Shelagh Bickerton
I have spent the majority of my 30-year career working in the critical care arena, both as an Intensive Care Sister and also as a Critical Care Outreach Sister. I have also dabbled in education and research work and completed a post-graduate research internship at the University of Birmingham. I started as the AKI Nurse Lead for the Royal Wolverhampton Hospital NHS Trust in September 2020. I have been helping to build this new service since then, developing a specialised team of AKI nurses to reduce the incidence and severity of AKI and its associated complications. Our service has been shortlisted for both Health Service Journal and Nursing Times Awards. Outside of work, I am a mum to two (moody) teenagers, sing in a choir and attempt to play tunes on the piano.
Leah Torr
All my post registration career has been within renal nursing, particularly acute dialysis, and High dependency renal care. Since 2021, I have been key in the development of the Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) nurse-led service at the University Hospital of Derby and Burton. Establishing an inpatient service, post-discharge clinics, implementing quality improvement projects, and driving multidisciplinary education initiatives. I seek to empower others, foster knowledge exchange, and advocating standardised protocols that enhance patient care, reduce errors, and optimise resource utilisation. My strengths lie within evidence-based practice, data presentation and service development. Outside the hospital corridors, you’ll find me indulging my coffee addiction, sharing my space with a mischievous cat, or on the continuous cycle of a Victorian house renovation. Embracing the balance of striving for improvement and personal joys.