Joanna Lavery qualified as a registered nurse in 1999 at Liverpool John Moores University. She then worked in neurosurgery and critical care, before embarking on a role in the community as a specialist community practitioner district nurse (SCPDN). She held posts as SCPDN care manager and community matron, completing her MSc in advanced practice in 2011. Ms Lavery returned to secondary care in 2013 to work as an advanced nurse practitioner in acute medicine  and ambulatory emergency care. She has worked in higher education since 2019 teaching across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. She is programme lead for the advanced clinical practice apprenticeship programme and is studying for a PhD that focuses on cardio, renal and metabolic syndrome in heart failure and multispecialty working.