The Senior Nursing Policy Manager at Health Education England,  Sam Donohue, visited HRI to meet some of our pilot trainee Nursing Associates (TNAs) along with their mentors and managers to hear how they’ve found the new TNA course.

The informal day included stories from three TNAs who started the pilot in April 2017 all from very different backgrounds and organisations.

Donna Gibson, ward 17 HRI, along with her manager/mentor spoke about the changes in her as a healthcare professional and her ability to now take her own patients safely and confidently along with her achieving outstanding University grades.

Claire Popiel, from Locala told stories of her experiences as a TNA on an alternative placement within the Mental Health trust, where she was able to assist in transforming care in this area by drawing on her existing knowledge and experience from working within Locala.

Jade Gill from General Practice and her manager spoke about how eager she was to learn and transform care in General Practice with her experiences gained from her alternative placements.

The mentors and managers from all these different backgrounds spoke about what it was like having a TNA in their area and how they felt the role would impact on the future of nursing and patient’s experience.

Lindsay Butterworth, our Nursing Associate pilot lead, spoke positively about how each and everyone one of the TNA’s had uniquely progressed. The diversity of the group has enriched the content of their learning and enabled them to become holistic practitioners with not only an understanding of the different branches of nursing but also the acute, close to home and home setting in which care can be given.

Kathryn Brown, Quality Improvement Manager, North Kirklees CCG, tweeted “Thank you @SamJDonohue for visiting The CKW partnership pilot. It has been a fantastic and thought provoking morning to showcase our success, showing a transformational collaborative approach to co-production of this TNA pilot across health and social care”

** We recruiting again for more TNAs. So if you're a healthcare and are interested see NHS Jobs on August 28 for all details - also our screensaver.