After 9 years the Fair Isle nurse, Elena has just left the Fair Isle's nursing job to be the Director of Nursing in
a big cancer treatment centre which is opening in Cluj, in Romania near her husbands home. It’s an exciting new job, but it was SO hard for her to leave Fair Isle! Elena was not just the nurse, but a member of Fair Isle's small community. She played the organ in church on Sundays, lead the Christmas choir and taught piano to many of the Island children. Also an avid birdwatcher she enjoyed the natural beauty of the island while walking her dog and raising her chickens Before coming to Fair Isle she had been the the Nurse on Foula for over a year, before that she has a long impressive history of nursing mostly in London and Romania.
Elena is also a keen knitter and spinner of wool. She embraced the Fair Isle Knitting traditions over the years. She knits mostly for friends and family. Also Elena was the administrator of the
promoting Fair Isle Knitting for our local museum. A great success, and has raised not only funds but awareness of Fair Isle history.
If you or someone you know wants not only a nursing job but an adventure. Plus to be apart of the most remote island community in the UK. Here is some information I copied off the NHS Shetland website.
Non Doctor Island Nurse/ Nurse Practitioner – Fair Isle (IRC10123)
Band 6 - Salary Range £26,565 - £35,577 per annum
Full Time – 37.5 hours per week plus on-call
Are you looking for a challenge?
We are looking for an enthusiastic autonomous practitioner with a degree of flexibility to work on the non-doctor island of Fair Isle.
Living within this small island community, with a resident population of approximately 60, you will be responsible for the provision of a healthcare service in line with local and national standards, ensuring that all islanders have access to appropriate healthcare to meet their needs. The post holder will carry continuing responsibility for the assessment of care needs, the development, implementation and evaluation of programmes of care whilst working within a specific caseload.
You will also be required to provide effective nursing assessment and treatment during an emergency situation in liaison with a General Practitioner located on mainland Shetland. The post holder acts as first point of contact for the public in the absence of a resident medical practitioner.
Working in these remote settings presents many exciting opportunities as well as challenges. The successful candidate will be either an experienced District Nurse or a Nurse Practitioner.
Candidates should possess qualifications in Acute Assessment /Advanced Clinical Examination skills and be a non-medical prescriber at extended independent prescriber level as well as possessing a broad range of clinical skills. Good communication, interpersonal and computer skills, together with an awareness of health and community care legislation are essential.
You must be able to work autonomously, providing nursing care to a high standard and be able to use your own initiative to address healthcare issues within this remote island setting.
Professional colleagues and other Non-Doctor island nurses will provide mentorship and clinical supervision. A degree of personal resilience is also required to work in this single-handed post on a non-doctor island with support available via telephone or videoconference link.
In addition to working Monday to Friday clinic hours there is a requirement to provide an on-call service for emergencies in the out of hours periods at night or at the weekends, for which an allowance is payable.
As this is a residential position there is a Nurses House available for rent on the island. A separate clinic facility is in place.
Informal discussions, please contact .Edna Mary Watson, Chief Nurse (Community) on 01595 743377 or Ian Sandilands, Clinical Team Leader (South) on 01595 743096 or Elaine Maguire, Clinical Team Leader (North) on 01806 522 905.
Closing date: 24th April 2017
Interview date: w/c 8th May 2017
We offer relocation assistance of up to £8,000 and all posts qualify for a Distant Island Allowance of £1,721 per annum (pro rata for part-time and fixed term positions).
In promoting equal opportunities, we welcome applications from all sections of the community.
