Davinia Castano-Garcia

Davi is an Advanced Nurse Practitioner and Independent Prescriber with over 17 years of experience in acute and surgical adult nursing. Her extensive background includes experience in the Emergency Department and surgical and clinical ophthalmology.

She graduated from the University of Valencia (Spain). She worked in A&E settings until she moved abroad to the UK to enhance and progress her nursing career, which started as a staff nurse in Wrexham more than 10 years ago. Her passion for ophthalmology supported her professional development in all three areas of this specialty: outpatient settings, Day Case Unit and Ophthalmic Theatre.

She is focused on developing specialist roles in the Ophthalmic Team, which led her to obtain an Ophthalmic Nurse Practitioner and Intravitreal Injector role, delivering intravitreal injections to the North Wales population with Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Diabetic Retinopathy and Retinal Vein Occlusions.

After completing the MSc Advanced Clinical Practice at Wrexham University, she gained a position as an Advanced Nurse Practitioner in Ophthalmology, which she maintains alongside her new role as Senior Lecturer in Post-Registration Nursing and Allied Health. As an advanced nurse practitioner, she is part of the Glaucoma and Retinal team. She is responsible for assessing, examining, diagnosing, and evaluating patients referred to secondary care from primary care services. She has collaborated with Glaucoma UK in supporting groups for patients diagnosed with this condition.

During her MSc, Davi developed a passion for education and developing other healthcare practitioners. She has supported students by collaborating with the Post Registration Team on a sessional basis over the past few years, delivering the Ophthalmic Sessions for Minor Injuries, Minor Illnesses, and Clinical Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning, part 2 modules.

Her dissertation topic has ignited her passion for research. Her research interests include concordance to treatment in glaucoma patients, consultation methods to reduce the lack of compliance to treatment and improve patient quality of life, and ophthalmic conditions related to underlying systemic diseases.

Outside of work, Davi enjoys sports and actively practices CrossFit, Olympic weightlifting, gymnastics and running.