Celebrating International Nurses Day 2022

Celebrating the ongoing care and commitment of our nurses and health support workers

Every year International Nurses Day is celebrated on 12 May, which marks the anniversary of the birth of nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale.

We want to pause and celebrate our nursing colleagues across the Trust for the valuable work they do in often challenging situations.

Cathy Woffendin, Executive Director of Nursing Quality and Professions, said: “It gives me anCathy Woffendin Director of Nursing, Professions and Quality enormous amount of pride to be celebrating International Nurses Day and I would like everyone to take a moment to reflect on all that they have achieved in the last year and throughout their career to date. Working as a nurse, allied health professional, healthcare support worker, social worker, psychologist, psychotherapist , doctor and any other professional in the NHS is one of the most privileged positions to be in, we truly do make a difference to keeping our service users safe and in improving their health and wellbeing and supporting them in dealing with their learning disabilities, mental and physical health conditions.

“I think we would all agree it’s been another extremely challenging year to work in the NHS and many of us will at times have felt very tired, but I want you all to remember how unique and special you are and deeply valued for the commitment, care, and passion you bring to your work each day. I would like to say an enormous thank you to each and every one of you, I feel very humbled as the Executive Director of Nursing of LYPFT and immensely proud to work alongside you all.”

Nichola Sanderson, Deputy Director of Nursing, said: “International Nurses Day celebratesNichola Sanderson nurses around the world and takes place on Florence Nightingale’s birthday. This year’s theme “Nurses: A Voice to Lead” has never been more important, given the role nurses have played in the Covid pandemic over the last two years. We worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to ensure the physical and mental health needs of patients were met and advocated for. We also supported families and carers who play such important roles in patient recovery, to access the right support for their loved one. The strength of leadership shown by nursing staff in LYPFT at this time was and continues to be awe inspiring and demonstrates the clear ability of nurses to lead their profession for the benefit of patient care.

“Without a doubt the next few years will continue to be a challenge for the nursing profession, with continued recruitment challenges, the impact of Covid on longer term health and access to services and the cost-of-living crisis affecting staff and patients’ health and wellbeing. For our patients in mental health and learning disability services the role nurses will play in their care will be more important than ever before. I am proud to be part of the nursing profession at LYPFT and honoured to be associated with the nursing workforce.

“Despite the future challenges I know my colleagues will all continue to care with compassion and empathy and strong leadership to ensure our patients voices are heard. Our commitment to you all is to ensure you are supported with good pastoral care, role modelling, supervision and education to establish the best nurse leaders in the future.”

We’ve been asking our colleagues across the Trust to tell us the best thing about being a nurse:

Linda Rose, Head of Nursing, Registered Nurse for 31 years: ‘’The best thing about being a mental health nurse is that just being who I am allows me the privilege of supporting the voices of others to be heard.”

Linda Rose

Luke Woodhouse: “I qualified as a nurse in September 2018. I think the best thing about being a nurse is that you never stop learning your craft. Your knowledge is ever growing and you’re always developing your knowledge and skills to support our patients and our colleagues.  I’ve learnt so much about myself through being a nurse and have been able to pass that along to others which is a privilege and an honour.”

“To us, being a nurse is about being part of a supportive team, where everyone brings their own personality and skills to work for the best of the patients.”

Mother and Baby Unit nurses and Ward Manager Cass Edwards at Parkside Lodge

Anisah Ahsan – Preceptee

Cass Edwards – Ward Manager 

Jenny Hardy – Staff Nurse

Bev Mohammed – Staff Nurse

 

Nurses at Mother and Baby Unit

Alison Quarry, Professional Lead for Nursing and a Qualified Mental Health Nurse for 16 years

“I am proud to be part of the nursing profession and privileged to hear many at their most vulnerable sharing their stories. I am inspired and driven by amazing colleagues and continue to learn each and everyday day from those around.”

Alison Quarry

“We are working on the Older People’s Service mental health ward. Recently we have been struggling for nursing staff, therefore we want to celebrate all the wonderful nurses that have kept the service going despite all the struggles we have had in the past two years. It’s been an honour and a pleasure to work alongside those dedicated, wonderful and caring staff.”

Our names from the right side are: Colleen Liddon, Alina Bosacka, Annabel Clough, Ngolo Masumbuko.

Ward 3 The Mount