Nursing conference 2021: celebrating excellence

224 staff joined the Trust’s virtual Nursing conference on 22 September, a full day event culminating in the Nursing Awards 2021, a ceremony to celebrate and recognise the hard work of nurses across the organisation.

Speaking after the conference, Stephanie Bridger, Director of Nursing and Patient Experience, said:

“Today’s event was a wonderful mixture of learning and sharing ideas as well as reflecting and celebrating the work of our nurses. Along with the entire NHS, we’ve had an extremely challenging time over the last 18 months but our nurses have shown incredible resilience to continue delivering compassionate care to our patients and service users. I wish I could give everyone an award to say thank you and to celebrate their excellence.”

The event was brilliantly chaired by Jimmy Garber, Associate Practice Development Nurse, who’s positive energy was supplemented by interactive singing and dancing interludes, including a recreation of the Trust’s viral version of Jerusalema, to keep minds fresh and help avoid videoconference fatigue.

Keynote speakers included:

• Chris Caldwell, Director of Nursing & System Workforce Development at Tavistock & Portman NHS Trust
• Dorcas Gwata, Public Health Specialist and Head of Global Programmes at Florence Nightingale Foundation
• Carolyn Regan, Chief Executive, West London NHS Trust.

There was also a wide range of presentations about the innovative work going across the Trust as well as updates on nursing specific projects within each clinical service line.

To cap off the conference, Stephanie Bridger hosted the Nursing Awards 2021 which brought a celebratory tone to an already energetic and upbeat atmosphere. The awards were introduced and concluded with special choir performances to ensure a party mood amongst the attendees.

Below is a list of the award categories and winners: