Learning from our equals

This October, nurses at Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust gathered at an event attended by NHS England and Improvement’s (NHSE&I) deputy chief nurse Duncan Burton, to celebrate their completion of the Trust’s six-month pilot reciprocal mentoring programme.

For the nurses attending the ceremony, it meant much more than receiving a certificate of achievement. ‘It was an opportunity for these nurses to celebrate how the programme has helped them develop professionally – such as enabling three of the reciprocal mentors to apply for promotion and obtain a higher paid band,’ says Pamela Shaw, lead nurse, workforce resilience, for the Trust.

‘And the event was also a celebration of the ways in which the programme had encouraged them to develop personally – such as building their confidence, and developing strong relationships with their mentor partners,’ she says.