Now is the time for every NRNM to cultivate their courage and compassion
- April 7, 2022
Joshua Hammond, Clinical Service Manager at Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, explains why every newly registered nurse and midwife should join our ‘Cultivating Courage and Compassion for Ourselves and Others’ webinar…
Covid-19 has had a massive impact on everyone, not least health and social care workers. Arguably, the impact on nurses and midwives registered in the past two years has been drastic. They were put into the workforce early, missed management placements and consolidation and had their final placements accelerated. For those who weren’t so close to registration, the structure of their courses were altered which had a significant impact on their learning experience.
We have all felt the indiscriminate damage that Covid-19 has caused. Pressures are at an all-time high and there’s the added worry of “am I going to be next to be taken hold of by the virus?”
In recent years, I have been fortunate enough to find and maintain a relationship with the Florence Nightingale Foundation, starting with the Sandra Charitable Trust Early Career Nurse and Midwife Leadership Programme. This gave me light at the end of the tunnel during those difficult times that we all faced. As part of this, working to improve patient care through quality improvement was a challenge, but one that I was willing to tackle head on. As I move forward from this inspiring work, I am excited to work with FNF and The Bravest Path to provide sessions to early career nurses and midwives in a series of webinars called Cultivating Courage and Passion for Ourselves and Others.
“I have experienced that vulnerability isn’t weakness. It’s brave. It’s courageous”
I first experienced Dr Brené Brown through a book called Daring Greatly a few years ago. Initially, I thought it was not for me: vulnerability was weakness. But as I have developed my skills, knowledge and ability over the years, I have experienced that vulnerability isn’t weakness. It’s brave. It’s courageous. And we demonstrate all this daily. Through the pandemic, we have all had to be vulnerable to the unknown, to the ever-changing climate of the virus and what may face us on any given day. I thought I’d developed resilience (and I don’t mean the type of resilience where the organisational burden is placed on us, with another mindfulness session!) over the years, and embraced being vulnerable and courageous in a safe place. But this was not a safe place, and I was tired, worn out and on the verge of burnout.
“The webinars have changed my mindset, practice, and the way I feel and think”
As I began to engage with this work, I realised that I’d not had the time since the pandemic began to stop, think and take stock of how working in healthcare in unprecedented times had affected me, and what I needed to change. This is what these webinars are for – for the people who have sacrificed so much, who probably had so much burden and shame without the support needed. From seeing what these webinars offer, I would recommend every NRN and NRM in England to secure their place. For me, this has changed my mindset, practice, and the way I feel and think about the past couple of turbulent years.
I thought I had the right support through clinical supervision and peer support, but FNF and The Bravest Path take it to a new level. I look forward to seeing you there!
To book your place, click here
