Introducing Ms. Claire Davies

My name is Claire Davies, and I am a urology clinical nurse specialist working in Hereford, which is in Herefordshire, England, near the Welsh Border. I am delighted to be joining the board of the EAUN and believe passionately in ‘nurses supporting nurses’ across our speciality.

I graduated from Worcester University with a BSc in adult nursing in 2015, and studied at various institutions across the United Kingdom in the postgraduate setting. My major study focus recently has been an MSc in prostate cancer care at Sheffield Hallam University (due for completion in early 2024).

I have worked in urology since January 2017, starting my career as an onco-urology staff nurse. My original role was supporting patients diagnosed with a urological cancer. It was this first experience of urology that gave me the drive to learn and progress. I was appointed to my first clinical nurse specialist post in 2018, with a promotion in 2019. I currently hold the position of lead urology nurse for the service. My role is pre-dominantly clinical, and I undertake a variety of urology clinics and independently perform nurse-led investigations and procedures.

I am a qualified prescriber, which is beneficial when supporting our patients throughout their pathways. I set up a nurse-led local anaesthetic transperineal template prostate biopsy list and am proud that this is a service we are able to offer our patients. We currently run a nurse-led male LUTS assessment clinic in line with our current National Policy in the UK. This has been successful and helped reduce our waiting times and access to service. It has been extremely well received by patients. I was delighted to be able to share our progress and learning points at the annual BAUN conference. I am an active member of the local expert advisory group for urological cancer. I have been fortunate to participate in conferences both nationally and internationally and I am always keen to share learnings where I can.

One of the other important aspects of my role is team development. I feel it is a privilege to support and mentor new members of the team through their training to become independent urology clinical nurse specialists, from formal mentorship via university courses, to ad hoc support and supervision as identified.

I hope via my participation with the EAUN board, to be an advocate for both nurses and patients working in and using urology services. One of the biggest challenges faced by nurses in the UK is access to education training and support. Access to support can take many forms and this is why I joined the EAUN. Learning for personal development and sharing best practice are valuable opportunities that need to be available to everyone.

—

Claire Davies, CNS, Urology Centre, Hereford County Hospital, Wye Valley NHS Trust, Hereford (GB)