Trust introduces badges to unite staff, instil pride and raise standards of care
Posted 15 July 2015 - 11:14
All 4,200 staff employed by Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust are to be issued with a ‘Caring with pride’ badge to wear at work.
The badge is the brainchild of David Thorpe, associate director of nursing and allied health professionals for the trust’s surgical division.
Its introduction reflects the former tradition whereby nursing schools issued nurses with a badge when they qualified. But the badge is being given to all staff, including those in non-clinical roles.
‘Caring with pride’ is also the guiding principle and name of the trust’s three-year nursing and midwifery strategy, which was launched in May.
Mr Thorpe said: ‘The phrase ‘Caring with pride’ sums up the ethos of the trust and is what unites all staff, clinical and non-clinical. We all want to be at our best.
‘The first 1,700 badges have been produced for all of our nursing and midwifery staff. The next batch will be distributed to other staff who have direct contact with patients, such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists and dietitians.’
He said the final batch will be given to all other staff, adding that they ‘are here to serve our patients as much as the rest of us’.
The design of the badge, which has been influenced by the old North East Essex School of Nursing badge, includes Colchester’s coat of arms, its castle and a book to signify learning.
A similar move to reinstate nursing badges was made by The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust in May.
The trust launched a training programme for all 1,780 of its nurses to undertake, which involves a one-day study training session and the completion of a work-based portfolio to formally acknowledge their existing skills and ensure high standards of compassionate care.
On completion of the course, which is accredited by the University of Liverpool, nurses are invited to a graduation ceremony where they are presented with a specially designed silver badge – with a symbolic Liverpool Liver bird at the centre – to acknowledge their training.