A University of West London (UWL) nursing lecturer is heading back to the wards after volunteering to support overstretched NHS services across Berkshire during the coronavirus pandemic.

Charlotte Bramanis, a registered children’s nurse, will return to practice on NHS wards in Berkshire this month – almost 20 years after taking up her first role in the county as a graduate nurse in 2000.

After a government call out for retired nurses or those no longer practicing to offer their services as the country fights the pandemic, Charlotte signed up, knowing she could not simply sit back and watch when she could be doing something to help.

Charlotte, who lives in Reading with her family, worked as a children’s nurse in Australia for over a decade before returning to Berkshire to teach full time at UWL – the university where she completed her own training.

She said:

I have friends working in local hospitals and they are saying how stretched services are already. With things potentially set to get worse I knew I had to do my bit.

I will help in any way I can to relieve pressures or free up trained adult nurses currently working on the children’s ward, I just want to help in what I was trained to do. It might be a case of all hands on deck so I am happy to just be another person to help where needed.

It has been two years since I have worked in a clinical role, but I still know it all well. I worked as a nurse through the Ebola outbreak while living in Australia so I am prepared for what I might see, but everything is so different and hits the health service in completely different ways.

Charlotte, a lecturer in Children’s Nursing and Healthcare at UWL, will continue to teach alongside her work on the wards, with all University teaching and support services now being delivered online to ensure training is not disrupted.

Charmagne Barnes, Dean of UWL’s College of Nursing, Midwifery and Healthcare, said:

We will continue to support our student nurses in Berkshire and London in line with Covid-19 legislation. We have been working closely with the relevant professional bodies to ensure we are providing appropriate guidance and support for our students.

We are paying special attention to all those who are able to directly support the NHS, and I am very proud of all of our students and staff who are doing what they can for our valued health services during these unprecedented times.