Celebrating Parkinson’s nurses with the National Garden Scheme

While celebrating the 10th anniversary, we talk to Jennifer Dawber, Parkinson’s Nurse at Royal Preston Hospital about her role and why the funding to nursing services from NGS is so important.

Being a Parkinson’s nurse

"As a Parkinson’s nurse, I offer support and advice to people with Parkinson’s and their relatives and carers from diagnosis. This can be within a clinic or on the phone and often includes medication changes and referrals to other multidisciplinary care teams.

"After qualifying as a staff nurse in 2004, I worked as a Neurology Research nurse and quickly became very interested in Parkinson’s. My goal was to become a Parkinson’s specialist nurse."

Joining the Parkinson’s Excellence Network

"A colleague recommended the Excellence Network to help me develop in my role. I've found the Network to be invaluable. The Parkinson’s nurse induction was particularly helpful along with the other courses I’ve taken. The Network also supported the Get It On Time eLearning package which I helped produce, which is now available on the Learning Hub for others to benefit from! This is what makes the Excellence Network unique, it's made up of professionals helping other professionals to transform services for people with Parkinson’s."

Making a difference

"The service I work in completed the UK Parkinson’s Audit to help us identify areas that we can improve in. It also helps us see where we are achieving high standards too."

Importance of NGS funding

"The £1.5 million that the National Garden Scheme has donated to Parkinson’s UK over the past 10 years has helped people with Parkinson’s have vital access to a Parkinson’s nurse in areas that didn’t have one before. This provides better specialist support to people with Parkinson’s, their family and friends every day."