Nurse redeployment: one team fighting for the same cause
Nikki Abbot [pictured left], nurse on East Ham Ward at Newham Hospital, talks about her journey into nursing and her experience being redeployed to the Intensive Treatment Unit (ITU).
"I have worked for Barts Health since I qualified as a registered nurse in 2015. I have grown up in East London and always wanted to pursue my nursing career in the same vicinity - give back to my community. For the first four years of my career I worked at the Royal London Hospital starting off in orthopaedics and then spending two years as a trauma nurse. I completed one year on secondment as a Junior Sister. As my secondment was coming to an end I secured a permanent Junior Sister role on a busy surgical ward at Newham Hospital.
"I started on East Ham Ward just as the Covid-19 pandemic began to really impact the UK. During the first week of my role I was advised by the practice development nurse that she was looking for multiple members of staff to be redeployed to the Intensive Care Unit (ITU) due to major shortages in that department. I volunteered to put my name down for redeployment. I was passionate about actively helping out with the pandemic and I thought my experience in trauma and caring for level 2 patients (patients requiring more detailed observation or intervention including support for a single failing organ system or post-operative care) could be of use. Within a week I was informed that I was being redeployed to ITU immediately. I spent the night before my first shift feeling anxious about what I had got myself into. I spent hours reading old textbooks and notes from my days as a student to help refresh my knowledge.
"The morning of my first day arrived, I was nervous and so worried that I would be out of my depth in the role. I started off as a runner but quickly progressed to looking after patients under the supervision of the ITU nurses. I was so impressed by my fellow nurses' specialist knowledge and instantly felt very supported by them. They were always on hand to answer my (what felt like) thousands of questions and were so patient with me whilst I was developing these new nursing skills, despite being so busy themselves. This really helped me instantly feel like a part of the team and has helped me really settle into the team.
"This is my first experience of working in Newham Hospital and I have felt very welcome. The team work I have witnessed has been amazing and the support from all colleagues has been immense. I am sure it goes without saying that the Covid19 pandemic has been awful and a challenging time to work in healthcare - focussing on caring for others whilst anxious to not transmit the virus to loved ones. Staff resilience has really been tested in many ways and many of us have been moved to new areas, working at pace in new areas and sometimes feeling completely out of our depth.
"The thing that has stood out for me is the sense of unity amongst everyone working in the hospital - whilst this has always been the case it has really shone through in this pandemic and has helped to keep my spirits up. We are all one team fighting for the same cause."