Meet Jane, Registered General Nurse, in Milton Keynes and London
Meet Optimax nurse Jane
We know that, as a patient, if you’re feeling nervous about treatment, then having a few familiar, friendly faces around can make the experience much more comfortable. This is why we like to sit down with members of the team and have a chat to get to know them better, so we can share that potential patients. Today, we’re speaking to Jane, one of our lovely nurses. Jane is based in Milton Keynes but also works in our London clinics to ensure the smooth running of laser treatment days. We had a few questions for Jane who had some brilliant answers for us, not to mention lots of accompanying photos!
How long have you worked at Optimax/Ultralase?
Well... this is an interesting question! I started at Ultralase back in 2010 as the Lead Clinic Nurse (LCN) at the Northampton clinic and, shortly after, took up a dual role (much like now) as the LCN at the Nottingham clinic also.
I absolutely loved this role but I ended up moving on from Ultralase when these clinics closed. I had roles as a Clinical Lead at NHS 111 and then Clinical Governance Lead and Clinical Operations Manager at a clinical training company. My passion, however, had remained in the world of refractive surgery and so I was thrilled to chance upon, apply for and then be offered the Theatre RGN (Registered General Nurse) position at Optimax Milton Keynes, which I began in July 2021. This year, I have also taken up the role as Dual Site RGN which now includes our clinic at London Finchley Road.
What's your favourite part of the job?
After 35 years of nursing in an array of specialities, I can genuinely say that this role is near on everything I love in a job compared to anything else I have ever done. I have never known a more positive, organised and well-led business with approachable, friendly and focused colleagues. For me, it is all about the management and the people at the end of the day, and I have noticed a very supportive, caring and community feel to the company with staff going out of their way to help their colleagues as much as their patients. The induction, on-going training and having staff in specific supportive roles is very valuable and gives a great sense of wellbeing and teamwork.
Just as I would struggle to state what I didn’t like about the job, equally I cannot favour one aspect of the role over another. As well as strangely enjoying admin, I also love organising equipment and overhauling spaces! The motivation comes from knowing that this will enable processes to run smoothly and efficiently, so it ensures greater time management and therefore results in high quality and focused patient care.
That said, if I was pinned down to a favourite part of the role, it would have to be treatment days. From meeting the patients pre-op to gauge and subsequently act on their anxiety levels, to the nursing aspect of patient management in the laser room, right through to seeing them off the couch/out of the recovery room with their usual relief and happiness.
Do you have a most memorable patient?
Yes, my most memorable patient at Optimax so far was a lovely lady who was extremely anxious about her LASIK. It was heart lifting (as it is with all patients) to be able to allay her fears pre-op (and then go on to support her during the procedure). However, she was also appreciative of the suggestion of staying in an adjacent hotel and making the whole experience like a mini-break which also kept her mind off the upcoming surgery. It was a pleasure to assist her in planning this, booking the hotel, making a shopping list for Sainsbury’s for overnight necessities, and other last minute practicalities such as charging her mobile to last her until the follow-up appointment the next day. To receive recognition of this in a Trustpilot review was the icing on the cake and, just like us all, not the motive for going out of our way to support our patients, but it’s lovely all the same!
My most memorable patient at Ultralase was my husband Chris having LASIK. It’s quite a strange experience doing scrub when it is someone you know! Before I worked at Ultralase, I’d had LASIK there in 2001 – Chris therefore knew that there was no point in trying to ‘milk it’ post-operatively!
What do you get up to in your spare time/weekends?
Bell ringing is a tradition in my family on my mother’s side and had always fascinated me as a child, sitting in the belfry, mesmerised with watching the ropes go up and down and humming along with the bell chimes. Ten years ago, Milton Keynes put out a request for people to learn this dying art and so this was my chance to train and I have been doing it ever since. My mother and recently my brother-in-law are part of our bell ringing team. We keep our skills up every Wednesday evening and ring for weddings, Easter and, in some years, Christmas morning. Of course, lockdown and Covid restrictions have played their part in affecting this regime but we are back up and running normally now.
I trained to become a Befriender for SANDS (Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society) following the horrendous experience of stillbirth with our first IVF twin daughter Millie 18 years ago. This was in order to provide care, counselling and support to other bereaved parents going through similar traumas, just like Befrienders had helped my family and me in the early raw years. Support meetings, walks of remembrance and Christmas memorial services are the main group events.
On a lighter note, and in keeping with the usual New Year’s resolutions, I have once again joined a gym! This time will be different as one of our Milton Keynes clinic optometrists, Rakhee, has joined with me and we will be motivating each other.
Otherwise, it is family time and dog walks. We have a Chocolate Roan Cocker Spaniel ‘Molly’ and a Chocolate/Tan Miniature Dachshund ‘Maisy’ (bit of a chocolate theme going on here!). Maisy has undergone two back operations in the past 2 years for herniating prolapsed discs as is sadly very typical of her breed, and she currently only hobbles about at home. She has fortnightly visits from the physio but otherwise it falls to me to perform daily physio, which includes putting her muscles through their paces and setting up an assault course with treats to bribe her! Otherwise, she will come out on walks with the luxury of being carried about in this special rucksack when needed!
What’s your favourite song of all time?
‘Wires’ by Athlete. This song is poignant as our daughter Eleanor was 6.5 weeks premature and spent 3 weeks in the Special Care Baby Unit, the first week of which she was in an incubator. She was 4 lbs 6 oz and an IVF baby.
The lead singer in Athlete wrote this song about his daughter who was also premature and in an incubator. The song depicts the despair and fears experienced by parents in these situations where you are helpless to do anything. Having already experienced a rollercoaster of emotions through the IVF process and clearly the stillbirth of Eleanor’s older twin Millie, this was an extremely traumatic time for us. His description of “the wires going in and the wires coming out of her skin” and that “looking at you now, you would never know” fills you with huge hope for their future.
This is a photo of me at The Royal London hospital as a student nurse, 34 years ago, nursing a baby in an incubator – little did I know that I would be looking through one of these at my own child 16 years later (Eleanor: below).
A close second is Peter Gabriel’s ‘The Book of Love’ as, for me, this encompasses what life is all about and closes the chapter on growing my family. Very joyously, we welcomed Alice 3 years later, after three more emotionally (and financially) draining attempts at IVF and she is our happy ending.
Who's your dream dinner guest?
This will not be a surprise to the Optimax Milton Keynes clinic team! Whilst I feel it would bode well to say someone of accolade, I would be lying if I said anyone other than Daniel Craig!
What's your favourite meal?
This is difficult to answer. I could say the traditional roast with a definite dessert of apple and blackberry crumble, however on my bucket list is a visit to the Dans Le Noir restaurant in London. This is a unique social and sensory dining experience where you walk in blindfolded and are served mystery gourmet, creative and seasonal cuisine in pitch darkness by staff who are blind. It is apparently an ‘original experience that allows us to re-evaluate our perception of taste while reclaiming our senses, to reinvigorate our relationship with the world and others and to experience a surprising encounter with something different’. If anyone has been, I would love to hear how it went!
We must extend a big thanks to Jane for sharing so much with us. We’ve loved getting to know a bit more about Jane outside work, as well as where her specialties lie in work. Here’s what one of Jane’s patients had to say about her:
Read more patient reviews on our Trustpilot page.
