I can’t quite believe we’re already at the end of March – this year really does feel like it’s flying by. I really enjoy spring and try get to the beach with my dogs whenever I can. I hope you get chance to spend time outside and enjoy the lovely sunny weather we’ve been having!

I’d like to dive right in and start my blog this month by highlighting something which is really important to me, having worked in primary care for most of my nursing career, by sharing that we have introduced free and confidential Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) for all staff working in primary care. 

We may at times be exposed to situations which are potentially traumatic at work and it’s important that we have access to timely and responsive support when we need it most.

TRiM is a peer-led process which seeks to identify, assist, support and signpost people for further help when they may be at risk of psychological injury after experiencing a traumatic incident. We have chosen to roll this out to primary care as one of the areas where staff have repeat contact with patients, carers and families. You can self-refer by emailing PCNTRIM@nsft.nhs.uk or Kayleigh.darling@nsft.nhs.uk, watch this introductory video or visit the website.

This month I was pleased to be able to meet with the Norfolk Community Health and Care (NCH&C) team who support people with neurological conditions in our area. For the last 12 years these staff have worked with people receiving a diagnosis and living with a range of conditions, including motor neurone disease, Parkinson’s diesease and associated conditions, multiple sclerosis, Huntingdon’s disease and epilepsy.

We are so fortunate to have the Nurse Specialists working in our patch. Integrating care within primary care, community and hospital settings is vital for the patient journey of seamless care and we are all working together to provide this for everyone living with a neurological condition in Norfolk and Waveney.

Our system is continuing the roll out of Professional Nurse Advocate and Professional Midwife Advocate training for our nurses and midwives – the first of its kind for nursing and midwifery across the world! This training provides people with the skills to facilitate restorative supervision to their colleagues and teams, in nursing, midwifery and beyond.

The training equips people to listen and understand the challenges and demands of their fellow colleagues, lead support and deliver quality improvement initiatives in response. This is so important to ensure your voices are heard. If you are interested in this training, please contact your local lead or karen.cameron@nhs.net.

We don’t do our jobs for awards, but it sure is nice to receive recognition when you’ve done well, so I’d also like to mention two opportunities to do this:

• The NHS England Chief Nursing Officer and Chief Midwifery Officer Awards are now open and reward the significant and outstanding contribution made by nurses, midwives and healthcare support workers and maternity support workers.
• The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Nursing Awards are open for entries and I would encourage as many of you as possible to enter your nurse-led projects into any of the 15 categories available.

Both awards are free to enter yourself, your team or someone you work with and it would be great to see some of the fantastic people and work which goes on in our area recognised in this way.

Finally, I recently attended the Norfolk Safeguarding Adult Board and heard the work that our colleagues in the service are doing to minimise risk for those who are vulnerable. If you feel that you have concerns around fire risk please make a referral to ensure that support can be provided.  

Thank you to everyone who fed back on my first blog in February, I’ve had some brilliant conversations and met with a couple of people about the work taking place in our system. As always if you’d like to reach out to me, please email: patricia.dorsi1@nhs.net

Regards and thanks for taking the time to read this,

Tricia

Tricia D’Orsi

Executive Director of Nursing, NHS Norfolk and Waveney ICB and ICS