Newly registered nurses and nursing associates are guaranteed the highest level of support and a warm QEH welcome following news that the hospital has been awarded a National Preceptorship Interim Quality Mark from NHS England.
Preceptorship provides a period of guidance and support for newly registered nurses as they transition from student to professional, while the Quality Mark is a national gold standard recognising the commitment to welcoming and integrating newly registered practitioners into their new team and place of work.
Kwame Kyei Baffour, from Ghana is a staff nurse on Denver Ward, The QEH’s emergency surgical ward .
With 13 years’ experience in hospitals in his homeland, particularly in an emergency and critical care environment, he is highly skilled but needed to undertake specialist training, known as OSCE, to practice as a UK nurse and be registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
He joined the Trust in September last year and by Christmas had passed his exams but as a ‘newly qualified’ nurse needed to be supported through his preceptorship.
Kwame said: “I am so grateful to all of my colleagues at Team QEH who continue to support and develop me in my new career as a UK nurse.
“It’s been a really interesting journey for me as I’ve transitioned into my new role as a UK nurse, and the support I’ve received has really enhanced my clinical decision-making and I’m continuously learning.
“My colleagues have all been really welcoming and supportive, ensuring I have never felt isolated. My ward manager also arranged lots of training sessions for me and various work shadow appointments to support me in multiple specialities which has been really beneficial.
Rebecca Galer, Postgraduate Education Lead, joined The QEH in December 2023 and in her short time has led on the NHS England Preceptorship submission. She said: “At the Trust we provide facilitated sessions over a 12-month period covering topics including communication, facilitated learning on teamwork, quality of care and patient experience.
“Additionally, we now offer support to those looking after newly qualified registrants and this includes our new ‘preceptor refresher training’. We’ve also updated the hospital policies to reflect the national preceptorship standards from NHS England”.
Pippa Steet, Chief Nurse at The QEH, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to be awarded the Quality Mark which recognises our commitment to supporting new nursing colleagues as they grow and develop. Everyone in the team has worked diligently and with passion to make this the best supportive, positive learning experience for these individuals and I am very proud of them in receiving a national award in recognition for this.”
The quality mark was created in October 2022 when NHS England introduced the new national Preceptorship framework for nursing, which NHS Trusts now use to benchmark themselves against.
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Photo (left to right): Rebecca Galer, Postgraduate Education Lead, and Nicola Plaatjies, Deputy Head of Education- Nursing, Midwifery & AHP.
Read more about the National Preceptorship Programme, click here.
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