Ciara Collins

Chair

Critical Care Matron - Harefield Hospital, Heart Lung and Critical Care Clinical Group GSTT Foundation Trust

Ciara originally from Ireland trained and completed nurse training in London, qualifying in 2005. After a short time on the wards Ciara moved to general intensive care where her passion for critical care was born. Ciara has 16 years’ experience in critical care nursing covering general, burns and cardio thoracic intensive care- transplantation and mechanical support. Prior to her current role as Matron for Critical Care in Harefield Hospital she was lead nurse for ECMO.

Ciara holds post registration courses in intensive care nursing, mentorship and leadership and management. She is an ECMO CNS and is trained in mechanical life support.

Ciara found her love for cardio-thoracic, transplantation and mechanical support nursing when she joined Harefield in 2011. Ciara is a passionate NHS leader and strives to ensure that the team are well supported in all aspects of their role, professionally, academically and psychologically.

Ciara’s motivation to join the forum was to help bring critical care nursing back to the forefront. She would like to network with other experts in the field and help guide the direction of critical care nursing on a national level.

Nadeem Khan

Nadeem Khan joined Bradford University as an Assistant Professor in April 2022. Having qualified and practiced professionally in a large surgical ICU abroad, Nadeem decided to move to the UK to develop his nursing career.

Nadeem progressed to become a lead nurse in oncology before moving to critical care where he has continued to develop his clinical, managerial, and teaching roles. Notwithstanding his clinical commitments, he has managed to obtain a series of qualifications throughout his career, including a BSc in health and social care, a critical care specialist course, and a post graduate certificate in higher professional education (teaching).

Nadeem’s interests are education, professional workforce development and retention in adult critical care areas as well as equally, diversity and inclusion. He has completed his Ph.D. in 2021 whilst working full-time in critical care as a senior charge nurse. Nadeem has extensive teaching experience in both clinical and academic settings. He has taught at Oxford Brookes University as an associate lecturer/teaching fellow and contributed to the development of various in-house education programs within the adult critical care settings whilst working as a clinical educator and practice development nurse in Oxford.

Onyekachi Marie Ogbekile

Marie is a dedicated student nurse and her ambition is to make a significant impact in the field of critical care and flight nursing. As a current student at the University of Hertfordshire, Marie balances her academic commitments with her role on the Critical Care and Flight Nursing Forum Steering Committee. Her journey in nursing is personal, inspired by the discrepancies in her late mother's care, she is driven to redefine standards and deliver compassionate, equitable health care.

Marie's journey is marked by her tenure as a student ambassador for the Royal College of Nursing, a role that underscored her leadership potential and passion for advocacy. This invaluable experience laid the groundwork for her current position on the steering committee, where she actively contributes to shaping the future of critical care and flight nursing. Her contributions are characterised by a forward-thinking approach that is as much about addressing present challenges as preparing for future innovations in health care.

Chloe Richards

Chloe is a critical care nurse based in Pembrokeshire, Southwest Wales. Having trained in Cardiff University she spent the first three years of her career in the Cardiac Intensive Care Department in the University Hospital of Wales, where she realised that she wanted to be a intensive care nurse.

She moved home and spent a year working as a surgical nurse before joining the Intensive Care Unit at Withybush Hospital where she has been since 2021. During her time in the ITU, Chloe completed her post graduate certificate in critical care, was one of the first in her unit to complete the Step competencies and became an active member of the RCN as a trade union representative, where she was a picket supervisor during strike action.

She has also had a secondment into a Band 6 role in her unit and continues to support the unit with the skills she learned from that time. Chloe takes great interest in the development of student nurses and is a keen champion of the students and providing them a valuable learning experience and teaching them skills that they can use through out their careers. Her other interests include end of life care, PICO monitoring and championing the Welsh language.

Having experienced the trade union side of the RCN, Chloe is now focusing on the professional side as part of the steering committee. She aims to balance both sides of the RCN and show that you can be an active part of both. She is looking forward to engaging with the members of the forum and being a part of the RCN's leading force for all things critical care. She hopes to bring a unique perspective to the forum steering committee as a member from a devolved nation and hopes to encourage other devolved nation members to get involved. Through the forum Chloe hopes to grow her network of connections and impact other nurses nationally and internationally. 

Sara Walsh

Chief Critical Care Flight Nurse and Clinical Services Manager - Gama Aviation

Sara Walsh is the Chief Critical Care Flight Nurse and Clinical Services Manager at Gama Aviation, where she runs a fixed-wing emergency retrieval service. Her vast international experience has allowed her to develop skills in an open minded and adaptable manner. Evidence based practice and patient centred quality care is of high importance, which is reflected in the way she develops policies and runs the service.

Sara has also been involved in the development of new international standards for the aeromedical industry (EURAMI). Sara remains clinical by means of remaining on the nurses bank within ICU and by undertaking flights with Gama Aviation. She is passionate about critical care and aeromedical nursing and strives to share her passion with others.