Kettering General Hospital has received a national quality award for the way it supports new nurses.
The hospital has successfully achieved a National Preceptorship for Nursing Quality Mark from the National Workforce Skills Development Unit.
It is one of only 28 hospital Trusts in England to achieve the status – part of a new way the NHS is trying to improve support for newly qualified nurses to help them get started in their NHS careers.
KGH’s Learning Environment Lead Nurse, Wendy Goode, said: “Preceptorship means the hospital has a structured programme in place for supporting newly qualified nurses, nursing associates, and nurses from overseas, in their transition to working in the UK.
“It means we give them a specific 12-month programme of support from the moment they arrive.
“We know some nurses find the transition from the academic environment to a complex and demanding work environment as challenging and potentially overwhelming.
“And for overseas nurses there is the additional pressure of language and culture and living and working in a new country.
“Our preceptorship programme helps us to address this by creating a very supportive environment where we can answer any question that they have, help them to fully understand their role, how they fit into the team, and how to work with patients.
“It helps us to build their confidence and competence and shows that as a Trust we really value and support nurses in every way we can. It is about giving them the best possible support in their careers.”
Nationally nursing is the first career path to receive formal preceptorship support that is nationally recognised by a quality mark. However most hospitals have informally delivered some kind of preceptorship training – KGH has done it since 2010.
Newly qualified KGH nurses and nursing associates who have received preceptorship support have valued it highly and comments have included:
“Helped to build my confidence.”
“The most impact has been being able to believe in myself more.”
“It has been really beneficial having meetings with people experiencing transition from student to newly qualified nurse to share feelings and experiences’
“Being able to understand the change in my role and accept that there will be bumps along the way and seeing how I can grow.”
“It helps you to build resilience and look after your mental health.”
Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals, Jayne Skippen, said: “I am absolutely delighted that we have achieved the National Preceptorship Quality Mark for Nursing.
“We have a very robust preceptorship programme that meets the National Nursing Framework requirements and demonstrates that we have a structured way that we support newly qualified professionals and allow them to translate their knowledge into everyday practice.
“Our aim at KGH is to always give our new nurses and nursing associates the very best start in their careers and then continue to support them on that journey.
“I want to thank our preceptorship team for the excellent way they deliver the programme – which has already reached more than 500 new staff since 2019. “
The hospital was commended by the national committee for its inclusivity, the quality of its submission, and for the way it identified areas for future development within the organisation which demonstrated a strong quality improvement approach.
The Trust’s next steps will be to meet the National Preceptorship Frameworks for midwifery and AHP’s when they are launched later this year.
Pictured are L-R Practice Education Sister for Preceptorship, Phebe Philip, Learning Environment Lead Nurse, Wendy Goode, and Practice Education Nurse for Preceptorship, Lizzie Wren, with the Quality Mark Award.
