Katie Stevens has been announced as the new Director of Clinical Services at Demelza, a charity providing extraordinary care to children facing serious or life-limiting conditions, throughout Kent, South East London and East Sussex.
Katie started her nursing career at the Chelsea and Westminster hospital in London, after registering as a children’s nurse in 1997. It was following a move to the paediatric high-dependency unit at the Royal Brompton hospital that Katie first realised caring holistically for children with complex medical needs and their families was the direction in which she wanted her career to go.
After starting her family in 2000, Katie took up a role as a children’s palliative care nurse at Demelza in Sittingbourne in 2002, completed a degree in 2010 and took up a role as a lecturer at Canterbury Christchurch University in 2011, specialising in the children’s palliative care module.
Katie returned to Demelza in 2019 as Clinical Governance and Quality Lead Nurse, after completing a post-graduate certificate in teaching, taking on a project manager role at Children’s Hospices across London and completing her master’s degree in 2020.
A passionate advocate for children’s palliative care, Katie is extremely proud to work at Demelza and puts the voice of the children and families firmly at the heart of her work.
Katie said:
“From the moment I started work at Demelza, I knew this environment suited me as it offered the opportunity to provide high-quality, responsive, children and family-led services where I could flourish and develop further skills.
“Professional development opportunities allowed me to complete my degree through a children’s palliative care pathway established at Demelza, further inspiring me to further myself and seek additional skills and knowledge.
“I am very proud to work for Demelza and honoured to take on this role, leading an impressive clinical services team made up of Nursing and Care, Family Support and Service Development teams.
Lavinia Jarrett, Chief Executive at Demelza said:
“I’m delighted we have appointed Katie as our new Director of Clinical Services. She brings a wealth of experience from the children’s palliative care sector and is dedicated to working directly with children, young people and their families.
Katie’s passion for training, upskilling staff and focussing on retention – especially as the sector is facing ongoing challenges in nurse recruitment – will be a huge benefit to Demelza.”
Katie, who lives locally to the Kent hospice, and enjoys family life with her husband, two daughters and two step-daughters, has recently bought a new house so weekends find her knee-deep in dust sheets and paint! And passion for Demelza is clearly a family trait. Katie’s daughter completed an apprenticeship at the charity and has gone on to enrol to take a masters’ degree and register as a speech and language therapist.
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About Demelza:
- Demelza delivers extraordinary care for extraordinary children who are facing serious or life-limiting conditions, throughout Kent, South East London and East Sussex. We’re here for them and their families with expert clinical, emotional and practical support at every step – from first diagnosis and for as long as we’re needed.
- Our support is as unique as every family we help, and designed to wrap around their specific requirements and circumstances: from creative therapies and short breaks, to practical and emotional support for families and siblings, and care towards the end of life.
- Our specialist nursing and care teams provide expert advice on complex symptoms and medication regimes and are here every day and every night, all year round.
- We support families wherever is best for them: in our hospice or in their homes, online, at school and in local communities. When they need us most, we’ll be there; to reassure, to guide and to care. By their side when they feel isolated, and helping to celebrate the joy in family life, making precious memories during challenging times.
- Demelza believes in care that doesn’t back down. We are Demelza.
- Demelza is celebrating 25 years of providing outstanding clinical care and emotional support to children and families
Find out more about Demelza at www.demelza.org.uk, follow the charity on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/demelzacharity, @DemelzaCharity on Twitter and @demelzacharity on Instagram
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