The health service’s first nurse consultant in specialist rehabilitation has spoken about her pride in what is thought to be a landmark appointment.
Rose Marshall has been appointed to what is believed to be the first nurse consultant in specialist rehabilitation in the NHS.
“Specialist rehabilitation is a holistic package of care to rehabilitate the patient’s whole self to give the best start to their onward recovery and treatment”
Rose Marshall
After qualifying as a nurse in 2005, Ms Marshall worked in intensive care, surgery and as a tracheostomy nurse specialist at Royal Stoke Hospital.
She is currently a member of the Broadfield Ward team at Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust’s Haywood Hospital in Stoke-on-Trent.
Prior to her promotion to nurse consultant, she worked in the same unit at the trust as an advanced nurse practitioner.
Now, as a nurse consultant, she will help develop services within the specialty locally, regionally, and nationally, while also offering more learning and development opportunities to colleagues.
Among her aims are to provide further training and development to colleagues, and to improve care by creating a national networking group for specialist rehabilitation nurses to share best practice.
At trust level, Ms Marshall also wants to involve nurses in ward rounds, encouraging them to learn more about the complexity of specialist rehabilitation care.
Another key focus for Ms Marshall will be encouraging colleagues to get involved in research to find new, innovative ways to continue to evolve and develop the service.
She said: “I’m really proud to be stepping into this role, and to be what we believe to be the first nurse consultant in specialist rehabilitation in the NHS makes it that little bit extra special.”
She added: “Specialist rehabilitation is a holistic package of care to rehabilitate the patient’s whole self to give the best start to their onward recovery and treatment.”
Ms Marshall also highlighted that she was the first person who was not a doctor to sit on the committee for the British Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine.
“I want to use my connections to shine a light onto the work that nurses do in the field and help colleagues build connections,” she said.
“Other specialist rehabilitation units are quite spread out across the country, so I really want to try to bring colleagues closer together.”
Liz Lockett, trust chief nurse and deputy chief executive, said: “Firstly, I would like to say well done to Rose on her new, prestigious role, which is one I am sure will go on to make a huge difference.
“This is a further sign of our commitment not only to learning and development, but to deliver better health and care to make life better for our communities,” she said.
“By having clinicians such as Rose – who are leaders in their field – within the trust helps us to provide high quality care now but also look towards the future as we seek to develop our services.”