Meet
Meet Serena Ruffoni
Neurosurgical Staff Nurse
I look after neurosurgical patients coming out from the operating room and recovery room. I’m there to make sure everything is OK, and I help them back on their feet and get ready to go home.
How long have you worked at the hospital?
Two years
Interesting project you’ve worked on:
With my colleagues, we’re implementing a scheme to improve patient experience around meals. We help every patient to sit out of bed for their meal. This has so many benefits. Getting mobile again and being out of your bed speeds up recovery and definitely improves mood!
How does your work make a positive impact?
Nurses are crucial for patients’ safety and recovery. We monitor people very closely after they have had brain and spinal surgery, making sure they are safe and pain-free. We help people go through their journey of recovery, and enable them to become independent again.
What is most challenging about your job?
When there’s not enough staff around and we don’t have the time to care for patients as well as we would like.
What is most rewarding about your job?
Seeing people go back to their lives and be happy after serious illness or trauma. Knowing that it was you and your colleagues that helped to make it happen!
How has your department benefitted from funds raised by The National Brain Appeal?
The National Brain Appeal helped to create the first UK brain tumour unit – the Molly Lane Fox unit. This is a specialist ward for brain tumour patients, many of whom will have surgery. They also funded a complex spinal theatre and a post-operative ward. This theatre means that the hospital has increased capacity for surgery now, enabling more people to access the crucial operations they need to improve their lives.
Help us raise vital funds for Queen Square projects
Please help us achieve our vision to help create better outcomes for everyone with a neurological disorder by making a donation to help raise vital funds.