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CNO Bulletin February 2022

 

A message from our CNO - Tracey Brigstock

Welcome to February’s edition of the CNO Bulletin.

Looking after our mental health is a priority for all of us.

That’s why I’m excited to showcase some remarkable work which is happening with our Renal department who have been able to provide in-demand mindfulness sessions to their staff for approaching two years.

These sessions involve guided meditation, visualisation and relaxation but at their core involve sitting quietly whist paying attention to thoughts, sounds and much more.

We’ll also look at the latest from our Pathway to Excellence journey, as well as our regular celebrations of our latest DAISY Award winners. Excitingly, nominations are also now open for the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) largest annual award ceremony in October.

 

In This Issue                       

 

Pathway to Excellence update

As we move into February we are thrilled to be making preparations for the Pathway to Excellence® survey which will be taking place later this year. In the lead up to the survey we are excited to share some important events in our Nursing and Midwifery Excellence calendar:

Pathway to Excellence® Document Submission Celebration (Friday, 8th April – 14:00-15:00) in the CSB: Please join us for a celebration in recognition and thanks to all, as we submit our Pathway to Excellence® application document.

International Day of the Midwife & International Nurses’ Day: Please join us from 5th to 12th May for a week of celebrations across the Trust.

Please save these dates in your diaries and watch this space for further details and updates about these events. We hope you will be able to join us!

To find out more information about our journey to excellence, please visit our TrustNav page and follow our official Twitter account.

 

Mindfulness Tuesdays – Renal department provides in-demand sessions for staff

Following the first wave of the pandemic members of staff within the renal department including staff from Ward 50 completed a small scale survey that included options to support wellbeing.  Mindfulness sessions were the highest rated suggestion and as a result the department launched “Mindfulness Tuesdays” in November 2020.  Since then, staff from across the renal department have been dropping in for half an hour on Tuesday afternoons from 2.00 to 2.30pm in the Renal Seminar Room or via Teams.

The sessions incorporate a variety of techniques including guided meditation, visualisation and relaxation but at their core involve sitting quietly whist paying attention to thoughts, sounds, sensations of breathing or parts of the body and practising noticing and gently returning attention whenever the mind starts to wander. 

Mindfulness can help improve well-being through helping us to get less caught up in worries and manage difficult emotions and, as mindfulness enables us to focus on the present moment it can also make it easier to savour and enjoy the pleasures in life.  It also encourages a non-judgemental self-compassionate mind set towards ourselves which can help us to be kind to ourselves, in addition to our patients.  Research into mindfulness is ongoing but there is emerging evidence that regular practice can even improve academic achievement and job performance!

The renal department have had positive feedback from the staff and hope to continue the sessions into 2022.  For more information contact Dr Elaine Fitzpatrick, Renal Clinical Psychologist (Elaine.Fitzpatrick@uhcw.nhs.uk)

 

Critically Appraised Topic Groups

Critically Appraised Topic groups (CATs) are an exciting new collaborative venture in development between Dr Liz Lees-Deutsch (Associate Professor for Nursing and Clinical Academic Nurse Centre for Care Excellence) and the Library & Knowledge Services (LKS) staff at UHCW, funded as part Liz’s NIHR ‘70@70 Research Leaders Programme’. 

CATs aim to assist clinicians through a group of motivated practitioners, to establish the best available evidence in response to a clinical issue. Through real time evidence searching by LKS staff and group members to critically appraise papers, the groups can rapidly translate evidence into practice.

The aim is to bring much needed evidence to clinicians at speed; with the application of evidence based practice being a key foundation of the Pathway to Excellence® Framework. This method originates from Keele University Impact Accelerator Unit and have been successfully used in practice since 20071.

During January, Library & Knowledge Services staff at UHCW were trained in this process and train the trainer sessions for clinical department leads will be facilitated from March 2022.

Anyone interested in joining a CAT group, or for further information please contact liz.lees-deutsch@uhcw.nhs.uk

 

Our latest DAISY Awards

The start of the New Year saw us celebrating two new DAISY honourees – Clinical Nurse Specialist Amanda Kirkman of EPAC Ward 23 and Registered Nurse Pamella Matsika of PAAC ,Outpatients Department.

Both nurses received their awards from CNO Tracey Brigstock and were congratulated by many of their colleagues who attended their ceremonies. Congratulations and well done to all of our DAISY honourees; look out for them wearing their DAISY pin badges with pride!

To date, an amazing total of 48 of our extraordinary Nurses and Midwives have been the deserving honourees of a prestigious DAISY award!

Let’s continue to spread the word of the DAISY Awards and celebrate our extraordinary and excellent patient care.

The DAISY Award nomination leaflets and advertising posters are available via Trust Nav. Be sure to access these via the Pathway to Excellence TrustNav page!

 

RCN Nursing Awards – Nominations are now open

The RCN Nursing Awards are back for 2022, and they are bigger and better than ever before.

After two years of virtual ceremonies, it can be confirmed the RCN Nursing Awards are returning to a live, in-person awards ceremony. Join us at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel in London on Thursday 6 October as we celebrate the outstanding efforts, commitment and achievements made by the whole nursing community.

You can share experiences of innovative nursing-led projects and inspiring nursing practice so we can highlight the remarkable accomplishments of you and your colleagues in every care setting and at every career stage. We can share your practice with a wider audience, so even more people can benefit from what you do.

Finalists and winners of the RCN Nursing Awards often see their careers accelerate thanks to the recognition and exposure they receive from entering the awards. Many past winners have gone on to even more outstanding achievements and have become influencers in nursing practice on a national scale.

To learn more click here.

 

SHARE YOUR STORIES

We're always looking for new stories to tell in the CNO Bulletin.

While we can't guarantee everything submitted will be published, if you have anything you would like to be included in a CNO Bulletin please get in contact via the Communications Request Form which is available on TrustNav.

 

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