Thank you NURSES

THE PAEDIATRIC NURSE

Cavette Castillo, 47, is a paediatric nurse and ambulatory care matron at Evelina London Children’s Hospital. She lives in south London, is married to Matthew and is mum to Lyncia, 30, Alvin, 28, Remar, 23, and Cassie, 14.

Ambulatory care involves looking after children who don’t require a long stay in hospital. As matron, my job involves managing a number of departments, such as rheumatology and haematology, and ensuring high-quality care for our children’s outpatients. Many have long-term conditions like sickle cell, Crohn’s and HIV. They may need tests or blood transfusions.

‘Difficult days are tempered by the highs of individual successes’

I wanted to make a difference through nursing after a childhood experience in Jamaica. I was about eight and my mother’s friend’s two-year-old daughter became unwell. She had a fever and was biting and hitting out. Despite a visit to the local doctor, her condition worsened and the grown-ups said she had been attacked by a spirit. I remember