Nursing & Midwifery Conference 2019

"When you're a nurse you know that every day you will touch a life or a life will touch yours."

This is a popular quote in the nursing community and also the powerful words Nicky Berry, our Director for Nursing, Midwifery and Acute Services, opened our third annual staff Nursing & Midwifery Conference with.

Held at the Waverley Castle Hotel in Melrose on 10 May the conference was packed full of sessions and presentations from staff and external speakers around this year's theme of 'Person Centred Care'.

Following Nicky's very candid and personal introduction, Professor Brendan McCormack delivered an in-depth presentation about the importance of emotional connection, what we can do as care givers to enhance a culture of person centeredness and what it means to flourish.

Following their participation in a one year leadership course, our Senior Charge Nurses delivered a feedback session about their journey. The aim of the Nursing Leadership Academy Borders, which was provided in partnership with Queen Margaret University, is to empower nursing staff to take on leadership roles and enhance their skills to thrive and lead well. In their presentation our nurses showcased their learning and played a very powerful and empowering video pledging their mission statement and promise to staff about what they will bring to their teams as leaders. Their video which has since been posted on social media aims to encourage fellow colleagues across NHS Borders to join them in being active leaders within the organisation.

The sessions throughout the day, whilst being different, all had the same message; person centredness is important in all that we do, whether that's in relation to how we care for our patients, how we interact with our colleagues or how we treat ourselves.

Professor Dorothy Armstrong and Inga Cosway placed importance on the concept that person centeredness starts with ourselves; provoking thought and questions about how we treat ourselves such as 'Are we as kind to ourselves as we are to our friends, family and colleagues?' In their presentation entitled 'Put your own oxygen mask on first: Caring for ourselves' they explored what we can do in our busy lives and careers to simply take some time for us because at the end of the day 'How can we look after patients if we don't look after ourselves first?'

Speaking about the event, Sarah Horan, Associate Director of Nursing, said: 'Providing high quality person centred care is at the heart of everything we do within NHS Borders. By investing in our staff, giving them the tools to improve and work together, playing to each other's strengths not only has a great impact on morale but also on the quality of care we provide for the Borders community, which is what it's all about.

'It was an absolute pleasure to spend the day learning and sharing information together, and most of all, celebrating our nurses and midwives in recognition of their incredibly hard work.'