Our newly qualified nurses on wards 11 and 12 are delivering care to their patients straight away in a pilot which sees their nurse supervisors shadowing them instead.

The Clinical Education Team are supporting this new ““Reversed Supernumerary” pilot, where the newly qualified nurse becomes the “named nurse” and the experienced nurse is “supernumerary” during the transition to becoming an unsupervised nurse.

We’ve had some excellent feedback so far and we asked Bethan (left) and Katie to explain what it means to them:

What have you been doing differently day-to-day during the pilot? 

B - I was able to intergrate as part of the team and learn my new role with support and confidence

What difference has taking part in the pilot meant for you? 

B - There was a noticeable change in my role from student nurse to staff nurse. 

K - I can see the big difference this pilot has made in such a short space of time. I think/hope it has helped Bethan's confidence and initiatives as she has been in charge of her patients she has been able to organise her priorities and time very well. Bethan has really come out of her shell with this pilot as she is having to speak a lot more to staff and patients and also making herself known amongst the doctors, which as a newly qualified I found quite hard to do but Bethan has settled in very well. Without this pilot I do think Bethan would have settled in and become just as the competent compassionate nurse she is now, but I think this pilot has majorly helped with the confidence side of things.

What are the benefits for patients and colleagues on the ward? 

B - I was able to help out on the ward and be part of the team, and they were about to offer support and knowledge while giving me the opportunity to learn to manage my own patients independently 

K - I think the benefits it has for the patients is that they can see how much support the newly qualified nurses are getting, which will hopefully give the patients a lot of faith in us as a profession and us on the ward. I think it can help build a rapport with both NQ, supervisor and patient. And it benefits colleagues as we can give as much support to the NQ's as possible, as some of them may not have got that type of support they can understand the benefits of it a lot more. Supporting them also gives the colleagues a breath of fresh air that they know they are being competently supervised and all in their own time, so when it comes that they are counted in the numbers the level of support they would need may be a bit less than if they didn't get this reverse super-numary period.

And Ward 12's sister, Mel Tempest, added; " It is has worked really well with Bethan and we are currently using it with another new colleague. Again it has so far had really positive results supporting the transition from student nurse to qualified nurse."

The aims of the pilot are to:

• Develop confidence in newly qualified colleagues
• Help them feel valued and respected.
• Support them to feel responsible and accountable for patients and the care provided.

The Clinical Education Team are looking to run a larger pilot in the coming year! Any ward managers interested in being involved in this new, exciting model can contact the Clinical Education Team for more information.

Contact the team on 01484 342942 or Email: clinicalnurseeducators@cht.nhs.uk