pre-hospital practitioners now!

Visit the 'our vacancies' section of our website to apply today.