Congratulations to Pauline Abu, an Intermediate Care Sister at Bexhill Irvine Unit (BIU), who has been nominated for a Nursing Times Workforce Award.
Pauline has been nominated in the category of Best Social Responsibility Programme for her work as a fellow with NHS England. She is also a professional nurse advocate (PNA) and about to move into a new role as Clinical Quality Improvement Lead.
We spoke to Pauline about her role.
“I am currently doing a 12-month secondment with NHS England as a fellow for international recruitment, which focuses on colleague retention. The work has been going on for nine months now and the intent is for international nurses to stay and thrive in their various workplaces.
“I’m an international nurse myself. I have been here for three years and I love it. I know that it’s an open-door policy, I can go to my manager and say I need help and she is there to support me, same with everyone including colleagues. So, we feel as though there is that support here. It’s been amazing I can tell you, for me and others as well.”
Pauline has completed a leadership course with Florence Nightingale Academy, where her project was in quality improvement with a focus on restorative clinical supervision, which is what she does as a PNA. Her project has been selected as one of the best in England for 2023.
“At the moment we’ve got two PNAs practising, and one on maternity leave. They ensure that all the staff at BIU have access to restorative supervision. I’ve seen the progress they have made and colleagues know that there is support available. Sometimes they have personal problems or problems at work, or challenges they are going through, but they know they have someone. We are there to signpost and support them to make a decision by saying ‘you have options’.
“If colleagues are happy, patients will be happy. If they are doing their job and they are in a good place and happy, then they can support patients and give their best. At the end of the day, it’s a win for colleagues and for the trust.
“In my new role I am going to be supporting colleagues across the trust in developing quality improvement projects and giving support in areas they have discovered in their individual units, department or specialty that need some improvement. I am there to support them, to give them a boost. Currently, NHS England is focusing on quality improvement; I am so happy that the trust has decided to push this forward so that the development will be there for the entire trust.”