Meet our nursing team

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Meet our Clinical Nurse team

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Samantha Atkins, Regional Clinical Lead for the central area

Samantha has been with Helping Hands for some time and loves being able to help customers stay in their own homes with tailored care to suit their individual needs. She has worked alongside nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, psychologists, dietitians, speech and language therapists, and carers.

As well as this, Samantha has worked with a training company providing training to both care workers and student nurses on a range of subjects, including manual handling, safeguarding, infection control, health and safety, and palliative care.

Samantha explained, “My most recent experience has been as the clinical lead/deputy manager in a nursing home, covering areas such as palliative care, types of dementia care, and chronic conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Parkinson’s disease and heart failure.”

Samantha is extremely passionate about care and she will always go the extra mile for her customers. She is a Registered Nurse with the Nursing & Midwifery Council.

See Samantha’s profile here.

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Carole Kerton-Church, Regional Clinical Lead for London & Essex

Carole has lived and worked in the London and Essex area her entire life and has over 20 years’ experience caring for adults, beginning her career as a Healthcare Assistant. She has since worked her way up in both private and public health and care organisations, and is now the Regional Clinical Lead for her local area.

Carole is a Registered Nurse and joined the Nursing and Midwifery Council in 2007, acquiring her Nursing Diploma at at Anglia Ruskin University. Since then, she has worked in acute hospitals, as a Community Nurse and as  GP Nurse.

She has supported people with a variety of different conditions, including multiple sclerosis, cancer and motor neurone disease, and has a keen interest in palliative care and elderly care.

Carole says: ” I am passionate about proactive care and health education and I have been lucky enough not only to look after, but also work alongside so many different people – I’ve heard so many amazing and often inspiring stories. Working for Helping Hands enables me and my colleagues to support people in their own home – the place where most people want to stay for as long as they can. It’s so important and extremely rewarding.”

See Carole’s profile here.

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Kerry Feltwell, Regional Clinical Lead for the South East

Kerry has over 37 years’ experience in nursing, having trained at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, London between 1983 and 1986. She initally worked on the regional ophthalmic unit dealing with inpatients post eye-surgery and running busy clinics. She then continued to work in a surgical bowel unit, where she developed her skills with stoma placement and post-operative care

She continued to consolidate her learning in an assortment of specialities at Basingstoke & North Hampshire Hospital until she moved into intensive care in 1989. She developed her knowledge of both invasive and non-invasive ventilation, tracheostomies, PEG feeding and bladder & bowel management.

For over 10 years, Kerry was the clinical lead for the National Bowel Cancer Screening Programme at Basingstoke & North Hampshire Hospital. She managed the patient pathway from the initial clinic visit to the investigations and up to discharge, providing one-to-one care throughout.

Kerry is a Registered Nurse with the Nursing and Midwifery Council. She has also gained a Level 7 qualification in Specialist Bowel Cancer Screening Programme at Liverpool John Moores University.

See Kerry’s profile here.

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Deanna Lane, Regional Clinical Lead for the South West

Deanna has worked as a nurse for over 35 years, spending her early years training at Southmead Hospital in Bristol and learning her trade on the intensive care unit and specialising in tracheostomy and ventilator care. Once qualified, she worked on a surgical ward for vascular and bowel operations, gaining experience in post-surgical and stoma care. She then went on to become a midwife for seven years, returning to nursing and then moving on to working in a care home.

Deanna has worked in a variety of different care homes as the registered nursing manager, supporting people with spinal injuries, tracheostomies, stomas, PEG feeding tubes and those who required assistance with bowel and bladder management. She also has extensive experience in training others in nursing practices such as moving and handling, health and safety, safeguarding, first aid, infection control, fire training and governance. She was also the training lead for the Gloucestershire Care Home Support team, giving her a county-wide forum to cascade training initiatives.

Deanna’s qualifications include a masters in Management, professional courses such as Mental Capacity Act, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards and National Examination Board in Health and Safety (NEBOSH). She is also registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

As well has her extensive nursing experience, Deanna has won various awards during her time working in care homes, including Care Home Manager of the Year 2012 at the Great South West Care Awards. She has also featured in a video by the Social Care Institute of Excellence (SCIE) on dementia and end-of-life care.

See Deanna’s profile here.

 

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Jackie Geary, Regional Clinical Lead for the East

Jackie is the Regional Clinical Lead for the East region. She has worked in the healthcare sector since 1982 and feels the time really has flown!
“I like to think that in my nursing career I have always tried to give the best care I can and have always believed that  I should strive to care for people the way I would want myself or one of my loved ones cared for. I recently lost both my parents to Dementia and am glad that I was able to care for them alongside other wonderful healthcare professionals.

“I enjoy sharing my knowledge with others and always believe that everyone has something they can teach someone else. I have high standards of care and always strive to be professional, but I do have a good sense of humour as well! I like working across the Multi-disciplinary Team and have a good network of Healthcare professionals both in the Acute, Community and Industry sectors.”

Jackie moved with her family to Norfolk in 2003 and started working as Senior Sister of a Rehabilitation unit at James Paget University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust – during this time she was seconded for 3 months to assist with implementing the Agenda for Change pay system across the Trust. Jackie completed her BA (Hons) in Policy, planning and Leadership at the University of East Anglia in 2007 and then managed the Cardiology Ward from 2007-2010.

She moved into NHS Continuing Healthcare at the same Trust in 2011 and moved these skills into the Lead CHC nurse at the NNUH in 2015. There Jackie gained experience in Adult safeguarding, the Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS). She undertook 6 months within the Risk and Governance Team to broaden her knowledge base and this is where she became interested in Tissue Viability & Wound care. Jackie then undertook a Master’s Wound care module at Anglia Ruskin University in 2018 and the Leg ulcer Management Degree module in 2019.

In November 2020, Jackie decided to take early retirement from the NHS as she wanted the opportunity to use her skills and knowledge in a different kind of care setting.

See Jackie’s profile here.

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Karen Swanson, Regional Clinical Lead for the North

Karen works as the Regional Clinical Lead for the North region. She joined Helping Hands in June 2020 and is enjoying using the skills she has developed in her nursing career over the past 35 years in a variety of different settings.

“I enjoy meeting customers and carers from all walks of life, with no two being the same. Having worked in a hospital environment throughout my career I decided to move away from hospital work and moved to Helping Hands and my work here has exceeded my expectations. The work I undertake to support carers and ensure that we provide the highest standards of care at all times is very rewarding and I am enjoying the teaching element of this work as well. My role in Helping Hands is very different from any hospital role I have had, and it enables me to offer a different way of providing care and support, which I thoroughly enjoy.”

Karen undertook the integrated registered nurse training course at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, completing the adult component at Poole General Hospital in Dorset and she qualified as an adult and sick children’s registered nurse (SRN/RSCN) in 1984. She then worked in the respiratory unit at Great Ormond Street caring for children with a wide range of respiratory conditions including cystic fibrosis, asthma and children with genetic conditions. Karen also spent time abroad in Central America with VSO (voluntary services overseas) and then moved to Canada where she was the founder member of the ADHD Parents Support Group in Prince Edward Island whilst running an online book business, selling resources to schools and parents relating to ADHD.

See Karen’s profile here.

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