Hayley O’Neill details her navigation from dental nurse to an exciting new role!

To give readers a quick background, I started life as a trainee back in 2009 working in a private practice at the age of 20. I enrolled on a training course straight away, but I was let down by the course provider as they suddenly shut down just before I started! Not the best start to my journey, but I chose to persist nonetheless.

This meant I had to wait a little longer than usual to begin a course, and the only one available was over an hour’s drive away! I endeavoured to complete the course as fast as I could, and by the time I’d qualified, I’d been working for just over two years and was ecstatic to finally have that certificate in my hands. Working as a qualified dental nurse was suddenly a much more gratifying experience as I had far more confidence than I ever did before. I’d found being a trainee trying at times, there was always so much I needed to learn and retain, and a great deal of pressure due to the very high standards of the dentist and head nurse I was working with at the time. If it makes anyone going through a similar situation feel a little better, I’m not afraid to confess I hid a few times in the toilet to have a little cry and let off steam! When feeling overwhelmed, sometimes it is the kindest thing to do for yourself.

At this juncture as I was now fully qualified, and found I was feeling more and more passionate about my role and confident enough to consider myself an equal amongst my colleagues at the practice. I’d put in the leg work and dedication to truly earn my place!

I was quite content with my role as a dental nurse for a time, but after a year or so, I started to think my future career progression. Dentistry was my passion, and I wanted to make sure it was the right career for me, so I started to think about my options going forward and where I could see myself progressing. Hygiene was an area I briefly considered, but there wasn’t an appropriate course nearby that would aid me in that direction and relocating wasn’t an option. Plus, I liked the variety that nursing offered, and I thought there was more than a chance I might start to find hygiene a little repetitive if I worked in that area exclusively. So, I looked into becoming an oral health educator as our practice offered fixed orthodontics and implants, and we had lots of young patients so I felt the addition of an oral health educator would be beneficial to their oral health awareness going forward.

Once I found the right course and it commenced, I found it very in-depth! I needed to study a wide range of topics and write a portfolio with 10 patients as my case studies, so the work load was heavy, but I found it truly motivating.

Once the course was complete the role was one that I thrived in as I felt I was taking a job off of the dentist’s or hygienist’s hands and it made me feel at once independent, and invaluable to the dentist’s process. Another benefit of the course is it allows you to progress from a band four to a band five if you work within the NHS, which even though I didn’t at the time, I liked that it opened up that door, should I need it in the near or distant future.

One day, I came into work and learned that an opportunity had arisen for a head nurse position at the practice. I instinctively knew I wanted the role. Taking on the position of head dental nurse role would involve much more responsibility, including lots more paperwork, compliance, managing other nurses and doing audits – but I was up for the challenge and hungry for the responsibility!

During a short interview process, I put forward my case for why I would be the best fit for the role. I’d been at the practice for a few years now, and I’d already demonstrated that I was responsible and a hard worker – I was always in on time, motivated and respectful to my colleagues. As a matter of pride I had also never had a sick day! My oral health qualification had added another string to my bow, so I was feeling confident.

When they offered me the role, I was at once elated and relieved. I got myself organised right away with new stationary and folders – everything got colour coded for the sake of organisation. Compliance was the biggest task, as at the time it was all very out of date, and everything needed refreshing and re-signing. To be frank, being a head nurse is a lot of work as well as a great role, and I did it for the next eight years until I left nursing to go on maternity leave.

One of the more interesting aspects of the role to navigate was the change in dynamic within the team, as I was suddenly in charge of managing the other nurses with whom I had previously been on the same level. You have to be both confident and comfortable with the responsibility of making sure everything runs smoothly, both clinically and amongst the team members which involved a lot of organisation.

Sometimes I had to move around if another staff member had called in sick, or manage conflicts between staff members which wasn’t always easy, to say the very least... My favourite thing to do was train all new trainees that came to us. I loved imparting knowledge to them so much and all of my experience guided me in understanding exactly how much they could handle. I knew just when to push them or when to take over and let them watch and learn.

I used to love surprising the other nurses by getting in extra early sometimes and setting up all of their surgeries and completing all of the decon room tasks so that when they arrived, they could relax with a cup of tea. It wasn’t necessary, but it was always a nice little touch and a way in which I could show them that I cared.

My other responsibilities were arranging the rota, managing stock levels, completing audits, signing infection control and equipment logs, supporting the other nurses and carrying out training and meetings. One on one time with each nurse is vital, as it gives you the opportunity to see if there’s anything they are struggling with.

As with any responsible role, you just have to have the oversight to see what’s best for the team and be confident in yourself. You need to build trust, be a role model, get stuck in and try and keep morale high. If you put the work in, the role of the head nurse is very rewarding, and I cannot recommend it enough!

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