Events

Open Day Saturday 26th January – Looking for a new challenge in your nursing career – we might have what you’re looking for at Leicester’s Hospitals

Leicester Hospitals

Nurses looking for new career opportunities are invited to attend a recruitment open day hosted by the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust across its three hospital sites – the Royal Infirmary, the General and Glenfield Hospitals on Saturday 26th January 2019.

Registered nurses are invited to attend and learn about the exciting career opportunities in a range of specialities, including Specialty Medicine, Emergency Department, Renal, Respiratory, Cardiac and Vascular, ITU & Theatres, Musculoskeletal and Specialist Surgery, Renal, Surgery and Cancer, Haematology and Oncology and Children’s.

Leicester’s Hospitals is one of the UK’s largest NHS Trusts serving the one million residents of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. It is nationally and internationally-renowned for its specialist treatment and services in cardio-respiratory diseases, Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), cancer and renal disorders, and the hospitals treat a further two to three million patients from other parts of the country.

Nurses who attend the open day will be given a tour of the hospitals, meet the nursing teams and learn about the career opportunities available in Leicester’s Hospitals. Interested candidates should bring their CVs as interviews will be taking place and conditional job offers given to successful candidates.

Carolyn Fox, Chief Nurse, Leicester’s Hospitals says, “This is a fantastic time to join our organisation, either as a newly registered or experienced nurse with a general, learning disability or mental health background.  There are exciting career opportunities here for nurses. As a tertiary hospital, we have some world leading clinical services and support the clinical and academic ambitions of our nurses at all levels.”

“We have created the innovative Centre for Clinical Practice and Leicestershire School of Nursing Associates, which is dedicated to the development of nurses. Over the next 12 months, we’re embarking on an exciting Pathway to Excellence® journey to create an environment where nurses can grow and flourish. We want our new nurses to be part of this journey and look forward to meeting them at our open day.”

Leicester’s Hospitals has also invested heavily in improving the experience of nurses, including the development of a welcome ward for newly registered nurses, clinical simulation facilities and a structured 12-month programme for nurses starting their careers. It also develops senior staff nurses through post registration education to help them further progress their careers.

The open day is part of the newly launched recruitment campaign Y/Our Future that unites five major health and social care employers – University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, LOROS Hospice, Rutland County Council and Leicester City Council – to recruit doctors, nurses and health and social care workers to work in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

Recent figures from the Royal College of Nursing suggest there are currently around 40,000 unfilled nursing vacancies in England. It also reports that since 2010, the NHS has lost 5,000 mental health nurses and district nurse numbers fell almost 50% in the same period.

Y/Our Future aims to address this chronic nursing shortage and promote Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland as a leading career destination for health and social care professionals, with great career and lifestyle opportunities.

The campaign has been developed by Altadicta, a London based design and engagement agency, who also run a similar recruitment campaign for NHS Northamptonshire called the ‘Best of Both Worlds’ which launched in 2018.

Case study – Carol Fitzpatrick, deputy sister at Leicester Royal Infirmary

One nurse who joined the team at Leicester Royal Infirmary in 2016 after finishing her nursing training is Carol Fitzpatrick. Originally from Ireland, Carol has progressed quickly in her career and is now a deputy sister in the acute frailty unit, where her job involves overseeing patients when they first come up from the Emergency Department.

Carol loves her role, especially working with the elderly patients and says, “Sometimes we get end of life patients and I take satisfaction in ensuring the patient is kept comfortable and pain free during these last few days of life. It can be very distressing for the family members and I always try my best to make sure this experience as peaceful as possible, answering any questions they may have, ensuring dignity and respect is maintained for the patient.”

Leicester’s Hospitals is very proactive in supporting nurses in their career progression plans. When she joined, Carol was put on the full preceptorship programme which covers medicine management and maths. She has also received training in several key areas since, including effective communications, acute illness management, end of life care, effective discharge, sepsis awareness and dementia training.

She says, “This job has given me the tools to feel confident as a staff nurse, so I applied for a band 6 deputy sisters post and was successful.”

Carol encourages nurses to attend the open day and says, “The staff are very supportive, we all look out for each other and we are a good team. There are many learning, education, development and career opportunities to climb the ladder if you feel you are ready. Leicester’s Hospitals promote work life balance and can offer part time, full time, term time contracts, and bank only contracts to accommodate staff’s personal lives. Leicester is also a very cultural place with beautiful surrounding villages.””

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