Name and role

Jessica Quayle

Clinical Nurse Specialist – Nutrition

Integrated Nutrition and Communication Services.

On a typical day  

I travel from Manchester for an 8am start. Generally, I work Monday to Friday 8-5pm. However, every 6 weeks I work the weekend independently and run the service for both Preston and Chorley! I am part of a fantastic team of seven band 6’s, two healthcare assistants, two secretaries and a Consultant Nurse – Tracy Earley. We also work very closely with the wonderful CVAT, Speech and Language Therapy Team, Dieticians and Gastroenterologists. My working day is different every single day. Some days I will attend the Nutrition Ward Round where we assess / review our inpatient’s who are on TPN (Total Parenteral Nutrition). Some days I run a Rapid Access Clinic where patients are seen and discharged back home (99.9% of the time in the same day), this reduces hospital admissions and is an incredible service which we are able to provide to the people of Preston and surrounding areas. Other days I carry the bleep and assist on the wards with any difficult nasogastric tube placements they have or any other Nutrition related tube queries, I also carry out the nasogastric tube audits for Critical Care (every week). Other days I go to Chorley and assist with any problems they may have. We perform gastrostomy assessments and also place PEGs in Endoscopy. I am very interested in teaching and provide teaching sessions to the wards, student nurses and even medical staff. I have also just run my very first Enteral Feeding Study Day (which we had fantastic feedback for).

One way I’ve made a difference as a nurse or midwife

The typical patients that we see day to day are usually going through invasive and life changing treatments due to their diagnosis. We get to know our patients on a personal level and we provide them with support and reassurance. Our patients frequently come back to ‘visit’ us and love coming back to clinic. I feel that every day we make a significant difference to each and every one of our patients. We are a fantastic team of compassionate nurse who are all exceptionally skilled in what we do. Our service that we provide is rapid and reliable. I love teaching students/ staff everything that I know, in the hope that I can make a difference to who they will develop into as qualified staff or as they progress in their careers.

What would you say to a young person interested in a career in nursing & midwifery?

If you want a challenging yet rewarding career, nursing is perfect for you! Nurses are the most caring and compassionate of people and they make a difference to almost everyone they meet. There is no better feeling than knowing you have made a direct, positive difference to someone when they are at their most vulnerable. Us Nurses, we are incredible.

Find out more
Jessica Quayle 

Jessica.quayle@lthtr.nhs.uk