Michelle Murphy

I began my journey at HEFT as a Student Radiographer in 2012 where I was based cross site between Good Hope and Heartlands Hospital. I went on to graduate in the summer of 2015 and secured a Band 5 position at Good Hope Hospital, which I enjoyed thoroughly. I worked alongside a great team and gained a wealth of experience and knowledge in plain film radiography, theatres and some CT experience. In May 2016 an opportunity arose when a 12 month secondment within the Cardiovascular Radiology Team was advertised. Although I had not been qualified for a year I felt it was time to make a change and challenge myself to take on a new area of radiography. I was successful at interview, and later gained a permanent position within the team.  I began my training in Interventional Radiology, as I had some experience in this area as a student. Although it proved to be challenging I quickly came to grips with performing complex procedures as part of a multi-disciplinary team. I went on to train in the Cardiac Cath Lab, where I learned to work in another high pressure environment alongside doctors, nurses, Cardiac Physiologists and HCA’s. I expanded on my radiographic skills and became ILS (Intermediate Life Support) certified to prepare me for cardiac arrest situations, which I have become accustomed to participating in  on the out of hours on call rota.  Then, just when I thought I had seen all that the cardiovascular world had to offer at HEFT, our team was asked to take on the imaging in the Trust's state-of-the-art Hybrid Vascular Theatre. This role further developed the skills learned in both Interventional Radiology and Cardiology and allowed me to draw on my past CT experience in the planning aspect of complex endovascular procedures.

In addition to all I have learned as a radiographer, I have gained a great understanding of the patient pathway from diagnosis to treatment and I have been able to see both positive and negative outcome of treatment. I have learned how to run a busy theatre list and balance the workload across three sites (Heartlands, Good Hope and Solihull), often stretching into the nursing role. I am now one of the senior members of the team and take responsibility for training and mentoring new members of staff. I am also actively involved in Audit and pay close attention to our team’s clinical practice, which helps us maintain high standards across the services.

I feel that the trust has given me a great platform to advance over the last 3 years and now I feel that I am well on my way to preparing myself for advanced practice/ managerial roles in the future.