Florence Nightingale Foundation launches NHS leadership support service

The BGS would like to make its nurse members aware of a refocused initiative from The Florence Nightingale Foundation, aiming to support them as leaders during the current crisis and beyond.

The Florence Nightingale Foundation (FNF) has refocused its work to support the unprecedented leadership challenges faced by nurses and midwives working across all levels of the professions during the COVID-19 crisis. The Foundation will provide this service whilst it has suspended its leadership and scholarship activity until further notice.

Nursing and midwifery professionals are at the heart of responding to COVID-19 today, tomorrow and in the coming weeks ahead. It recognises this is undoubtedly the most challenging, difficult and pressurised time in generations for teams working in health and social care settings across the UK.

Interventions to help maintain a balanced and positive mental health will be very important during this crisis. It will also be important to ensure they can also focus on the future. Nightingale Frontline will support nurses and midwives to continue to lead and support the NHS now and be inspired to lead beyond this crisis. It will complement the Health and Wellbeing Service recently launched by NHS England.

Nightingale Frontline will provide remote, small group sessions offered to:

• Executive and Senior leaders
• Ward/team leaders
• Newly Registered Nurses/Midwives
• Nurses/midwives returning to practice following retirement or non-clinical roles
• Nurses/midwives managing caseloads remotely

The leadership support will be facilitated by expert FNF Associate Facilitators and a senior nurse and midwife alumni network who are highly experienced and skilled in a method of Action Learning known as co-consulting. This approach combines the benefits of coaching with peer learning in an environment underpinned by psychological safety.