Yesterday Carolyn, Mary, Jane and I went to the concert hall at St Georges Hall for the graduation and presentation of hospital badges and certificates to the nurses of the RLBH on National Nurses Day.
The Chief Nurse, Lisa Grant, has introduced a programme of accreditation recognising the skills and ability of nursing staff. Apparently, there has been a move nationally to introduce hospital badges again to foster pride in your training hospital but RLBH seems to be the only one which links it to proof of ongoing education. Two hundred nurses were presented with the new badge in the first cohort to go through the programme. What was interesting was that even the most senior staff had completed the programme; it is not just for newly qualified staff as I had thought initially. This links in very successfully with the future Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) programme of three yearly validation.
We were treated royally and ushered into the VIP area for refreshments before taking our seats in the hall. If you haven’t attended a concert there it is breathtaking. (This is not the main area but a small concert hall at the Walker Art Gallery end of St Georges Hall.) It was restored about 2 years ago and is stunning. There had been a real buzz as people assembled and prepared for the presentations which was enhanced by a string quartet playing on stage.
Lisa Grant talked with great pride about her training days at the hospital in 1995. She knew she wanted to be a Director of Nursing but never thought that she would get her dream job at the RLBH last year. She spoke of her nursing colleagues with enthusiasm and energy and looked forward to the new hospital and all the potential for the care they could provide in the future. She came across as passionate about nursing and proud of her profession, also the need to undo negative publicity and demonstrate how committed nurses are to their patients. I found her inspiring and really hope the ideas she has are able to be realised.
There followed a short video which described the programme and showed nurses in action together with interviews of Lisa Grant and participants. The introduction was moving as Lisa was filmed in the old Royal and they had old photos of nurses and the LRI fading in the background, it was beautifully done. I was part of it, showing my hospital badge and talking a little on how proud we were of it. Mary Harrison was shown training and assessing staff on the wards and also talked of her participation in the programme. It is going to be put on You Tube so I will post the link when I get it.
Following the presentations there were Honorary badges given to Andrea Spyropoulos, Janet Davis and Peter Blythin for their contributions to Nursing. He was unable to be present but they gave speeches of acceptance and congratulation. Honorary badges were also given to university colleagues Julie Crane, Vicky Garner and Ian Pearce-Hayes for their contributions to developing the programme.
The Chief Exec Aiden Kehoe and Chairman of the Trust Bill Griffith were also there and each endorsed the programme and provided essential support and encouragement with short speeches.
The event was completed with the RLUBHT Staff Choir singing 4 songs. It was amazing, they were terrific and their conductor was a hoot. What fun -I almost wished I was back at work! They were so good they got a standing ovation and it was a good release for all the excitement and pride that had been waiting to burst out whilst everyone was queuing up and on their best behaviour. Lots of chat afterwards and it was good to be able to ask questions and renew acquaintances. We had some refreshments in the main hall accompanied by Sir Ian Tracey on the organ before saying farewell. What a great afternoon, it was a privilege to be part of it.
