New role for Jo means quicker treatment

4 May 2001

A nurse at the West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds has completed a training course that allows her to perform minor surgical procedures.

Jo Godden is now a qualified Nurse Endoscopist who can use a machine to examine patients for any abnormalities such as tumours or polyps within the intestine.

Her appointment after eight months’ training will help to reduce waiting times for patients, as her role will free doctors to concentrate on more specialised levels of treatment.  She is the only nurse working in the Endoscopy Unit who is qualified to carry out the procedure.  As most of the consultants in this field at the West Suffolk Hospital are male, Jo is able to provide this service to women who may feel more comfortable having another woman perform the function.

The  Endoscopy Unit at the Hospital diagnoses and treats diseases of the digestive tract, including stomach and bowel cancer.  These are two of the more common cancers, with around 35,000 people in England and Wales diagnosed every year.  As with all cancers, early diagnosis is vital in successfully treating the disease.  A machine called a colonoscope enables medical staff to view the condition of the patient¦s colon.  The sooner staff can use the colonoscope, the quicker the treatment can begin.

The colonoscope can take photographs and videos of a patient’s bowel.  If Jo sees a growth which she believes could be cancerous, then she will normally perform a biopsy so that this diagnosis can be confirmed.  However, she is able to perform minor surgical operations, such as polyp removal, if needed. Around 15-20 patients a week are expected to benefit from Jo¦s new skills.

Understandably, many patients find undergoing a colonoscopy a traumatic process.  If required, Jo is now qualified to sedate patients to sufficiently relax them for the procedure to be carried out.

“My new role as a Nurse Endoscopist is totally different to my previous duties,” said Jo.  “There is much less paperwork involved and I am able to spend most of my time treating patients, which, as a nurse, is what I want to be doing.”

“The West Suffolk Hospital has been very supportive throughout my training. Not only did they pay for the course, but they released me for the whole eight months that I was studying.”

Nichole Day, Director of Nursing and Community Relations for the Trust, said: “The training that Jo has undertaken means that she is now able to have her own clinical sessions with patients.  By focussing upon training for nurses in this way, we are able to make a real difference to patient care by improving access to services, raising standards of care and helping to reduce waiting times.  Also, developing such roles opens flexible career pathways for nurses, meaning they can advance their clinical skills and further their career whilst still working with patients.”

Jo qualified as a nurse in 1986, and has been working at the West Suffolk Hospital since 1995.  She lives in Bury St Edmunds and has two young children.