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Kettering General Hospital held an awards ceremony on May 9 to celebrate the achievements of its nurses and nursing associates.

The Graduation Award Ceremony - held at the Kettering Park Hotel - involved presentations to more than 75 staff including various kinds of nurses in training over the last year and their mentors.

The event is linked to International Nurses Day, May 12, which celebrates the birth of the world’s most famous nurse, Florence Nightingale.

Kettering General Hospital’s Director of Nursing and Quality, Leanne Hackshall, said: “This was a fantastic event that celebrated the work of our nurses and nurse associates who have successfully achieved their qualifications.

“They have all worked tremendously hard and shown determination and commitment in both their academic work and their on-the-job work and training at the hospital itself.

“Each of their journeys has been unique. Some have worked as healthcare assistants here for many years and have decided to progress their skills and develop their knowledge further.

“Others have come from overseas – or pursued a degree through the Open University - and have demonstrated they have all the skills needed to do a great job for us at Kettering General Hospital.

“We are delighted to have welcomed them all as fully trained staff on the KGH team.

 “I also want to thank all of the mentors and practice supervisors who have done so much to support this year’s candidates in their training and development.”

The KGH event celebrated the work of:

Nursing Associates - KGH’s pioneering Nursing Associates have successfully completed their two years of training and are now fully qualified in their new roles. KGH is one of 11 pilot sites introducing the Nursing Associate role in England over the last two years. The new qualification bridges the gap between healthcare assistants and nurses.

The successful Nursing Associates are:

Holly Aitken, Elizabeth Bayliss, Marites Berido, Wendy Brookes-Payne, David Corbishley, Deborah Cox, Edyta Graff, Charlotte Horsley, Manpreet Kaur, Sharon Mason, Karen Matabalan, Joanna Matthews, Kareema McCarthy, Sarah Raubenheimer, Jins Sebastian and Aaron Clark.

Nursing Degrees via the Open University

This is a four year part time nursing programme for healthcare support workers to gain a nursing degree and NMC registration. During the programme the candidates work within the clinical setting as a healthcare support worker and study 26 hours a week as a student nurse, completing both academic and placement activity.

The successful Nursing Degree candidates were:

Julie Knighton, Wendy Iversen, Kathleen Gribbin, Rachel Lake and Lorna Parker.

International Return to Practice Programme

Nurses who have a nursing qualification from their country of origin but are required to prove their competency to obtain NMC registration. They complete an NMC approved exam and then an Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE) with an approved university. The KGH OSCE candidates worked at KGH and took their exams at Northampton University. KGH has achieved a 100% success rates with NMC registration following training.

The successful candidates were:

Sharmi Salim, Chiamaka Eyiuche, Phebe Philip, Brenda Dadirai Mukozhiwa, Nkechi Bernadette Anakwenze, Christianah Toluwabori Morakinyo, Gigi Sheby, Saji Annamma Varghese, Prisca Ulu, Rachel Ikharona, Ellen Mudyiwa, Laya Puthen Purakkal Sasilalan, Nisha Maria Xaxier, Limitha Thomas, Divya Renjith, Prasanthi Gopalakrishnan Nair, Omodara Aminat Busari, Kala Sreekumar, Rita Ifeoma Onyeibe, Jude Nweze Ominyi, Lindah Nyaude, Babalola Oluwatoyin Dorcas, Christianah Adeleke, Ruby Chandy, Peter Chibuike Ezemba, Femy Grace Kunakose, Nkechi Blessing Obidigwe, Lilian Orji, Seenamol Pereppaden Poulse, and Sherin Prince.

European Union Nursing Adaptation

This is a programme is for qualified staff from the EU who need to complete a programme of study and placements via Bristol University to gain Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Registration.

The successful candidate was: Joanna Tkaczyk

Then the hospital recognised the work of its mentors – the clinical teams and individuals that support the nurses and nursing associates through their qualification journey.

Awards were given to:

Team – The Rocket Team – a respiratory outreach team that supports patients with conditions like COPD.

Individual mentors – Hayley Burns, Alison Butler, Stacy Carter, Amanda Chapman, Viola Susette Fabroa, Katy Gordon and Charlotte Nunn.

Practice Supervisors and Supporters - Emmanuel Abeka, Rachel Almond, Maureen Brown, Giselle Elcano-Corpuz, Hannah Lovell, Melanie Moore, Kris Nicol, Liz Power and Caroline Yarnell-Smith, Jessica Armada, Shelly Jose, Amanda O’Neill, Sruthi Sreddham Nair.

KGH’s Lead Nurse for Practice Development, Hayley Burns, said: “The trainees and trainers have shown great dedication, resilience and hard work over the past 18 months. They are role models who have made an outstanding contribution to high quality patient care, education and training. 

“We are very proud here at KGH to have so many things to celebrate. Our International Return to Practice Programme has a 100% success rate and we have gained over 70 nurses for the Trust from our OSCE programme.

“We were also one of the first pilot sites across the country to introduce the new role of Nursing Associate and have successfully trained 17 in the first cohort. We have since recruited two further cohorts and are about to recruit to a fourth in June of this year.

“We have a great track record with our nursing students studying through the Open University and helped train nurses for their EU adaptation.

“This event recognised the excellence and showed our appreciation for those contributions which exemplify the Trust’s CARE values of being Compassionate, Accountable, Respectful and Engaging. “