Senior Charge Nurse Review

I am the Line Manager for 32 Nurses, and I lead the Anaesthetic and Recovery team in QEH Theatres. I orgainise the staff, stock and equipment, ensuring we have all the resources for running an efficient department. I attend meetings to represent Theatre, along with being involved in improvement projects and changes to workflow and structure.

I have learnt about recruitment, retention, and appraisal, which i have already put to good use. I have improved my understanding surrounding data protection and security, and am mich more aware of how to ensure safety concerning sensitive data. The lessons involving Excel have benefitted me greatly, and I have been able to incorporate this into my everyday running of the department, and the current module on Project Management will help immensly when I am next involved in participating with the next change initiative.

I am engaged and mentally stimulated to learn new concepts and skills, and this increase of knowledge directly informs my work, and improves my ability to be a better manager. The standard of teaching has been mostly satisfactory, with some great lecturers outweighing the less engaging ones, and the level of knowledge is pitched to raise my understanding without being too difficult to grasp.

The modules completed so far have been building from eachother, so I can see a logical progression in the way it has been structured. The timetable is very late in being organised, along with the term time dates, so it makes it difficult to plan work and personal matters around the course.

The support from my employer is fantastic, from allowing me one day per week to attend University, to taking the 20% OTJ hours to complete my course requirements. It was a big investment to send me on this course, but I feel the value in the higher standard of work I am producing will be a net benefit to my place of work.

The staff at London South Bank University have been very helpful and supportive, with extra sessions being offered when a complaint was made about a poor lecturer, and exam dates moved to ensure we did not have competing deadlines with other modules. The staff are always within contact either by phone or email, and the course leaders are a great resource to go to when we have bigger problems.

The skills I am learning are already informing my practice, and I have put them to good use and improved the service, and gong forwards I expect this to continue. The future modules planned are going to be especially relevant to my position of being involved in improvement projects, and having a theorectical understanding of these concepts along with the practical experience I am gaining, will ensure I am working to the best of my capabilities.

I am aware of various events planned by my NHS trust, and these range form charity events to personal support, which i'm sure other people get a lot of benefit from. I have a wide network of friends and family, and attend many social activities in my spare time, so currently am not involved in anything that has been organised by my employer.

Yes

I think the NHS is a fair employer, who suports their staff, and offers a clear career and pay pathway. There are various training opportunities offered, and support given along the wa to achieve this. The flexible working patterns are helpful for staff with family and other commitments, and the holiday entitlement is fairly generous. If you include the impressive pension entitlements, then this makes the NHS a pretty good employer to work for.

The NHS is an all inclusive employer, and has such a variety of jobs, that there's almost something for everyone. If someone was thinking of applying to work for the NHS then I would encourage them to do so, as the pay is not as bad as the public image, and the job satisfaction of helping others is a real bonus which cannot be compared with earning a bit more money doing something else which is less essential and impactful.