Jess Higgs – Registered Nursing Associate Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust Shift: Sickness to Prevention

For Jess Higgs, a career in the NHS began not in a lecture theatre but on the ward. As one of Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust’s first cadet nurse apprentices, she gained her first experience supporting patients on an older adult mental health ward  and never looked back.

Following the Trust’s apprenticeship pathway, Jess went on to qualify as a Registered Nursing Associate. Today she works with the Abingdon District Nursing Team, delivering skilled clinical care to housebound patients in their own homes. Her caseload includes insulin administration, complex wound care, catheter care, and PICC line management, procedures that, not long ago, would have required a hospital visit.

But it is the preventative side of her role that Jess finds most meaningful. A key part of her work involves identifying concerns early, spotting the signs that something might be developing before it becomes serious, and intervening in time to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions. For patients who are most comfortable and settled in their own homes, that early attention can make all the difference.

With nearly six years at Oxford Health, Jess has seen first-hand how community-based nursing transforms patient experience. Receiving care at home, surrounded by familiar surroundings and loved ones, supports both recovery and wellbeing in ways that a hospital setting simply cannot replicate.

For Jess, being part of the NHS means being there for people and their families at the moments that matter most. Her journey, from apprentice to qualified practitioner delivering complex care in the community, is a testament to what the NHS makes possible when it invests in its people.