Employee of the Month for November The winner of the November Employee of the Month is Angela Fitzgerald-Smith. She has won a wonderful two night weekend break for two at Eastwell Manor set in the gentle rolling landscape of Kent, the "Garden of England".

UPDATE:

Barbara and I had a really relaxing time at Eastwell Manor. The spa day was lovely and refreshing. The hotel grounds are absolutely beautiful and it was very quiet so it was a completely relaxing stay.

Many thanks once again to everyone concerned at NHS ONLINE and Eastwell Manor.

Best Regards

Angela.

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Angela commenced her nurse training in 1981 as a pupil nurse at Walton Hospital Liverpool and qualified as an Enrolled Nurse. Then in 1988 completed further training and qualified as RGN. She continued to study and completed various courses whilst working as a staff nurse full time on a busy surgical ward. Her passion was always Hepatobiliary and Colorectal surgery. Angela continued with her education and completed a Diploma in Health Care and a BSc in Health Care Practice with ENB Higher Award. At this time she was a Ward Sister at Aintree Hospitals but always wanted to be a Clinical Nurse Specialist but those types of jobs at that time were few and far between but Angela continued to strive towards her goal.

She gained a promotion to Ward Manager at the Royal Liverpool Hospital but saw this as a stepping stone to Clinical Nurse Specialist in the future. It was a hard decision to make because up until then she had always worked at Aintree Hospitals (for 17years) but made that step and it was the right thing to do. Having been a ward manager for 2 years at the Royal Liverpool Angela finally got the job she truly wanted, Colorectal Nurse Specialist at the Royal Liverpool. This was a very rewarding and exciting time but she really wanted to focus on cancer care.

An exciting opportunity arose at St Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust at Whiston Hospital for a Macmillan Colorectal Cancer Nurse Specialist, Angela applied and was successful. Angela continued to work in this role for nearly 7 years, since then she has expanded her role over time and now runs the Nurse Led Clinics and performs endoscopy. She also manages a group of other colorectal and stoma nurses. Angela is currently studying for MSc in Health Care.

Angela: "I feel very privileged to do the job I do, I meet so many different people it is very rewarding knowing we can make a difference to patients' lives. I really don't see what I do as a job; it is a great part of my life."