Briefly, could you tell us about your background and career up to this point?
I am a critical care nurse by background; as a clinical teacher at King's, I am fortunate to still be able to work clinically part-time. I have spent most of my career working in ICU after a brief stint on a medical ward. In 2019 I was able to complete my PGCert in critical care, which allowed me to progress to band 6 in ICU. I took on the role of clinical teacher at King's in 2022 where I have been ever since.
You recently designed a leadership game for third-year nursing students. Could you explain what the game is and what led you to create it?
We prepared this leadership and staffing activity for part-3 adult nursing students preparing for their final placement. The activity is designed to align with various proficiencies in their practice learning documentation and the overall emphasis on professional values, proficiencies and leadership skills. In my experience visiting students in placement, these were some of the proficiencies that past students had the most difficulty in understanding and they didn't all have the same opportunities to practice these in placement.
The activity is designed for the preparation for practice simulation session, so the students complete it in group sizes of 10 to 20 people alongside a facilitator. During the activity, the students move through the ‘shift’ acting as the nurse in charge, managing staffing, bed movements and general problem solving. There are questions throughout the activity – either ‘phone roulette’, ‘ward wildcard’, or ‘bed manager bleep’ which allow for discussion among the group. Some of the issues discussed might be: where do we care for trans or non-binary patients in wards that are traditionally gender segregated? How do we keep clinical areas safely staffed when there is last minute staff sickness? What are the practical considerations when a patient deteriorates and needs to transfer to a higher level of care such as ICU? How do we support staff when they have been verbally or physically abused by patients or relatives? What has to be considered when deciding whether to proceed with, delay or cancel a surgical procedure each day?
Afterwards, the students complete a staffing activity where they allocate staff for the oncoming shift based off a list of pre-prepared characters. This requires them to consider the individual strengths and weaknesses of colleagues, and how to fairly divide the workload based on patient acuity, staff skill mix and the layout or geography of the ward.
One downside of the activity is that it focuses purely on leadership within a ward area, when so much of nursing happens outside of the ward. As a ward is the one area we know all students will have experienced on their placements, and also where most students work after registration, we wanted to draw on that universal experience, but perhaps one day in the future there will be an opportunity to adapt the activity to other areas of nursing, such as the community.
What impact have you noticed that the game has had in preparing students for the workforce after they’ve registered?
The students have been able to gain insight into not only the leadership decisions which shape their experiences on the ward, but also on the wider running of the hospital.
It also encourages students to look forwards in their career beyond their time as a newly qualified nurse and think about the leaderships roles they may be taking up in the future.
What wider importance could it have beyond the classroom?
I hope the students are able to apply their learning from this activity when they undertake their final placements and gain practical exposure to the issues and scenarios they discussed. Life is certainly easier when we can understand why certain decisions are being made and reminds us to have compassion for the various pressures our colleagues are under.
If nothing else, they can reflect on the activity and use this as evidence to achieve the relevant proficiencies in their PAD.
What is your favourite thing about working at King’s?
Seeing the students beginning their nursing career, exploring different placement areas and learning new clinical skills is very rewarding. I love being able to visit them on placement and hear about their experiences. It is currently a challenging time to be entering the NHS workforce and seeing their enthusiasm is inspiring.
What do you do with your time outside of work?
All the usual things; spending time with friends and family, reading, music and travelling both inside and out of the UK. I do a bit of casual songwriting, although the results are for my ears only!