Biography:

Sjouke Ashton-Clarkson completed a Degree in Nursing at the Universities of Brighton and Utrecht, The Netherlands. Having graduated in 2002 she worked as a cardiac nurse at Eastbourne before moving into cardiac research between 2006 and 2009.

Since 2009, Sjouke has cared for patients with heart failure in East Kent, first as a community clinical nurse specialist (CNS) and then as the lead heart failure nurse specialist at East Kent Hospitals.

Sjouke was responsible for setting up the inpatient acute heart failure team over the three East Kent Hospitals sites (Ashford, Margate and Canterbury). She leads a team of clinical nurse specialists delivering cardiac care to patients both in hospital and at home.

She has established innumerable new services and initiatives over her time in East Kent and is a highly respected member of the cardiac team in the region.

Research:

Sjouke has contibuted to countless research studies in the heart failure and medical devices spaces, both as a senior heart failure nurse specialist, and also as a full-time senior clinical research associate for Premier Research in Switzerland.

Clinical Practice:

Sjouke sees patients with an existing diagnosis of heart failure. As an experienced nurse prescriber she is expert at choosing medications for management of heart failure and gradually optimising doses of medications over a series of appointments. Many of the medications used to treat heart failure require slow “titration” (or dose adjustment) to achieve the best possible long term results and the lowest possible risk of side effects.

Sjouke is highly experienced at this process and pioneered introduction of East Kent’s rapid titration protocols to deliver maximum benefit to patients in the lowest possible time. She is also an skilled patient educator and devotes time to ensuring that patients understand the diagnosis of heart failure and the roles of different treatments.