Nursing development at LCHS

Over the last two years the skills, compassion and expertise of nursing professionals made a huge difference to many people during the pandemic. Thursday 12 May, marks International Nurses Day, which is celebrated around the world and is the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth. 

Staff at LCHS benefit from a range of opportunities to develop their skills and progress their careers.

Nursing roles make up 40 percent of our staff who have a wide variety of jobs including, community nurses, district nurses, advanced nurse practitioners, Macmillan nurses, respiratory nurse specialists, sexual health nurses, student nurses and cardiac rehabilitation nurses to name a few.

Two staff from the Lincoln North Community Nursing Team have recently qualified as registered general nurses after completing Open University training whilst working in LCHS.

Chantel Bray and Chloe Whitehouse began their careers at Lincoln North Community Nursing Team as part-time health care support workers in 2015. Their role was to support registered nurses by undertaking nursing tasks such as wound care and venepuncture.

The team quickly realised the potential of both Chantel and Chloe and they soon progressed to senior health care support workers, as they gained competencies such as female catheterisations and the administration of insulin. They were enthusiastic to learn and took every opportunity to develop.

Both continued to progress further with their new knowledge and skills and were promoted to assistant practitioners by 2018. More complex competencies were achieved, and Chloe and Chantel started an Open University Nursing degree.

They completed their training in LCHS as well as working as assistant practitioners. The course lasted four years and two of those years included the COVID-19 pandemic.

Their manager, Marie Halligan said, “We are incredibly proud of Chantel and Chloe, their achievements and the progress they made whilst remaining part of our team. Both are an inspiration to others.”

Chantel said, “I am extremely proud of Chloe and I for completing the training, as well as our colleagues who qualified with us.

“It was challenging but worth it for the experience and the people I have had the pleasure of meeting. I cannot express my appreciation enough to Lincoln North Community Nursing team for supporting me and I look forward to developing further in LCHS.”

Chloe said, “I feel very fortunate for the opportunity to complete the apprenticeship whilst working in LCHS. When I started in Lincoln North Community Nursing Team, I never imagined I would become a registered general nurse.

“It has been a challenge but also very rewarding. I would recommend this to people considering a career in nursing and I look forward to the next step in my career supported by LCHS.”

If you are interested in nursing or other careers in the NHS please go to www.lincolnshirecommunityhealthservices.nhs.uk/careers