Georgia Wilding reflects on winning an Andrew Paris Memorial Fellowship.

My involvement in the transplant community started with growing up in Hertfordshire alongside my cousin Jamie who had two liver transplants which gave him 20 added years of life, so it was an area of healthcare I was always aware of. From a professional perspective my placements at Northumbria University as a student nurse always seemed to direct me towards transplant; from lung transplant patients with cystic fibrosis in respiratory, to heart transplant patients on ECMO in intensive care, to the transplant unit at the Freeman Hospital itself. I qualified in September 2014 and have worked as a staff nurse on Ward 38 ever since; a unique place where we care for all solid organ recipients on one Ward. Having been there eleven years, I am now trained in various extra skills such as dialysis, Berlin Hearts, LVADs, level 3 counselling, peer vaccination, and ERAS counselling. My favourite thing to do is create activities and quizzes for the patients for special occasions like Organ Donation Week, or any weekend we can!

I also volunteer as a trustee for Live Life Give Life in my free time where I speak about organ donation and transplant at schools; advocating for all to learn and discuss organ donation; as well as running their social media pages with powerful stories about those who donate and receive organs. Since becoming a living donor in 2023 I have also attended the transplant games both in the UK and abroad and how the games support transplant recipients and donors to live an active lifestyle is inspiring.

The focus of my award is post-transplant patient education; the information we provide to patients after their transplants to help them live healthily including recognising rejection, driving guidance, and advice on pets or holidays. Leaving the hospital after a transplant can be a scary experience and it is our responsibility to prepare patients for this as much as possible. Personally, I have always enjoyed delivering patient teaching and answering questions they may have. The 2024 Cardiothoracic Information Collation Exercise surveyed patients and staff and found areas where the Freeman service could improve. From a nursing perspective the areas of ‘advice’ and ‘health and wellbeing’ are most relevant, and this has informed my topic choice.

By visiting other centres across the UK, I hope to learn from the teaching they provide to their patients and the methods they use. I will use patient surveys to identify important topics of education for patients as well as allowing patients to suggest ideas to improve patients support post-transplant. Staff surveys will look at the learning opportunities available to transplant nurses, including for patient education and how this affects their confidence when teaching patients. Ultimately the information gathered will help to inform improvements to the education we provide in Newcastle and allow staff to deliver it with greater confidence.