Senior Sister Josie's leadership and development programme for colleagues recognised with Excellent Employee Award
A Senior Sister at Queen's Hospital Burton's Emergency Department has been praised for her desire and commitment to providing a development programme for junior Sisters and Charge Nurses to help them to develop their leadership, clinical knowledge, and managerial skills.
Josie Murphy acted on feedback from colleagues who expressed a desire to undertake more training within the department to aid their career progression after taking on senior roles in the team, such as Sister and Charge Nurse.
In addition to fulfilling her busy day-to-day responsibilities, Josie implemented a new programme that invested resources into new, and current, staff to provide them with the development they needed to help the team to continue to deliver high quality care and improve the experience of patients attending A&E.
This programme includes frequent one-to-one sessions with colleagues that look to continuously develop and adapt individual progress plans, increasing awareness around clinical governance, and greater involvement within operations meetings and staffing. All of this has had the added benefit of allowing for strong partnerships between ED and different departments within the Trust and across the wider healthcare system in the region.
The impact of Josie's compassionate approach to leadership and development saw her awarded with our latest Excellent Employee Monthly Making a Difference Award - which was presented to Josie by Chief Financial Officer and Deputy Chief Executive, Simon Crowther, alongside several members of QHB ED in a surprise ceremony.
Explaining further about the nature of the course, and what inspired her to set it up, Josie said it was important that all colleagues who made the next step in their careers to these roles saw the 'big picture' in order to deliver excellence in care.
She continued: "I've been here for 13 years, and I had some amazing role models when I stepped up, and after hearing some feedback from the team about how they'd like to supported, I just thought: 'I want to be that person for those who were in my position before' - approaching me for whatever they need support with, and making sure we bed in vital support and advice.
"It's a big step up. Some people can be concerned that as soon as they start these roles, they've suddenly got to 'know everything' - but we can't possibly know everything overnight, and we are always continuously learning. Even by helping my junior Sister and Charge Nurse colleagues, I know for certain that it's helped me to improve and learn more too!
"I did this to help others, and I really enjoy feeling like I'm helping out and making a difference - so to receive this award really reaffirms that I can do that. It's so lovely - and such a big boost for me."
Chief Financial Officer and Deputy CEO Simon Crowther told all those in attendance to witness Josie's presentation that she 'embodies the Trust's values' for this brilliant work, saying:
"Investing her time and energy into enhancing the skills of those around her, in what can be an exceptionally busy department, just shows the level of commitment Josie has to instilling excellence in this organisation, and in the care we provide the communities we serve.
"No one in any role is a 'finished article' and there's always more we can do to continuously improve what we do - and to see Josie reflect on her own experience and feedback she's received to implement a programme of continuous professional development is fantastic.
"What an excellent mentor, leader, and an asset to UHDB. Congratulations, Josie!"
