I just needed to off load! so where do I start? Well as many of you know... I am a nurse, and through my nursing on a very busy ward, which is part of a 3 site teaching hospital, I have been taking part in The NHS Institute of Innovation & Improvements 'Releasing Time to Care Programme"(RT2C). As the ward lead I have encountered many challenging situation that have enabled the ward to make changes that improve the whole Patient experience. This has been achieved by giving back the much needed 'time to care' to the nurses. The modules that have been applied to date have brought those in executive roles to join forces with those on the shop floor (so to speak), not many hospitals can say that they do this...So a great big Thank you to our executives for taking the time to Listen to me, the staff and most importantly to our patients.
You may also have read through Twitter or Facebook that the whole experience has lead me to talk about 'The impact on both the ward and myself particularly my leadership skills and how I overcame the challenges'. I was invited to the International EXPO 2011 conference at the London Docklands in March to give a presentation to the delegates surrounding a staff nurse/ward leads view on the whole programme of releasing time to care. I was so very nervous, which is strange for me because I'm the type of person who calls a spade a spade, and cannot be doing with waffle! but there I was a rabbit caught in the headlights, telling the world about me! I don't do 'ME' very well, I usually leave that to others.
Since doing that presentation, I have been called upon by the Trust in which I work to help celebrate the achievements that the leads have made. On 14th April the 'celebration conference' took place at a hotel in Leicester. Once again I shared my opinions, views and Ideas in another presentation, with those from the Trust and also visitors from other hospitals within the UK. The conference went amazingly well, in fact much better than I had dared to hope. I wanted as many of the module leads to attend the conference with me, I also encouraged 4 of them to join me and design posters highlighting their individual modules. These were later to be judged by independent members of various parties. The girls did a fantastic job and on the day of the conference the posters were unveiled, WOW! they were superb! Talk about pride... how proud was I when we (our team of module leads, helpers and myself) not only came first in the poster competition but to have our group praised for their amazing attribute of team working . Well done my lovelies!
Following on from these wonderful experiences, this week (6th June 2011) saw another Dawn emerge! My task was to perform in front of a camera to produce what will be part of the NHS Innovation & Improvement new video, this will air on their website imminently to promote the 'RT2C Programme). I must say that this was the most challenging situation I have ever had to endure. Sweaty palms and a dry mouth were the least of my worries... I had not slept the night before through nervousness, I had butterflies in my stomach that would not go, and the people producing the film kept asking me all sorts of questions (talk about being put on the spot). Eventually after hours of filming It was all over (well nearly! just a video of me with a patient to do) that part was easy as I love patient involvement, and the patient who consented to be filmed with me was lovely...Thank you so much for volunteering.
When the filming finally came to the end I felt absolutely drained! I went back to the car park where I sat deep in thought about the days' events. Whilst sitting in my car a song came on the radio which just summed up my day, and echoed how i was feeling (I was trying to clear my head), the song was 'Up On The Roof', quite appropriate. I then received a wonderful phone call from a friend who kept me talking for ages about all sorts of things, by the end of the call my head was buzzing! I finally got home at approx 6pm, time for reflection! but still I couldn't eat, however, that night I slept so well, and looked forward to going to work the next day.
Tuesday 7th arrived and I was in such a good mood... I was on a late shift, It was a very busy ward, but that's nothing new, we are always hectic with emergencies and theatre patients. After giving the lo-down to I don't know how many people, (my colleagues were so interested in the previous days experience) These included several of the consultants, word must have got round because I didn't tell any of them what I was doing. My day soon turned from good to great! Someone whom I had mentored through a degree module had given me a beautiful bouquet as a thank you...It appears that I have my uses ha ah.
Today, Wednesday 8th seemed rather flat, nothing to tell you about my working life, except that working in the environment where my patients go through so many emotions I realise what a very lucky and privileged lady I am. For this I thank the Trust in which I work, The Releasing Time To Care team, also the patients and colleagues who put their faith in me. May life be full of improvements, surrounded by many smiles xxx
Our charity The Harley Staples Cancer Trust is in loving memory of our beautiful, inspirational boy Harley.
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