Earlier this week, over 100 NELFT colleagues attended the staff Nurses Day event at CEME in Rainham to celebrate International Nurses’ Day.

The event was organised this year by Associate Director of Nursing and Quality (ADONQ), Francis Fernando.

The day opened with an inspiring and heartwarming welcome from Chief Nurse, Wellington Makala, who spoke about how important it is for nurses to care for patients and service users as they would want their own loved ones to be cared for and how the happiness of NELFT’s nurses is such an important factor in this.

Video messages were shared from Howard Catton, the CEO of the International Council of Nurses as well as Dame Ruth May, Chief Nursing Officer for NHS England, and Sheila Sobrany, president of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).

Stories were heard from several nurses, including Perinatal Parent Infant Mental Health Service (PPIMHS) Team Lead, Sola Falola, who shared her nursing career journey and her aspirations to reach the role of Chief Nurse.

NELFT was joined by Guest speakers, Michelle Cox, Race Equality Consultant, who spoke about achieving equality in nursing, and Duncan Barton, Deputy Chief Nursing Officer for England, who spoke about the new 7 P’s of Nursing – Purpose, Professionalism, Personalisation, Proactivity, Partnership, Prevention, and Productivity.

Several certificates were handed out during the event to Nurse apprentices.

During the event, a few nurses spoke about what they felt was the best thing about being a NELFT nurse.

Sifelani Sayisayi, Lead Nurse for Medicine Safety, said:

“Being a nurse at NELFT is both challenging and immensely rewarding, with the greatest satisfaction derived from the profound impact I can make on patients' lives and wellbeing. Facing a mental health crisis is one of the toughest experiences in a person's life. Being present and providing care during such critical times, and guiding patients back to stability, offers immense personal fulfilment.

“Every day, I play a pivotal role in enhancing patient safety, which in turn, significantly improves patient outcomes. Achieving this requires close collaboration with other healthcare professionals, which is both stimulating and professionally enriching. Thank you NELFT for allowing me to be me! Happy International Nurses Day 2024.”

Baindu A Saffa, Team manager of the Integrated Crisis Assessment Hub (ICAH), said:

“Being a NELFT Nurse provides opportunities to turn dreams into reality.”

Jesse Wallen, Operational Lead Mental Health & Wellbeing Team, said:

“Being a NELFT Nurse means constantly striving to be better, do better and provide the highest standard of care to our service users and carers.”

Penny Fernandez, Ward Manager, said:

“I’ve been a NELFT nurse since my first day of placement in 2009 as a student nurse, I have grown up as a NELFT nurse and have enjoyed every minute. I can deliver great leadership for my team and great patient care for my patients because of the support I have received from NELFT.”