Spotlight on Kerry Hall, Roald Dahl Clinical Nurse Specialist
As Roald Dahl Clinical Nurse Specialist, Kerry Hall makes a difference for children with complex medical needs.
Since qualifying as a nurse in 2017 at King’s College London, Kerry has worked in various roles, including staff nurse on a neurology-metabolic specialist ward at Evelina London Children’s Hospital, a staff nurse on Buxton ward and the High Dependency Unit here at NNUH, and as a deputy sister in A&E at QEH.
She now uses that experience to support children with complex medical needs and their families as part of the team at the Jenny Lind.
The Roald Dahl Clinical Nurse Specialist role is funded by Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity, which supports specialist nurses across the UK who care for children with serious and complex conditions. These roles are designed to help coordinate care, reduce hospital admissions and ensure children and their families receive the right support at the right time.
Kerry said: “I applied for this role because of my passion for working with children with complex medical needs. I love watching them thrive despite all the challenges and ups and downs they encounter.
“Many children on my caseload have repeated attendances and admissions, with lots of professionals involved, so being able to step back and advocate for the child as a whole person and the family as a unit is such a privilege. Their courage and resilience is what inspires me, and anything I can do to lighten their load I’m happy to do, whether that’s chasing referrals, phoning for updates or doing a home visit.
“My role encompasses a real variety of things: admission and discharge planning, home visits, practice improvement, guideline creation, health passports and care plans, support for families, signposting and referrals, organising MDTs and phone check-ins. I work closely with Sarah Cassels, our Lead Transition Nurse and other teams like the children’s community nursing team and East Anglian Children’s Hospice symptom management.
“Most importantly, I’ve been getting to know my caseload. I want all paediatric clinical teams to know and access me to support them and the complex children in their care. I also invite any parent or carer of a child with complex medical needs under NNUH to access my services, and anything I can put in place to help I will do so.”