Helen Walcott "February has been a month of growth for the CEIF fellows"

Helen Walcott "February Has Been A Month of Growth for the CEIF Fellows "

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Helen Walcott “February has been a month of growth for the CEIF fellows”

Helen Walcott is a Neurological Physiotherapist by background and she is one of the 2022-2023 cohort of CEIF (Clinical Education Improvement Fellow). During her career Helen has worked in different sectors including specialist rehabilitation units, district general hospitals and private clinics. Her joy comes from making connections and inspiring change; whether it is seeing that lightbulb moment with a student or driving service improvements. The ability to guide and shape the people and services around her is what makes her job rewarding. Passionate about the amazing work being done in district general hospitals, Helen is driven to ensure all staff have the platform to show and develop their skills.

In this blog, Helen talks about her experience as a CEIF fellow to date.

“February has been a month of growth for the CEIF fellows. We have all made progress in our projects, developed personally and become closer as a group.

We started the month with an incredible course, run by the Kings Fund. The course was facilitated by FNF’s Lucy Brown and Mark Patterson from the Kings Fund. I think it would be safe to say that none of us have experienced a course quite like it.

During the first day we were encouraged to identify our strengths and describe them. As a group we supported each other to own our strengths and resist the urge to downplay or find negatives. This was harder to do than we thought! In the afternoon we listened to each other’s ‘lifelines’, our leadership stories.

It was a humbling experience, teaching us so much about the difficulties we have all faced and that paths we have taken to get to where we are. I had absolute respect for my fellows before the course but have even more so now.

From there we went on to talk about the importance of relationships and engagement in being a leader. After an emotional and inspiring day, we thought a debrief was important and headed to the local pub.

The second day built on the first, looking at the idea of emotional intelligence in leadership and our leadership shadow. The idea of shadows was a new one to us and guided us to think about how not only our words but our actions and intentions cast a shadow on our team.

In the afternoon we were guided to give each other feedback in small groups. It was a real testament to our growth as a group that we could give feedback so honestly, knowing that it would help us develop. The day ended with our reflections of the course. Some of the comments from the group were, “feels like we have had real growth as a group”, “I feel inspired”, “being safe in being vulnerable”, “honesty in feedback” and “feels like this is just the beginning”.

We all wholeheartedly thanked Lucy and Mark for their guidance and for sharing their own experiences so genuinely.

We were back into London the next day and steered into project mode with Chris Burton and Paula Kersten from CCU. We are ever grateful to our academic tutors Chris, Paula and Maria for encouraging us to go big and always being able to see the wood for the trees.

Next month sees group supervision with a focus on publication and a session with Eden Partners on Political Acumen.

The opportunities we have been given as part of this fellowship are incredible and we are so thankful to FNF, NHSE&I and CCU for supporting us in our journey.”

If you would like to find out more about the 2022-2023 CEIF cohort, please click here.

Also do follow #SE_CEIF and #TeamFNF on socials to keep up-to-date.

Florence
Nightingale
Foundation

Helen Walcott “February has been a month of growth for the CEIF fellows”