Nurse in Charge
Sister Alison Ward MSc, BSc ( Hons ), DipH.Ed. RGN

Trained at the University of Hull, qualifying in 1991 with BSc (Hons) in Nursing Sciences.

Having enjoyed cardiothoracic nursing during her training, she took her first Staff Nurse post in the cardiothoracic unit at Castle Hill Hospital in Hull. This is where she developed an interest in Thoracic Surgery.

She moved to Leeds in 1992, to undertake the ENB 249 in cardiothoracic nursing. She worked on the cardiac surgical ward as a Senior Staff Nurse and then as a Junior Sister. A scholarship with Smith and Nephew led to an MSc in Critical Care at the University of Hull. In 1997, when the thoracic services moved to Ward 16 she obtained the position of Senior Sister for Thoracic Surgery.

• Since April she is responsible for a Nurse – Led clinic on the ward running one day a week which allows patient’s to return to the Ward for complex wound management, promoting earlier discharge from hospital.
   
• In August 2003 she participated in the organisation of a pre-admission clinic for thoracic patients again run one day a week on the ward.
   
• She is also responsible for other ongoing Projects on the ward including the staff education programme, Benchmarking, Named Nursing review and the Thoracic Website.
   
• Part of her plans is to hold a National Nursing Lung Cancer Study Day to promote the Thoracic Ward and the new Wing being developed, in late 2004.