How to push past self-doubt and excel in your career with Philippa

I’m willing to bet that you’ve watched someone at some point in your career and thought, ‘I’d never be able to do what they do’.

For me, it was the head nurse at one of the branches in my clinic. She ran a tight but well-oiled ship, had the respect of her entire team, knew seemingly everything, was super supportive, and quickly whizzed through the workday. SVN Laura wasn’t sure that’d ever be the case for her!

And then there was my first BVNA congress. Watching people like Louise O’Dwyer stand up and deliver amazing lectures with exceptional knowledge and passion was just captivating. Did I ever think I’d be able to do that? No. Fast-forward 17 years, and a lot has changed.

My guest in today’s post is a fantastic example of how you can push past self-doubt, perfectionism, and impostor syndrome to achieve great things in your career. I’ve known Philippa for the last five or so years, and during this time, she’s become a referral RVN, then the team leader of the internal medicine department, and now a lecturer, tutor, and OSCE assessor.

Today, Philippa chats with us about her career so far, how she’s progressed into her current role, and the struggles, top tips and highlights from her nursing career. Whether you’re working in GP or referral, student or qualified, I know you’ll find a ton of wisdom in what she has to share.

It started nine years ago…

Philippa trained via the degree route, graduating from Harper Adams University in 2013. Alongside her nursing degree, she completed her SQP qualification and gained a certificate in practice management. Then, she began working as an RVN for a busy GP hospital in Cheshire.

Here, Philippa spent seven years as an RVN, progressing to head nurse and running a team of 30 registered and student VNs. Alongside managing her team, she realised she loved nursing medicine patients and enjoyed treating and learning about medical conditions. She also loved emergency and critical care and completed the Vets Now certificate in ECC, allowing her to focus more on nursing emergency and critical medical patients.

In 2020, it was time for a change. Philippa took her passion for medicine and developed this further, moving to the hospital’s referral team and completing the Improve International Nurse’s certificate in medical nursing.

Fast-forward to 2024, and things have progressed even more.

Philippa has recently taken on the Lead Internal Medicine RVN role, where she works alongside internal medicine clinicians, supports medical patients during diagnostic imaging and procedures, and helps with day-to-day medical patient care. She’s also heavily involved in laboratory work (anyone else feel like the lab is our second home?!), chemotherapy administration and oncology nursing.

“I work closely with our internal medicine clinicians, supporting patients during diagnostic workups including imaging (x-rays, ultrasound, CT, MRI, endoscopy) and sample collection/processing. I also perform lab work and assist with oncology cases. I also provide CPD to our veterinary group on a range of ECC and medicine subjects.”

And it’s not just clinical work where Philippa’s role has changed. 

With her evolving role and passion for learning, Philippa began teaching. She now tutors the Vets Now ECC certificate, is a peer reviewer for The Veterinary Nurse journal, and writes and examines OSCEs for student nurses.

Alongside this, Philippa delivers training to her team, branch practices, and other clinics in her corporate group, within her interests in medicine and ECC. From chatting about fluid therapy to delivering CPR training, Philippa is taking all the knowledge and passion she’s built over the years, pushing her comfort zone, and going out there to support and inspire others.

So why medicine?

Medicine cases are a firm favourite for Philippa because they are so rewarding. Our patients often require extensive advanced and intensive nursing care, and that doesn’t stop when they leave the hospital—lots of ongoing care is needed after discharge in our chronic cases, too.

Intensive nursing care allows us to use more skills and perform patient-centred, compassionate care. This is so important for all patients, but especially for patients with chronic conditions, who’ll need regular appointments, blood samples, and hospitalisation throughout their lives.

“I find medicine cases really rewarding as they often require a lot of intensive nursing care throughout their diagnosis, treatment and ongoing management. It is great to build close relationships with the patient and their owners and then see them do well at home and still be happy to come back and see us for check-ups!”

The other great thing about medicine is that it’s one big puzzle. There are so many different diseases; no two are the same, and our patients often have concurrent diseases and other challenges, making things harder. While this can mean medicine is complicated, it also means it’s a lot of fun!

