Much-loved Deputy Sister retires after 37 years' service looking after children and young people

Commencing her nursing journey in 1985, Jill worked in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh as a Registered General Nurse before deciding to undertake her Sick Children’s Nursing training in 1991.

As a young child, she spent a lot of her time in hospital and underwent a number of reconstructive surgeries from the age of three to seven years old. Given the amount of time Jill spent in hospital, she decided that paediatrics was the career path she wanted to specialise in.

In May 1997, Jill started her new role working in the Aiken Nursery in the Ulster Hospital which then merged with the Maynard Sinclair Ward to provide acute medical inpatient care for unwell children and young people.

By 2020, Jill had progressed to Deputy Sister within Maynard Sinclair Ward and when COVID-19 struck, Jill stepped up to the role of Acting Ward Sister, to lead her team through this extremely difficult and challenging time and worked tirelessly in a high risk COVID positive ward.

One of the highlights of Jill’s career was being shortlisted in the Nursing Times Awards in the ‘Patient Safety’ category for her project, ‘Improving Safety through the Bedside Handover’.

The project brought patient handover to the bedside instead of being behind closed doors in an office.

There is now more interaction and improved communication with parents and patients, and questions can now be asked to clarify any issues. As part of the awards ceremony, Jill had the opportunity to meet with HRH King Charles in Clarence House, London.

Speaking of her career working as part of the Paediatric Team Jill said: “During my time nursing, I built strong relationships with families whose children would have been admitted to Maynard Sinclair Ward.

"These children were very sick, so I felt that I would make a point in visiting the families on the ward to make them feel that they had someone there to talk to.

“I have had the happiest, the saddest, the funniest and the most joyful of times over the last 25 years in Paediatrics, how lucky am I to have spent it with Team Maynard!”

Congratulating Jill on her retirement, Interim Lead Nurse, Karen Orr added: “Throughout Jill’s career, she has been a great support to those around her, but particularly with student nurses where she made it her mission to ensure their time on placement was the best it could be.

“Jill was a great supporter of quality improvement and her work on the bedside handover will be her legacy within the Paediatric Team. She will be greatly missed but we know she will embrace her retirement and the adventures it will bring.”

Since Jill’s retirement, her drive and enthusiasm has been recognised by previous colleagues and former patients that she has cared for and she will be a highly missed member of the Maynard Sinclair Team.