Welcome to May’s edition of the CNO Bulletin; a very special edition as it’s a month of celebrations. With International Day of the Midwife, which took place on the Wednesday 5th May, and International Nurses Day on the Wednesday 12th May, I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for your continuing dedication, hard work and compassion.
During difficult times such as those that we’ve experienced over the last 18 months, it’s not uncommon to experience physical and mental fatigue. Hopefully you’ve heard of them already but if not, I want to share Schwartz Rounds with you - this is a brilliant forum accessible to all staff working here at UHCW.
Schwartz Rounds are meetings that enable staff to share and reflect on the rewards and challenges of working in healthcare. Those who have attended have reported improvements in their ability to attend to the emotional aspects of care, experience of team working, relationships with colleagues and a reduction in feeling stressed or isolated.
It is vital we take the time to look after our own and our colleague’s mental health. It is just one hour, out of an average of 672 hours a month. Lunch is provided so get in early, as well as a certificate that you can use towards your CPD - perfect when approaching your revalidation. There is no pressure to participate in discussions, just come and listen with an open mind.
I know it can sometimes be difficult to step away from the clinical area, so please try to plan ahead of time so you can give plenty of notice to your manager that you wish to attend. It is vital as nursing and midwifery staff we take the time out to reflect. We hold the Schwartz Rounds monthly so keep an eye on TrustNav or ThisWeek for details of the next round.
I really hope to see you at this month’s round.
The first Medicines Safety Week took place from Monday 26th to Friday 30th April across the Trust with great engagement from many wards and departments. This was led by Emma Fish, ADN Quality and Patient Safety, Mairaide Varney, Lead Nurse Quality Improvement, and Nixy Samuel, Medications Safety Officer. There was a different theme every day which included:
Monday – Insulin safety.
Tuesday – Injectable medicines and good practice.
Wednesday – Medication charts, including correct documentation.
Thursday – Focus on bedside handover and ensuring medication charts are handed over between each shift.
Friday – Focus on CDs, including the use of purple bottle adaptors with purple enteral syringes for administration of oral CDs, CD storage and correct documentation.
Many areas nominate Medicine Safety Champions who will be responsible for ensuring standards are consistently being followed in their areas, as well as disseminating any relevant alerts or information regarding medicine safety.
The Paediatric Wards and Respiratory Wards created visual education boards and interactive quizzes which engaged with the multi-disciplinary teams in raising the profile of medicine safety. Staff took the opportunity to raise questions about themes and incidents in their areas, ensuring best practice is always followed.
On the Wednesday 12th May we marked International Nurses Day and International Day of the Midwife with a day of celebration, recognition and showcasing nursing and midwifery excellence here at UHCW.
Opening the event, Professor Nina Morgan reflected on the incredible achievements and contributions of nursing and midwifery staff across the Trust, despite the challenges of the last year.
This year’s Florence Nightingale Award, presented by Chief Executive Officer Professor Andy Hardy, was awarded to Neuro Endocrine Tumor Nurse Specialist and previous DAISY Award honouree, Louise Davies.
Louise was recognised for the outstanding care, compassion and support she provides to her patients, exemplifying extraordinary nursing care in her daily practice.
Impressive ‘Walls of Excellence’ were created at University Hospital and the Hospital of St Cross from over one hundred responses for examples of excellence. These examples showcased many amazing examples of care, improvements and collaborative working, all of which take us well on our way to evidencing our excellent nursing and midwifery practice as part of our Pathway to Excellence® journey.
In keeping with the Pathway to Excellence® theme, International Nurses Day also saw the official launch of the new Pathway to Excellence® Ambassador roles, an exciting development opportunity for nurses, midwives and nursing associates from across the Trust to engage with like-minded professionals in developing and sharing best practice in their areas.
You can also continue to share your Examples of Excellence via PathwayToExcellenceUHCW@uhcw.nhs.uk and we look forward to showcasing these at the nursing and midwifery summit in September.
Our guest writer, Rajiv, is a Registered Nurse who joined our Trust via the International Nurse OSCE Training Programme, and has recently secured a post as a Band 6 Charge Nurse on Ward 43.
