Two of our nurses, Ray Goto, our HCA care certificate lead in the Intern team, and staff nurse Angel Toledo, have been accepted onto the professional nurse advocate (PNA) programme.

The course, which starts in September, is the first of its kind for the nursing profession in England.

It will enable them to help support other nurses after the pandemic – equipping them with the skills and knowledge to facilitate restorative supervision to colleagues and teams within nursing services and beyond. This will be absolutely key in supporting the ongoing wellbeing of our teams in the years to come, following the pressures they have faced during the pandemic.

The course will also help Ray and Angel to develop their leadership skills, supporting them to be at the forefront of service improvement, delivering quality improvement initiatives in response to service demands and changing patient needs ensuring the provision of safe and effective care.

It has been launched by NHS England and NHS Improvement after Ruth May, Chief Nurse for England, wanted to deliver a training programme for nurses that enabled nurses to take care of each other after the pandemic.

Ray said: “I applied because I want to expand my knowledge and skills to support international nurses (IENs) in providing evidenced-based support to other nurses, especially international nurses, through the PNA program.

“I wanted to do it because I am extremely enthusiastic about our Trust’s focus on the support of IENs and would welcome any opportunity to contribute to the success of this educational program and future initiatives. Being part of the Senior Intern team, I am helping newly recruited international nurses in ensuring they receive appropriate support and all their needs are met.

Angel said: “The course is a Level 7 accredited programme which gives solid professional credibility. The program will provide us with skills that will enhance and improve international nurses’ experience by listening and dealing with challenges and difficulties, providing support and initiating quality improvements.”