Two dedicated nurses at UHDB create exceptional learning environment for healthcare professionals of the future
Nursing duo at Queen's Hospital Burton (QHB) are making UHDB a great place to learn by supporting students with essential hands-on experience in our busy Emergency department.
Two nurses have described the moment they were presented with a monthly Making a Difference Award in Excellence for their unwavering support, guidance, and passion through helping train and give hands-on experience to the next generation of healthcare professionals.
Sue Locker and Cath Yates are both nurses working within the Emergency department (ED) at QHB who closely support students and apprentices starting their healthcare career journey at University Hospitals Derby and Burton (UHDB).
Sue explained: "We get such a mix of people through our doors that are needing support; students, operating department practitioners (ODP), paramedics, and everybody's expectations are different of what they hope to get from a placement."
Cath added: "It's a balance to ensure we're supporting colleagues here in the team as well as ensuring those on placement have a good experience and get what they need from it. We have to make sure we have a safe number of colleagues on the ground and a good link up with the university."
Working in a busy department such as ED can have its challenges especially when trying to ensure a smooth-running service and train people who are new to the area.
Sue said: "I don't think people realise how much hard work goes on behind the scenes. On top of managing this we aim to make sure everyone who comes for work experience to learn has a positive experience; that's the most important thing."
Sue and Cath were nominated by their colleague and fellow ED nurse Catherine Bushell, who explained how they both go above and beyond their daily duties to ensure everyone is receiving the support and guidance they need. Catherine said: "I see what they have to do and all the work they go through, and they really give all the student nurses an informative experience."
The importance of working with the next generation of professionals is vital for creating a safe environment for them to feel able to learn and grow, and be our nurses of the future.
Sue explained: "If you can get it right at this stage when they're trainees, then it's going to be right for when they're qualified. It's all about setting good foundations and building from that."
Cath added: "It's great how supportive the Trust is and to see firsthand how much experience the trainees get to be involved in nowadays compared to when we were starting out - it's such a significant improvement."
As well as being supportive of all opportunities ED has to offer, Sue and Cath also like to ensure students have options to explore other areas suitable to their course.
Cath explained: "The students have outcomes from their university they need to achieve and depending what time of year they're with us it could mean some have the opportunity to experience being an observer to an Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) course, which don't come up very often, perhaps twice a year.
"Some students have also worked with the mental health team, as it was an area they needed to gain experience in. It's good if they're able to state at the end of their placements that they can manage particular patients and have learnt from patient pathways and illnesses."
Sue continued: " We really encourage them to take every learning opportunity that presents itself. We support them to go and gain experience from each area because they'll never have the chance to have this flexibility again."
Mark Hill, Director of Nursing at UHDB, surprised Sue and Cath alongside members of their team, when he presented them with their award, praising their commitment to going above and beyond providing students with learning opportunities in a busy environment.
Mark said: "The dedication and attention that Cath and Sue provide to students and colleagues in ED is a shining example of being committed to our Trust values of openness and excellence.
"It is a privilege to be able to present Cath and Sue their awards, and I'm sure their colleagues and students they mentor are as grateful for them as I am. Thank you Sue and Cath for everything you do for our future workforce and making UHDB a great place to learn and develop."
Would you like to nominate a colleague for a Monthly Making a Difference Award?
If you would like to nominate a colleague or team for a Monthly Making a Difference Award, please let us know.
Our Monthly Making a Difference Awards celebrate those who have shown exceptional care and who have delivered improvements across safety, quality, effectiveness and patient experience and demonstrated the Trust values of Compassion, Openness and Excellence.
There are three monthly Making a Difference Awards categories:
- Chief Executive Award – chosen by our CEO
- Patient Hero Award – nominated by patients
- Excellence Award - you can nominate colleagues and teams
You can nominate in two ways:
- By completing this new e-form which will be sent directly to our awards team >
- By sending a 300 word nomination, along with the name of the team or individual, their job title and where they work, to: uhdb.employeeawards@nhs.net