A leap year time to refresh

 I’m writing now after a period of finding it difficult to keep up the blog following mum’s death in late 2022. I have found myself wondering where time has gone as two Christmas times have gone by since then. Now is a time to try again, in doing so I want to update you with news of change.

I am getting closer to relinquishing my registration as a nurse. It was approximately 46 years ago I eventually decided working in shops, offices, and potentially being an accountant were not for me. I’d already thought about nursing and delayed starting training by about a year. The pressure to go to night school to take up accountancy from my BBC boss led me to re-apply for nurse training.

Now I have given up direct nursing and managerial roles I plan to retire from my paid role in the health sector. The recent opportunities to make a difference have come in a variety of ways. I’ve seen a young, committed person develop into a nurse enjoying working in palliative care. Not the first I’ve seen; they have worked so hard on the long route to registration giving me hope for nursing’s future. I’ve seen services develop around @AnneRobsonTrust Butterfly volunteers being with the dying in our Acute trust. I’d started negotiations over this before the pandemic. So glad it’s come to fruition. My time as a Freedom to Speak Up Guardian @NatGuardianFTSU has also been one of developing the space in which people can come forward to tell their stories, as well as influence the Trust to invest further in the role in the coming year. It has been a valuable time personally too.

So, come the end of March 2024 I will no longer be a Registered Nurse. It feels the time is right to let go and step back. I want to use my energy in other ways though not all clearly defined yet. One change will be the end of @PhilBallRN on X (Twitter) as I’ll keep up with @philipraball where I can still comment and share without misleading anyone. Feel free to switch by the end of March or stop following as you wish. My other social media channels are not likely to alter if you follow them.

Thank you to followers of @PhilBallRN – there have been chats and sharing of some awesome experiences. It’s been a place where friendships have been forged, mainly through @WeNurses and associated communities. Whilst being a retired nurse sounds old, I don’t feel that way, and I’d like you to feel free to keep in touch as I want to keep learning, laughing, and loving what I do. And it will help me with fresh blog ideas too.

 

D33 #100WorkingDays First impressions on getting closer

 I was now in a position at the BBC where I could commit to sponsored training as an accountant, or seek an alternative. At this point nursing came to mind, and the one Nurse training school who had offered me an interview. Having turned them down initially for an interview they were kind enough to wish me good luck. So, time to approach them? 

I phoned and got through to a cheerful clerk who said she must have my previous letter and details somewhere. She would look them out, and if I’d not heard in a fortnight (using the post patience was required) to call again. About 10 days later they repeated the offer of an interview in that May. It was now time to give this serious thought, and I approached a couple of ex-nurses I knew through my parents. They were supportive but warned that it was a big commitment that if I walked away from it during training I may regret doing so.

I was conscious that the family had mostly educators by profession and I’d not really wanted to be join them. There was enough school talk at weekends. So I thought I was being original in going into Nursing. I’d forgotten my great Aunt, and Great Grandma had nursed, as had my mother’s cousin who nursed in WW2. Sadly on coming home from Ceylon the plane carrying her and other nurses crashed in India in 1946, and they all perished.

Now it was time for the interview. I travelled up to north London on the tube, very far from my south London roots. I recall little of the interview, I was asked why I wanted to nurse, I must have said something credible. I was asked about the latest book I’d read too. I was embarrassed as it was the book of a film I’d recently seen and not great literature. They must have liked me enough as an offer to join the next ‘set’ in September 1978 arrived a few days later.

Counting down 100 working days

 As we move into July I’ve realised that I’m facing the last 100 or so working days in my Lead nurse role. Some have started new roles with 100 day blogs; I thought I’d try a reflection on each of my last 100 working days. 

I know I’ve been an intermittent blogger so this is a challenge for me, though I hope not for you as reader. I want to reflect on the changes I’ve seen, the experiences that came my way, and the people whose paths I have crossed. I hope it helps to record these things in order to make sense of them and to provide a glimpse of how life has been over the decades I’ve lived and worked.

Looking forward I plan to keep in paid employment as a Freedom to Speak Guardian at MKUH. This means keeping in touch with wider issues in order to help staff members and the organisation get the best out of the relationship. But more on that another day.

Day 1 done. 

The tea bag, pencil and toffee penny

Having a lead nurse role involves all sorts of activities. The other day I found myself carrying a tea bag, pencil and toffee penny towards my office. I wondered what to make of that handful. No great idea for a blog came to me then. 

In the last few days I’ve learnt more about what can go wrong, and how we can sort things out on wards in hospitals just by listening to people.

My heart felt heavy about what I’d heard; now I have to write a report on what happened and what I’ve heard. 

Being a lead nurse is not always gazing at the bright shiny business development plans that I might have pencilled in.

As a lead nurse I have lots of people in my care. The team I’m in are great fun to work with, who work very hard. Part of each day is dedicated often implicitly to looking after ourselves, by having drinks and making sure we stop for a lunchtime break. One way to support them is to make the drinks; a simple job (if I remember who wants decaf black coffee, who likes their tea dark with a dash of milk, all in the right mugs) that’s one way to show support. Making sure I have a cuppa on occasion means dipping into the tea bag tin.

The lead nurse sets the tone for the team, and those they come into contact with. There are the days when our Palliative and end of life work will seem heavy. Even so there’s often an opportunity to celebrate some small positive piece of news and to share a gift from a thankful manager or service user. This Christmas, as happened to many others, we were given some sweets as a way to acknowledge our efforts. Amongst the treats were a selection that included toffee pennies, for which I have a little weakness.

