Nicola Rudkin, Deputy Associate Director of Nursing for Surgery and Head of Nursing for the Queen Elizabeth Unit Critical Care Pandemic Expansion

In this episode Laura speaks with Nicola Rudkin, the Deputy Associate Director of Nursing for Surgery and Head of Nursing for the Queen Elizabeth Unit Critical Care Pandemic Expansion at the Royal London Hospital. They discuss Nicola's journey into critical care and the challenges she faced starting in ICU the week after the London bombings. She discusses her transition from Senior Sister to Matron and again when she became the senior nurse for peri-op (theatres, short stay surgery, pain and pre-op admission). Nicola talks about her current role as Deputy Associate Director of Nursing for Surgery.Laura and Nicola discuss the impact the pandemic has had on critical care nurses and Nicola gives an insight into the critical care expansion which has taken place at the Royal London hospital. During the second wave of the pandemic Nicola has taken on the head of nursing role as a temporary leadership structure for critical care expansion and Nicola outlines how having a leadership coach has assisted with this transition.