Jo Kardamash RGN and Rehab Nurse

Jo is a Registered Nurse with a Higher Diploma in nursing education. She qualified following three years of study at Christchurch University College Canterbury where she was in the final tranche of the Project 2000 Nursing Initiative. Project 2000 was incredibly important for Jo as it represented the last of the thorough nursing courses that taught all aspects of nursing including correct hands-on and bedside management, along with far more medical education including metabolism, anatomy and physiology.

Starting as a Surgical Nurse Jo provided after-care for elective and emergency surgery at Maidstone Hospital. Working in part in A&E, Jo was also seconded to a Nurse Practitioner post and was deployed to all parts of the hospital to manage cardiac arrests and other emergency situations.

Jo has also worked in the care sector with the elderly, as well as a Company Nurse in the community setting working with children who are on ventilation and with tracheostomies.

Commencing with PROMIS Clinics in 2012, Jo trained as a Rehab Nurse.  She thoroughly enjoys this professional arena as it combines her general nursing skills with her interest in mental health and means that she can employ a broader, more holistic skill set. She says, “This is how I understand proper nursing to be. The work can be incredibly challenging, but also highly rewarding as you visibly see patients getting well”.

Jo goes on to say, “You can often see measurable improvements in patients within the first few days of rehab. I notice that with women in particular that their eyes start to clear, their hair becomes shiny and most of all – you see huge improvements in the quality of their skin”.

Jo’s main interest is in prescription drug addictions and she studies the pharmacology. She provides healthcare education sessions to patients on the effects that prescribed drugs have on the body, their modes of action, the damage that can be done and why people become dependent or addicted.

Personal philosophy to patient care

“Every patient has their own unique set of circumstances and so we apply a holistic approach to each individual person. It is not a case of just applying the same model. We create a unique pathway of care for each patient”.