"I’m Rajiv Thandayuthapani from India, currently working on Ward 43 Neurosurgical Unit.
"Being a Registered Nurse for 17 years has been a journey which includes experience in a General Critical Care Unit, Critical Cardiovascular Unit, Cardiothoracic Unit, Cath Lab and in Neuroscience in India and Trinidad.
"I started my career in India as a Registered Nurse and had an opportunity to represent my strength as a Cardiac Nurse in Trinidad and Tobago. Through all these years, I have been a compassionate and professional, which compelled me to enter the NHS. For this I had to pass a few exams before becoming a Registered Nurse in the NHS.
"Firstly, I had to take an English Language test. This is an exam to check my ability to read, write, speak and listen in English. After clearing this, I moved on to a computer based test, which was about nursing practice. Later, I came to the UK and I had to undertake a practical OSCE programme and exam before I could join the NMC register. I began my journey as a Pre-Registered Nurse in January 2020 on Ward 43 on successful completion of my OSCE.
"As a Registered Nurse, working with my colleagues, I learned a lot from them. An opportunity presented for band 6 and I got through on successful completion of the interview. The journey has been amazing and I feel proud. I find the work extremely valuable helping those who suffered many losses especially in this pandemic.
"UHCW made sure we all had PPE and regularly monitored every one's health and wellbeing which was remarkable. I have to thank everyone for the support and this wonderful opportunity that was offered to me."
As part of our health and wellbeing restoration programme, we have organised a number of webinars to support and enhance your physical and emotional wellbeing. These bespoke sessions have been designed and are being facilitated by Dr Sarah Hattam, Concilio Health.
You will need access to Microsoft Teams and a device with a camera/speakers to join. For further information or to register your place please email healthandwellbeing@uhcw.nhs.uk; please see attached flyer for more details of the sessions in May and June.
The Medical and Life Sciences Research Fund invites you to apply for funding from their Training Bursary scheme.
The scheme is to supplement funding for new projects of timeliness and promise initiated by research scientists and clinicians at an early stage of their career in the areas of medical, biomedical and agricultural research.
The total requested grant should be up to £8,000 (including VAT) and will be made available as a single payment.
In all cases, we require the applicant to have two supervisors. The two supervisors should be clinicians or scientists and at least one should be an academic member of staff.
As part of the selection process the applicant may be asked to make a presentation to Medical and Life Sciences Research Fund committee members.
Successful applicants would be expected to support the Medical and Life Sciences Research Fund by being prepared to present work in progress to our supporters.
Completed application forms (available here) should be e-mailed as scanned in PDF files to charityadmin@mlsrf.co.uk. The closing date for applications is at the end of Friday 11th June 2021.
If you would like further information on this scheme, please contact Fund Officer, Elizabeth Robinson, e-mail: charityadmin@mlsrf.co.uk
Congratulations to our most recent DAISY Award honouree, Haematology Clinical Nurse Specialist Ruth Manton.
"Ruth ensured that she got to know her patient who had learning disabilities in order to reassure and manage their anxieties and fear of treatment," Ruth's nomination read.
"Ruth has been compassionate of circumstances and gone above and beyond to deliver a person-centred service.
"Ruth made herself available to support patients to blood tests, scans and outpatient appointments. Ruth remained professional whilst delivering a caring approach and we would have found the whole situation more difficult to deal with without her support - a massive thank you from us all."
As a way of recognising and honouring the wonderful care given by our Nurses and Midwives here at UHCW, we will be launching the DAISY Awards stand.
This will showcase all of our winners and eligible nominees to date; could your name be in our showcase? Be sure to visit the DAISY Awards stand to find out more.
UHCW Community Teams visit – Paybody Building: CNO Visit Friday 16th April 2021
In April Professor Nina Morgan, alongside Modern Matrons Lorna Jones and May Parsons, went on a Pathway to Excellence® themed visit to meet with UHCWs community teams based at the Paybody Building in Coventry City Centre. The teams based there are the Community Heart Failure Team, the Community COPD Team and the Community TB Team.
During the visit it was truly inspiring to hear the teams speak about all the incredible work that they undertake on a daily basis, including developing innovative new systems and ways of working to improve patient care.
