A virtual Nurses' Nexus to promote nurses wellbeing

What does it give to participants?

• A monthly (at present) virtual opportunity to meet in positive facilitated small groups. Nurses have been more negatively affected by the pandemic than any other group.
• A truly confidential time to offload, share and re-energise with peers. (1 hour)
• A safe space to express strong emotions and difficult experiences ( but this is not counselling or advice giving)
• To enable the individual to grow their own wellbeing and resilience, staying safe for the future.
• To build their self-efficacy and confidence.
• Facilitated by nurse educator/coach-mentors familiar with the stress, uncertainty, and context of the huge demands staff face. Workload has massively increased with the backlog, vaccination programme and patient anxiety
• A welcoming place/ team for those with no team or a team where they feel marginalised, for whatever reason.
• This is for the participants own benefit as so many have had losses personally but it also improves patient care. All the self-care skills are readily transferable to their colleagues and patients. So many people are struggling, both health care workers and their patients.
• We run highly interactive workshops with small break out groups on Zoom. We teach leadership by modelling inclusivity, listening and the coaching approach. We use positive psychology, kindness, compassion and self-care as our bedrock.

What does it offer the NHS?

The Nurses' Nexus has so much to offers the NHS:

• Potential to aid retention of nurses at a time of high levels of stress and burnout.
• A sense of belonging for those that feel isolated or excluded.
• Demonstration of the value of diversity and inclusion.
• A model of kindness and compassion to encourage nurses to first nurture themselves to survive and thrive, reducing burnout and PTSD.
• Support through one-to-one confidential conversations when requested and signposting to specialist services if needed.
• Safety and space to allow whistleblowing
• Self-care and self-compassion which translate to better patient care.
• A functioning model for Integrated Care Systems to aid the building of ‘flourishing teams’
• Welcome and support for our international nurse colleagues.

What can it be used for in these extraordinary times of COVID – 19?

• The groups are holistic, so participants can choose any issue or aspect of their lives to discuss to improve their wellbeing. Whatever ‘matters’ to them.
• It may simply be an opportunity to share current stressors, decompress in confidence or process emotions.
• It can help decision making, clarify thinking, improve working with a team or colleague.
• It will help nurses to remain motivated while working under pressure.
• They can develop strategies and learn tools to enhance positivity, resilience and wellbeing.
• To normalise and promote self-care and self-compassion
• Modelling nurturing conversations
• Freedom to Speak up key and core