MedSoc enjoyed a visit from Class of 2013 alumna Ellie who works in emergency medical and critical care.  She graduated from Kings College London with a BSc in Children's Nursing and is now completing a Master's Degree whilst working in children's intensive care at King's College Hospital and for London's Air Ambulance. 

She initially worked in a trauma hospital, but then applied to convert to a children's intensive care unit after 9 months. 

Her first day at work was 14 June 2017, the same day as fire of the Grenfell Tower.  Her experiences that day reassured her that what she was doing was a vitally important job. 

In 2020, when Covid started, the way of working changed dramatically. There was much more PPE, new ways to ventilate, new illnesses and her 16 bed children's intensive care unit became 4 beds for children and 12 for adults. This provided Ellie with her first real-life experience of adult nursing. 

In 2021, Ellie become a Sister and the manager of the Children's Critical Care Unit at King's College Hospital. Despite this, Ellie still had an interest in trauma patients so secured a job with London's Air Ambulance in 2022. 

This involves interdisciplinary work between all aspects of healthcare - including the fire brigade, ambulances, etc. Some of her cases involved doing heart surgery on the roadside and she often works with families and patients breaking bad news. She often works long days, during which she is either be flying out to patients or training with actors and mannequins.  Ellie became the co-lead nurse for the LAA and was the advisor to shadow the Health Minister. She has also co-authored 2 medical papers and written a book about traumatic bereavement. 

Ellie is currently halfway through a master's degree, while balancing working for the LAA and working on the intensive care children's unit. Because of the high-trauma cases, the LAA only allows nurses to work for 6 months, or part-time to reduce burnout rates. Ellie is constantly learning and providing support for families.

I found the talk to be an invaluable experience, reassuring me that I can still work in the healthcare system with patients without a medicine degree. 

Annie, Year 12