Community District Nurse Emily Tedder, from the Central Halifax District Nursing Team is full of praise for Staff Nurses Charlotte Ballard and Anne King. They really pulled out the stops to deliver complex care to patients over a weekend, even though it would mean going home later than planned.

Emily pictured middle with Anne (right) and Charlotte (left) told us: “All areas of nursing can be unpredictable, but you can practically guarantee that if things are going to go off-plan it, will be on a weekend out in community! We have skeleton staff, no regular doctors to call upon and a very large area to cover.

It was my turn to coordinate a weekend in central Halifax and the weekend started off as any other; busy but manageable and our colleagues were getting along with their work with no major hiccups.

All the team were heading out again for their final visits of the day, when two urgent referrals came through from separate wards of the hospital.

Two insulin dependent diabetics needed visits that evening for their tea time dose. This gave us a very short amount of time to find out the needs and requirements of the patients, to establish what medications and equipment they had, as well as coordinating the already outstanding visits needed.

Two of our colleagues working that weekend volunteered to go and see these two new patients - even though it would inevitably result in them leaving work late.

Once at the patients' homes they were both met with separate complications. Both were very complex patients who each required a lot of time and care.

Some of the complications included varying medications that did not match up with the information given on discharge, miscommunications between family and carers, and frustrations and fears from the patients themselves.

I would like to take this chance to recognise and praise two particular community staff nurses, Charlotte Ballard and Anne King.

Both Charlotte and Anne took these complications in their stride; they handled the situations in a calm manner keeping the best interest of the patients at the forefront of their minds. They were both able to contact the wards that the patients were discharged from, ascertain the information they needed and ensure that each patient received the correct medication and care they needed.

Although this may seem a simple task, it can take a long time and several phone calls being passed to and from different staff on the wards. Not to mention once getting the correct information, how we are going to make sure that happens, again more calls to care agencies, on call pharmacies and running back and forth to chemists.

They went above and beyond and I cannot praise their care enough. They took time out of their own lives to stay late to ensure that the patients were both safe and happy and didn’t complain once. I am lucky that they were there to support me that weekend and I am grateful for their help.

Well done Charlotte and Anne"