Meet Sarah, band 6 nurse, RLH
I joined ITU during the merge of the old Royal London building to the new site. Coming from a HDU background, my first year was predominantly spent training and upskilling, during which I had incredible support from our PDNs and senior staff who took an active role in my band 5 development and my progression to my current band 6 role.
I was fortunate to be part of such a supportive and encouraging team during my transition and progression and as a band 6 am now able to share my experience with the band 5s in our team to help them develop whilst consolidating my own learning.
As a band 6 there are various avenues of development available. We have an advanced critical care practitioner course, critical care outreach teams rotation, neuro and trauma courses, leadership management training and many other opportunities for development. Senior staff also encourage us to take part in leadership events, supporting junior staff development, taking part in the management of the team. There are a lot of ways to enhance your experience, develop as a nurse and a leader in the team.
This year the pandemic took a lot of people by surprise, however all the staff across disciplines were very supportive, helped new members of the team find their feet, learn key skills, and feel confident as a part of the team.
Every day there is something new, no two days are the same. There is a large variety even within our scope of trauma, neuro and renal, which exposes you to a lot of new experiences that enhance your skills.
The entire team is incredibly supportive, everyone is willing to learn and teach and develop as a team.
Our team has recently been nominated as a finalist in the RCN awards as team of the year.
I’m very proud to have been part of the frontline team in London’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic whilst our unit is constantly expanding to cater trauma, neuro and pandemic patients.