You’d be good at that: the value of mentors & leadership

I’ve often thought that I’ve been in the right place, at the right time in my career. I’ve been willing and able to take opportunities when they’ve been available and I’ve been in a position to put myself forward for training, continuing professional development and step-up when I’ve been asked if I can do something.

I've rarely said no when I've been asked if I want to do something or go somewhere, hence Cambodia with 17 student nurses 2 1/2 years ago!

I’ve also been well supported by colleagues and managers who have encouraged and highlighted some of these opportunities for me. Shortly after qualifying I was in a role where I struggled and found personal challenges in the environment. When I handed my notice in a senior colleague told me, you’ll be back, you’ll be the director of nursing one day. I’d been qualified less than two years and was really surprised to hear that, I’d met our nurse director but at that time I had no real understanding of the role and whether that would be something I would want for me.

Feeling nostalgic

It is 20 years this month since I started my nurse training, I went to my local university, Teesside and all of my placements were a maximum 40 minutes away. I didn’t drive then, I was really lucky to have no more than two bus journeys and usually I was able to find some kind hearted person in the placement who would take pity on me and we’d manage to organise a lift situation.

I was fairly young and quite inexperienced, I’d worked in a pub and McDonalds while I was doing my A levels, most recruiting officers will tell you these are quite good signs for the potential of a student nurse (managing crowds, prioritising, clean as you go, dealing with conflict, understanding the need for flow and partnership working amongst other things, basic first aid, attending to nutrition, hydration, elimination etc.) but sometimes I wonder how I became a learning disability nurse at all! I had little to no experience of being with people with learning disabilities and I was really naive.

However, I have never looked back, I love my job, I cherish the opportunities I have to be with people with learning disabilities, I value my colleagues, our partners and can deal with the conflict and challenge that life in the public sector in 2020 presents us with. I have worked with amazing people who have inspired and supported me and made me want to be the best I can be. I have had, and continue to be around inspirational role models. Those who I consider to be the best of people who are kind, caring and have strong values, who choose to do the right thing and encourage excellence in others through challenge, direction, leadership and presence.

As a student nurse I was hugely influenced by two strong women who were leaders in their field and were deeply compassionate, capable communicators, people who made others feel at ease and comfortable to say how they felt and what they wanted in a situation. These experienced nurses and leaders made others feel safe. They were non-threatening and open to challenge and able to influence others to aspire to be them. These mentors and colleagues have shaped the nurse that I have become and created conditions that allowed me to test out the clinician and leader that I wanted to be.

I am indebted to the nurse leaders I have had who have helped me carve out my role and understand the practitioner I am.

Last year I wrote to one of these nurses (friend, colleague, mentor) and thanked her for helping me become who I am today, I told her how I felt that the nurturing and support she gave me early in my career, helping me learn from and reflect on mistakes, putting me in challenging situations (which I often moaned about and rarely thanked her for) and allowing me to grow in the safety of a team that wanted me to do my best had helped me become the confident and capable, compassionate nurse that I am today.

I am so proud to be a learning disability nurse and in a leadership role where I can nurture and enable others to realise their dreams and do the best for the people who use our services everyday... Did I tell you how lucky I am?

Becoming a Nurse Consultant

Hello, my name is Paula and I am a learning disability nurse consultant, I’ve been in post in Swansea Bay UHB for almost 18 months. At one of my first 1:1’s I told my boss, Hazel, that I was thinking about writing a blog about what it’s like to be a nurse consultant. Hazel encouraged me to do this, and I went and set up this account in March 2019 but have only just got round to writing my first post.

Safe to say it has been a very busy 18 months and I have loved every minute!

Now feels like a perfect time to write my blog (new year, new me and all that jazz!) particularly because this is the year of the nurse and midwife and in learning disabilities we are keen to continue with the momentum from our 100 year celebrations, in 2019 we held lots of birthday parties and other events to commemorate the entry of registrants to the learning disability profession.

I wanted to write a blog about being a nurse consultant as I had been interested in the role for some time and when looking into the nurse consultant network to get a sense of who nurse consultants were and what they did I became even more intrigued.

My hope is that this blog becomes a source of information and inspiration for future learning disability nurse consultants, giving an insight into the activities and experiences as well as demonstrating the opportunities and challenges of the role.

What is a nurse consultant? What do they do?

Nurse consultants are leaders within the profession, the role is about delivering expert practice, leading on key areas of health policy, facilitating nurse leadership and enhancing research. Clinical practice, quality improvement teaching and research are key requirements of the role. Nurse consultants create new roles, succession plan and develop the nursing workforce, inspiring and promoting opportunities for other nurses to demonstrate their potential, skill and experience. Ultimately improving services and opportunities, holding the people who use our services in their hearts and minds.

I am the only Learning Disability Nurse Consultant in Wales, I work in partnership with my heads of nursing colleagues and the lead nurses in our deliver unit for learning and development and quality improvement and colleagues from other professional groups to drive up quality, safety and increase positive outcomes.

I am very lucky in that I get to meet regularly with other senior learning disability nurse leaders from other health boards in Wales and they are a vital source of support and information. I have also been able to link into the UK Learning Disability Nurse Consultant network, liasing regularly with experienced nurse consultants from across the UK who have shared ideas, their research, updates on how they are working on key policy areas and most of all their support.

I’ll be sharing an insight into my weeks at work and hope that this will be interesting and inspiring for those who want to know more about the role.