Life as a lead nurse is certainly varied; always interesting and with things to learn. The tea bag, pencil and toffee penny have all served to remind me of that variety and that even from such a disparate handful there will be lessons to learn and even a theme for my 100th blog piece.

How will I shape the year of the nurse and midwife?

It’s New Year’s Day and I’ve seen a challenge to take up. Set by @BloggersNurse as we start the Year of the Nurse and Midwife I am planning on trying to write at least once or twice a month in 2020 on the themes suggested. 

January 1st and I’m thinking about how I will shape the year of the nurse (and midwife, please note I mean to be inclusive). 

It’s 41 years since I entered nurse training; my shape and that of nursing and midwifery have altered. Overall, the two professions have fared better shape-wise than me.

I trained to become a State Registered Nurse (SRN) in England, moving into a profession held in high regard. 

There’s been the transition to degree based learning, and recently apprenticeship programs. All routes opening to a career of varied opportunity. 

What shaping influence can I have? The immediate one as a senior and experienced nurse is as an example of being open, kind and flexible. 

I have to be open about how I work, and be prepared to let others lead where they have ideas and strengths that I don’t possess. Be ready to adapt and adopt fresh thinking and take risks to make gains in service improvement.

I want to be kind and even kinder, to all those in my care. This will be patients as well as my team colleagues, and those in the wider care community in which I work and have a social media presence. In particular it’s those who are exploring the possibility of nursing as a career, or already in training, to whom I should be an example. Showing enjoyment and enthusiasm for our work, and giving such people time will help them be great nurses of the future.

I need to be flexible; my career has had twists and turns; some hoped for and some unexpected. This has helped me appreciate the opportunity of being ready to try something new; to allow me to be trusted by people such as team members when they require some wriggle room - flexible working to allow for family issues for example.

Applying this to shaping the year of Nurse and Midwife? 

Being an example, supporting those I come into contact with and reaching out through social media. 

Embracing and getting involved in events to celebrate nursing, and show the value of nursing work to those who question what nursing is.

Supporting those I work with to look at what we do, and see how the work can be done differently. Getting them to speak up, in person, in blogs and engage in further education so they can be shaping too.

Change happens; being prepared to influence the outcome is a way I can contribute to the year of the nurse and midwife in 2020 and beyond.

Watch out! - for the little things

I’m into week three of my induction period after joining an NHS acute trust. These days we’re all in a uniform of some kind or mufti; a big change since I was last working in such an environment is being bare below the elbows. Brought in as we became more conscious of infection risks ties have largely gone too.

So after several decades of wearing a wrist watch that habit has had to change too. “You can get the time from your phone” I hear you exclaim; but I’ve worn a wrist watch for much longer that digital timepieces were available, when analogue meant winding up the watch or clock yourself. And to get time from the phone meant dialling the speaking clock.

Why is this worthy of mention? The watch I’ve worn for some years now belonged to my late dad, and it was given to him after many years work as a teacher and head teacher in inner London. It’s served as a reminder of his commitment to education and those in his care; whose learning and development were so important.

It’s also reminded me of him as a person and father and of his love of public service and doing good things through that service. It’s been a little disconcerting not to have it handy to refer to. It’s meant I’ve had to develop a new ‘check my phone for the time’ thing though I still go to my wrist and wonder why there’s a gap. It’s made me reflect on loss and grief; another step away from him. It’s chipped at the inspiration the watch has provided as well as a sense of time. I always like to be just a little early and a watch is a quick way to check times progress. Now I have to rely on my phone, or the occasional wall clock, to be sure I’m timely.

Not having the watch has been a distinct loss that I wanted to mark through speaking up about it; it’s about the difference little things can mean to people. This was emphasised to me again this week listening to Chris Pointon speak about Dr Kate Granger and the build up and progress of the #HelloMyNameIs campaign. Do look the campaign up if you’ve not heard of it; even if you know about it, remember little things when left out or ignored can have an impact much bigger than we can ever realise.

Learning through Social media

I’m participating in the #AllOurHealth course set up via Public Health England (PHE) and WeCommunities through @WeLearn_.  I decided to join Wave 1 which concentrates on the introduction to Twitter and other social media and its uses in Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for healthcare professionals. Having some experience of Twitter use for a few years I wondered if I was going to find the first level uninformative. In the meanwhile I’ve moved from my hospice role with a view to changing to alternative activity and am preparing to revalidate via the NMC. CPD is therefore uppermost on my mind. 

I’ve been finding the course really helpful; it’s prompted me to rethink my attitude towards the usefulness of social media and Twitter in particular.b In my course reflections I’ve been recording how I need to be rather more disciplined and focused about using Twitter for CPD. I’ve set myself some professional goals using the tools on the #WeCommunities website as well as personal goals that I’ll have to work on myself. 

Meanwhile the #AllOurHealth participants, waves 1 and 2 start on Monday by looking at social media use in promoting good health and the prevent of illness. Lots of great resources have been developed for us to use, and indeed many are already publicly available via Viv Bennett in her blog piece about the AllOurHealth program.

And if you’re wondering about the value of social media and online training for CPD, please give them serious consideration; my experience so far has been a positive revelation, thanks to all those involved in putting the course together.