The teams described many examples of their nursing excellence, dedication and commitment in continuing to provide the highest possible patient care in challenging and ever changing circumstances. We were most struck by the collaborative working and compassionate leadership displayed by everyone in supporting both their patients and each other through the Covid-19 pandemic. Throughout this period many of the team members have also worked a great number of additional shifts; both within their own teams and through deployments to inpatient wards at UHCW.
May Parsons shared some reflections following the visit: “The TB and COPD Community Teams within Respiratory have been very agile in their response to Covid as well as maintaining their community service. I feel very privileged to have showcased our team’s contributions to Nina and how proud we are as a Team and the way that we are all working together to achieve better patient care and experience to our patients as well as looking after and supporting each other.”
Lorna Jones said: “It’s always a pleasure to spend time with our community teams; they bring an abundance of value added to UHCW system.”
Tracey Langham Lead Nurse for the community TB team also shared some words: “Thank you to Nina Morgan and Lisa Dunn for taking the time to visit us off-site at the CoCHC on Friday. It was inspiring to hear the innovative ways that fellow community teams had overcome challenges, especially those presented due to Covid. As a team, we were also grateful for senior management to actively listen to concerns raised and offer assistance with these.”
Thank you once again to all of our amazing community teams, we look forward to coming to see you again soon.
Please watch this space for more upcoming CNO visits to our UHCW teams.
Filmed across @nhsuhcw, season seven of @BBCTwo's #Hospital returns from Tuesday 11th May 2021 to capture the story of the NHS in unprecedented times, giving viewers an intimate look at a community one year into pandemic. Read about the 6-part series: https://t.co/JLKbb9bcW3 pic.twitter.com/geFFTdrfFD — UHCW NHS Trust (@nhsuhcw) May 7, 2021
Filmed across @nhsuhcw, season seven of @BBCTwo's #Hospital returns from Tuesday 11th May 2021 to capture the story of the NHS in unprecedented times, giving viewers an intimate look at a community one year into pandemic. Read about the 6-part series: https://t.co/JLKbb9bcW3 pic.twitter.com/geFFTdrfFD
Morning! Our year as UK City of Culture has begun, and we've got lots of exciting news to share with you! Keep an eye on our social media channels for updates throughout the days, and don't forget to look out for a surprise at 20:21 tonight! #TimelessWords #HereForCulture pic.twitter.com/x95bQOSOgL — Coventry UK City of Culture 2021 (@Coventry2021) May 15, 2021
Morning! Our year as UK City of Culture has begun, and we've got lots of exciting news to share with you! Keep an eye on our social media channels for updates throughout the days, and don't forget to look out for a surprise at 20:21 tonight! #TimelessWords #HereForCulture pic.twitter.com/x95bQOSOgL
UHCW DAISY hall of fame - just one of our International Nurses Day celebrations - 25 winners in 18 months@nhsuhcw @UHCWP2E #ExcellenceAtUHCW @ParkerVicky_ @vickyADN @UHCW_CQO pic.twitter.com/PrSfruKfFs — Prof Nina Morgan RN MSc (@ninamorganUHCW) May 12, 2021
UHCW DAISY hall of fame - just one of our International Nurses Day celebrations - 25 winners in 18 months@nhsuhcw @UHCWP2E #ExcellenceAtUHCW @ParkerVicky_ @vickyADN @UHCW_CQO pic.twitter.com/PrSfruKfFs
Happy International Nurses Day! IPCN Raj and Natalie have put together a celebratory stand for the @UHCWP2E event in CSB. We are delighted to showcase lots of shared decision making and collaborative work from the last 12 months ☺️ #TeamIPC #IND2021 pic.twitter.com/aFroazrgq6 — Infection Prevention Control (@uhcw_inf_con) May 12, 2021
Happy International Nurses Day! IPCN Raj and Natalie have put together a celebratory stand for the @UHCWP2E event in CSB. We are delighted to showcase lots of shared decision making and collaborative work from the last 12 months ☺️ #TeamIPC #IND2021 pic.twitter.com/aFroazrgq6
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