“I also like the problem-solving aspect of medicine and the variety of conditions and diseases we see; there is always something new to learn!”

Philippa’s favourites are GI cases, endoscopy procedures (despite the strong smell sometimes!), IMHA cases, thrombocytopenias, and DKAs—all patients who benefit from a lot of advanced nursing skills!

How can you make nursing your patients easier?

I asked Philippa to share her favourite hacks, tips and nursing considerations for her medical patients, and she shared some real gold for you to take back and use in your clinics. Here are her top 5 tips:

“Attach the barrel of a 2.5ml syringe to a rigid dog urinary catheter, then attach a 7mm ET tube end to deliver oxygen to cases where intubation is challenging.”

“Use a dental mouth gag to hold the mouth open to intubate during CPR if no one is free to help.”

“ Always be prepared. Keep the procedure room fully stocked so everything is to hand should the situation change.”

“Have a tray with all your anaesthesia/procedure equipment so you can carry it with you as you move around the practice, e.g., from the CT to the procedure room.”

“Leave a label on the table to let people know you have set up and will be arriving soon – if coming from one area of the practice to another with a sedated/anaesthetised patient.”

Philippa also shared that while it’s easy to get bogged down in all the complicated treatments and advanced nursing skills our medical patients need, we can’t overlook the importance of simple interventions tailored to the individual patient—these often make the biggest difference!

“It is those simple interventions that are tailored to the individual patient that are most important, for example, feeding a nervous patient out in the garden or using barrier creams to soothe sore skin. Also, never underestimate the power of simply spending time with a patient and creating a bond with them!”

But it hasn’t always been easy.

Philippa’s career has not always been plain sailing, and our industry is facing tougher times than ever. So, how does she get through the more challenging times?

Her answer? Practicing resilience and building and maintaining relationships with the people around you - your team and colleagues will support you through the tough days and celebrate with you through the better ones.

Like many of us, Philippa is a self-confessed perfectionist, and this can make day-to-day practice challenging, especially when faced with difficult situations outside of our control. When things go ‘wrong’ and when you’re pushing your comfort zone, it’s also easy for that impostor voice to pop up and the self-doubt to start - but Philippa keeps this at bay by recognising it when it comes up, surrounding herself with great friends and colleagues, and reminding herself that she is doing a good job.

She also sees it as a strength because, while impostorism can be a challenge, it helps her support and inspire others to push past similar feelings, allowing them to advance their skills, too. It also encourages her to continue learning and striving to be a better nurse while practicing self-compassion—something we don’t do enough of in our industry!

And that desire to learn more led Philippa to the Medical Nursing Academy.

Philippa joined the academy as a founding member in February 2023 and has been an important part of it ever since! She’s always on hand to support people, especially those working through the NCert, and uses the lessons inside to help her deliver confident medical care.

“Joining the academy was a no-brainer! It is the best place for internal medicine CPD for nurses, and it has provided me with improved knowledge and confidence in caring for a range of cases.

The support from Laura and the other academy members is great. If you ever have a question, you can always find the answer within the content on the academy or ask in the community, and someone will respond!”

So, what’s next for Philippa? I can’t wait to see where else she takes her career. I am sure we’ll see her up on the BVNA stage in the not-too-distant future, and I can’t wait to see her inspire and motivate more of our profession.

Philippa’s story proves that if you’re passionate about an area of nursing and are willing to step out of your comfort zone and go for it, you’ll get more from your career than you thought possible. The opportunities out there for us nurses and technicians are almost endless - it’s just a case of putting that self-doubt aside, telling yourself a kinder story, and deciding to go for it!

So I’d love to know - what do you want to ‘go for’? Is it a change in role, a course you’d like to complete, a new skill you’d like to learn, or perhaps you’d like to write your first article? Send me a DM on Instagram, and let’s chat about it - I’d love to hear from you!

PS. If you’re interested in joining a community of nurses to celebrate and support you whilst you do it, the academy will be re-opening very soon with a whole new look! To be the first to see it, join the waitlist here.