Fundamentals of care training focuses on experiences

Our nursing associate team has continued their rollout of fundamentals of care training, this time focusing on the feelings of a patient being cared for in hospital and once they have been discharged.

Last year, the Trust launched our fundamentals of care approach, in which colleagues are encouraged to consider the essentials in terms of the care we deliver to our patients. These fundamentals mean ensuring appropriate nutrition, hydration, personal hygiene, sleep, rest and dignity to name but a few, which have traditionally been the responsibility of the nurse on behalf of the healthcare team.

As part of this, the nursing associate team began working to provide education, resources and support to nurses and midwives across the Trust. Led by Stacey Clarke and Aaron Bertram-Miller, the team have rolled out fundamentals of care training to student nurses and midwives on placement at the Trust, with the first course taking place in December 2022.

The second tranche of training began in June, hosted by Aaron and Stacey and led by Patient Experience Lead, Jamie Emery. The fundamentals of care part two training day had around 60 attendees: made up of nursing associates and international nurses. With the aim of ensuring a positive patient experience, dubbed the Disney effect, the sessions held throughout the day considered the feelings and experiences of a patient here at SWB.

The nursing associate team stated: “We wanted to prioritise a person-centred approach, maintaining the importance of the fundamentals but moving to a space in which we considered how a person feels when they are with us, whether for a short or a long time.”

The sessions covered topics such as patient experience, faith and spiritual needs, bereavement, recognising and supporting carers and diversity and protected characteristics. To this end, colleagues from across the Trust came to speak and lead sessions, resulting in a truly crossdepartmental event.

Jamie commented: “Hopefully this can be the first of some regular and embedded content for our people, patients and population.”

The team also invited speakers from outside the Trust, with Crisis Birmingham in attendance to lead a session on homelessness. Stacey stated, “The team that came to speak had been previously homeless. They spoke about their experiences and the impact of kindness and positivity in the hospital environment.

Aaron said: “It is important that we show what happens once a patient has left the hospital. Our care does not stop there, and it is not just the patients we look after but their families as well. Everyone deserves the best care possible and having the fundamentals in place is a great start to achieving that.

“Everyone was applauding them, we were really moved by their words and they had a big impact on the group.”

The engagement team were also in attendance, leading an interactive session in which attendees were encouraged to talk about their own feelings on the day. Stacey added: “Thinking about and discussing our own feelings helped everyone to think about the feelings of the patients we care for. It’s so important that we think of them as people, not just our patients, and to recognise them as individuals with their own needs.”

Moving forward, the team will continue to roll out fundamentals of care training to all student nurses and healthcare professionals coming into the Trust. For more information, please contact Stacey Clarke or Aaron Bertram-Miller.