HLD and NES Teams

Taking time to nurture our relationships

Our iMatter story actually covers more than one team but really highlights the benefit of working together.

The Heads of Nursing for Heart, Lung and Diagnostic Services (HLDS) and National Elective Services (NES) have always worked closely and our teams have a professional and productive working relationship.  We took inspiration from our Senior Charge Nurses who had already recognised the value in both directorates coming together at ‘away days’ and decided to put something similar in place for our Clinical Nurse Managers.

As well as using these sessions to discuss pertinent local and national issues, we saw them as a great opportunity to share learning, discuss ideas and really get to know each other better.  The content and format of the meetings are driven by the group members, who, in pairs, take it in turn to organise the session.

So, twice a year we get together, wear our own clothes and spend some time getting to know the person beyond the uniform!

One of our recent activities was to look at our individual DiSC preferences and consider how they impact us as a team.  We had a fun and informative session.  The honesty and openness in the room bore testament to the great bond and trust we have built across our teams. It turns out we have a pretty even spread of styles so between us there’s nothing we can’t handle!  This has really helped us identify the strengths and development areas for each of us, helps us when allocating tasks and in adapting our communication styles to get the most from our working relationships.

For us, continuous improvement crosses the boundaries of our teams and we value the opportunity to come together as nurse leaders and share the benefits of this with our team members and ultimately our patients.