Dr Geraghty currently holds the position of Lecturer in Adult Nursing, leading the Person-Centred Care & Tissue Viability modules at the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care, King’s College London; Jemell has been collaborating with King’s College since 2011. Dr Geraghty is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), an international recognition of commitment to professionalism in teaching and learning in higher education.

Dr Geraghty is an accredited Global Nurse Consultant in Tissue Viability and co-director of AD INTEGRUM Vascular & Wound Care®, together with leading Vascular Consultant Mr Lukla Biasi, offering state-of-the-art joint Vascular and Wound Care expertise.

Clinical background includes vascular, older adult medicine and emergency nursing. Jemell has experience of working in both hospital and community settings, private sector and NHS, leading and providing wound care.

Jemell currently sits on the editorial board of the British Journal of Nursing, Tissue Viability panel and has published and presented at national and international level.

Dr Geraghty is a Trustee of the Lindsay Leg Club Foundation and is actively involved in the Legs Matter campaign since its formation. Jemell previously sat on the board of Trustees for the Tissue Viability Society (2016-2021).

Dr Geraghty has an interest in qualitative research methods and narrative inquiry, specifically the stories of marginalised people living with wounds. In 2019-2020 Jemell led a wound care clinic for the homeless population in London and currently works with the charity Change, Grow, Live (CGL) as Nurse Consultant Tissue Viability.

Dr Geraghty was awarded a Professional Doctorate in Health Research (DHRes) from the University of Hertfordshire in 2018 with a thesis on “Exploring the experiences of injecting drug users living with leg ulceration – a qualitative study”. Jemell has received several awards and scholarships for my work and continues to campaign for wound and vascular lower limb care to be recognised as a physical health need in its own right within inclusion and homeless health.

Jemell works closely with the London Network of Nurses and Midwives Homelessness Group Charity (LNNM) as the subject-lead for tissue viability. Industry and pharmaceutical collaboration continue to be an important part her work; sharing expertise to promote innovation, research and improve patient outcomes. Dr Geraghty is actively involved in research projects and grant proposals exploring skin health and wound care.

Dr Geraghty is passionate about inclusion health and addressing social and health inequalities as well as advocating for the patient and family voice in wound care. Jemell prides herself on having an engaging and therapeutic partnership with patients living with wounds promoting concordance, and a positive lived experience.

Presentation at The SoTV/EWMA 2024 Conference, London

Comprehensive lower limb assessment and prescribing: learnings from the London Perioperative Care for Older People Service (POPS)

Learning objectives

After attending this session, persons will be able to:

• To identify key areas for lower limb assessment with a focus on the older person
• To explore the taboo areas of life in older person living with a lower limb vascular condition
• How to ask the uncomfortable question – what are we not asking?
• Reflect on your current practice
• Understand the importance of continuing professional development – a lifelong journey

Abstract

Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) is a global pandemic, affecting over 230 million people worldwide (Aday, Matsushita. Circulation Research 2021). The incidence of PAD has increased globally by 45% in the last decade (Song et al. Lancet Global Health 2020), exponentially affecting the older adult population of high-income countries, due to the longer life expectancy (Fawkes et al. Lancet 2013) with a prevalence of nearly 60% in European men aged 85 years or older (Meijer et al. The Rotterdam Study. AHA Journals 1998).

Atherosclerosis is a systemic, polyvascular disease affecting multiple vascular beds and burdened by major adverse events in all vascular territories, leading to increased risk of limb loss, CAD, stroke and overall mortality – both cardiovascular and cancer-related (Bhatt et al. JAMA 2010). Hence, a comprehensive, person-centred approach is paramount.

Assessment is the cornerstone of safe and competent practice – yet what is a holistic assessment and what questions do we ask?

A randomised clinical trial of comprehensive geriatric assessment and optimisation in vascular surgery performed at Guy’s and St Thomas’, London (GSTT) has shown that a systematic structured preoperative assessment and clinical optimisation of older surgical patients may improve postoperative outcomes – reduced hospital stay (40%), delirium, cardiac and gastrointestinal complications (Partridge et al. BJS 2017).

My recent experience working with the POPS team at GSTT has developed my understanding of the importance of multidisciplinary preoperative optimisation of older patients to improve both physical and cognitive outcomes, with an emphasis on open communication with patients, family and health care professionals.

Presentation at The Society of Tissue Viability 2023 Conference

How do we make patient-centred care a reality and how do measure the outcomes?

Objectives

After attending this session, persons will have a greater understanding of:

• Recognise and develop the personal attributes and professional behaviours that enable the delivery of person-centred wound care
• Critically reflect on the quality of engagement when caring for patients at risk of or living with a wound
• Pioneer the role of shared decision maker, placing the “person” at the forefront on their care
• Identify methods of measuring outcomes important to patients and meaningful in practice

Abstract

Person-centred care enables patients’ perspectives, values and decisions to be incorporated into clinical decision-making and supported in care planning. This gives patients more control over their health and care needs. Including person-centred care in wound management increases patient involvement and satisfaction in their care.

This session is framed by McCormack and McCance (2017) framework for person-centred nursing, which has four components:

• Prerequisites: the personal attributes of the nurse.
• The care environment: workplace culture and systems that support person centred care.
• Person-centred processes: delivering person-centred care.
• Expected person-centred outcomes.

The purpose of this session is to discuss and reflect on how to deliver person-centred approaches in wound care. Together, we will explore the essential skills required to ensure people living with or at risk of wounds feel confident and involved in their wound care.

We will present a short video of a person’s experience of living with a wound and their experience of care.  The audience will be invited to discuss the case and contribute their reflections and views using interactive polling software (SLIDO). This will be followed by further interactive and reflective discussion as we consider what person-centred wound care looks like, how it can be achieved and how it can be measured in ways that are meaningful to patients and to clinicians.

There will be opportunity to reflect on learning and we will review the key points people have raised.

Reference – McCormack, B. & McCance, T. (2017). Person-Centred Practice in Nursing and Health Care: Theory and Practice. 2nd ed. Newark: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Presentation at The Society of Tissue Viability 2022 Conference

Working with people living with wounds in homeless and inclusion health

Objectives

After attending this session, persons will be able to:

• Understand the different populations living with wounds in hard-to-reach groups
• Recognise common wounds and skin conditions in people who inject drugs (PWID) and homeless health
• Appreciate the holistic care needed to look after people who are experiencing homelessness and PWID
• Understanding the importance of specialist nurse-led wound services to improve patients’ outcomes

Abstract

There are a number of reasons a person experiencing homelessness or people who inject drugs (PWID) can develop a wound. Risk factors include their past or current medical and surgical history, their psychosocial environment and wellbeing.

Chronic venous leg ulcerations are one of the most common and sequela in persons who have a history of injecting drug use. Engaging with people living with debilitating wounds can be challenging as skin conditions and ulcers impact greatly on their self-esteem, exacerbating their “felt stigma” and exposing them to “enacted stigma”.

Firstly, we need to understand the different populations living with wounds (Inclusion Health) and the social background to marginalisation in order to develop a comprehensive approach to the various skin conditions and wound types they may live with.

Finally, the importance of nurse-led wound clinics will be highlighted by presenting the clinical outcomes of a specialist London tissue viability clinic for people experiencing homelessness.