Name

Ines Alexandra Esteves Sadoc Pereira

Day job:

Nurse Consultant in Tissue Viability, supports London Southbank University with post graduate wound care education.

Current SoTV role:

Part of the Associate Forum

Q1 – When did you realise you wanted to specialise in tissue viability?

Since I was a student nurse I had an interest in skin integrity and tissue regeneration and having had placements in varied areas from paediatrics to adult community nursing, maternity, intensive care and oncology, wound care was always part of the learning and development agenda.

When I moved to the UK in 2014, I realised the wide spectrum of opportunities that are available in terms of becoming a nurse specialist, and after 12 years working as an intensive care nurse I was able to cross over and start developing as a tissue viability nurse. Since then, I have never stopped, maintaining a close relationship with ICU as they are one of the areas with higher-risk patients for skin damage.

Q2 – Can you briefly describe your journey to your current role?

My journey started in 2008 when I graduated and started working in a neurosurgery and trauma critical care unit in Portugal. Moving forward 16 years, I have worked in England, Abu Dhabi and now in Scotland, which pushed me to grow personally as I have never left my home city before moving to London, and professionally, as since becoming a staff nurse in a general ICU, I have been able to become not only specialised in intensive care but also in wound care. This was the reason I moved from England to Scotland as I accepted the role of Nurse Consultant in tissue viability which allows me to continue to develop in this nursing speciality.

Additionally, throughout this journey, I have achieved not only a high-level position in wound care but have also developed my passion for teaching and have been a lecturer in adult nursing, since April 2022.

Q3 – What do you feel has been your greatest achievement in your career to date?

Being able to start as a band 5 staff nurse in the ICU and develop into a charge nurse position as well as then starting as a tissue viability nurse and moving up to lead nurse and now as a nurse consultant has been an emotional and challenging process.  Although it has been a very rewarding journey, only achievable with support from family, friends and mentors.

Being able to network through university-based courses, conferences, and forums and working alongside specialists, enabled me to not only develop my knowledge and skills in wound care but also my emotional intelligence, managerial and leadership skills and understand how to motivate others to change and improve the care provided in different cultures and even countries.

Recently I completed my Master’s in skin integrity and wound management which is another milestone in this path called nursing development.

Q4 – If you could give your younger self some valuable advice, what would that be?

Never doubt your value, nourish your strengths and work on your flaws, always surrounding yourself with people who support growth, inspire and push others towards excellence, such as the peers I have found through the Society of Tissue Viability.

Don’t be scared to be an international nurse because everyone has their place in the team and everyone’s experiences are valid and relevant to the overall team work and success.