A day in the life of … a staff nurse

Staff nurses support health visitors in their delivery of the Healthy Child Programme and during your contact with the service you will be most likely to meet them.

Here Lenka one of our staff nurses tells you about herself and a “day in her life”.

What my job as a staff nurse means to me.

My name is Lenka, and I started my role as a staff nurse within Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust in January 23.

I love my job as a staff nurse because of its variety and opportunities to help families and children to have a best start in life. I see it as a privilege to meet families from different backgrounds and in different circumstances because every family brings a different prospective and I can learn from them. This helps me to become a better healthcare professional and a better person. No day is the same in health visiting and helping babies to thrive and develop is one of the perks of this job.

This is my first post as a qualified nurse, and I have thoroughly enjoyed working alongside health visitors and other healthcare professionals within the Healthy Child Programme. Working in health visiting has always been my dream job since I started my nurse training, and I am very grateful to be part of the Healthy Child Programme and join the lovely and supportive Brighton and Hove team.

A day in my life

This morning I’m seeing parents and babies in a clinic for a six-week checks. These are offered to everyone!

I discuss any concerns or worries you might have for yourself or your baby, talk about your baby’s feeding, development, and physical health. I would weigh and measure your baby to establish that your baby’s growth is going in the right direction and if any additional support is needed.

Part of the 6-week review is also to talk about mum’s physical and mental health and giving out public health messages such as immunisation or safe sleep advice. These appointments are for making sure that you are well supported, and your baby can thrive.

This afternoon I am seeing families who need some extra support.

Today I have seen 3 families – for support about growth, behaviour and eating. Some called in to our duty line and been given appointments, and some have been requested by a health visitor.

Thoughts and the end of my day

As you can see, our role is varied, and it keeps developing so that we can get involved in more parts of the Healthy Child Programme.

We are all trained in the Baby Friendly Initiative standards, and we run some of the drop-ins milk clinics alongside infant feeding specialists. Staff nurses also support community nursery nurses in developmental reviews and interventions.

I am grateful to all the families who come to our service to allow me an insight into their personal lives and circumstances and to share with me their experiences of parenting in the precious few weeks of their baby’s lives. I am also proud to be part of Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust as our service has lots to offer to our community helping families to achieve their potential.

Thank you for reading.

Are you a qualified nurse?

If you are interested in finding out about working with us as staff nurse please contact our duty line and we will pass your name on the right person to talk to you.

Or check out any vacancies on our Trust website: