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One year ago there was great excitement in the nursing family as we approached the first global International Year of the Nurse and Midwife, in recognition of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale. This presented the perfect opportunity to celebrate the enormous range of skills, commitment and expert clinical care that nurses bring, together with the impact that they have on so many lives.
Walking around the Trust this week I have absolutely seen that impact, with nurses at the side of families who are going through incredibly challenging times.
One year later every single Sheffield Children’s colleague can reflect with pride on the enormous contribution they have made to our collective response to a global pandemic. For Sheffield Children’s nurses, we look back not on the celebrations that we had planned, but on a year where our skills, commitment and expert clinical care have been tested beyond a level we ever imagined.
Thank you to all our fabulous nurses who adapted to the challenges in so many ways. The summary below is not exhaustive but includes;
In amongst a wealth of inspiring individual and team achievements our 980 Registered Nurses and our non registered nurses there will be many other stories of nurses making a difference to the lives of children, young people and their families. As we move into 2021 we are incredibly proud to have partnered with The DAISY (Diseases Attacking the Immune System) Foundation, an international recognition programme that honours and celebrates the skilful and compassionate care nurses and midwives provide every day. Nominations are in for our first presentation and we are excited to open the new year with this exciting event.
Allied Health Professionals
We are also excited to move into 2021 with plans to develop our Allied Health Profession voice across the Trust! Increasingly NHS providers are recognising the huge contribution the 14 professions that make up ‘AHP’ hold in the delivery of compassionate, high quality patient care, and equally how important it is that they contribute to the leadership of the Trust.
We were delighted to welcome Dr Jo Fillingham, Deputy Chief AHP Officer at NHS England / Improvement to the Clinical Summit on 14th October, which was also National AHP Day! Jo challenged our AHPs to write a paper to outline next steps towards making this happen. We are looking forward to seeing their proposals!
It was also fantastic to receive Continuing Professional Development funding for every Registered Nurse and AHP in the Trust this summer. This represents a real opportunity to develop those closest to the bedside which makes Sheffield Children’s a Brilliant Place to Work, whilst delivering Outstanding Patient Care.
Finally in 2020, in my 40th NHS Year as well as International Year of the Nurse I was immensely proud to receive an OBE for services to nursing in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. Words cannot describe how I felt receiving this award, in such a special year, as Director of Nursing in the amazing Sheffield Children’s! Thank you all for what collectively we have achieved, you are all amazing!
Professor Sally Shearer OBE
Executive Director of Nursing and Quality