Rereading my Shaping Nursing 2020 blog of how I would shape the year of the Nurse and Midwife, my hopes were to shout out about the role of the Research Nurse and how important the role is. Little did I know then, that I did not need to do much shouting COVID -19 did the job for me.
Last Year Research Nursing was very much in the spotlight. The world has seen how important research is to gain insight in to new diseases, treatments and prevention’s, especially fighting Covid-19!
In my blog I talked a lot about change, how it happens whether you want it to or not. 2020 was very much the same but on a much larger scale. Although I have been quiet blog wise, I feel I rose to the challenges I faced last year. One challenge I especially enjoyed was supporting the new team member’s start their journey within research at such an unpredictable and demanding time. I have loved to watch them develop, grow, and teach me a thing or two.
I flew the flag for Quality Improvement and ensured that this continued during the year. Epidemics, I have since learned is one of the factors that is a major driver in innovation. I have amazing people in my organisation and it has been fantastic to share knowledge and experiences. I was so honoured to been nominated and receive an award for Quality Improvement at the end of a difficult year.
Although there had been a lot of change last year, the year whizzed by. One thing I regret was that I needed to capture the successes and sometimes failures to learn from and be able to look back and positively move forward.
This is my professional New Year’s Resolution – complete a professional diary. I have received a few lovely Christmas gifts to help me put that right, so I do not make the same mistake again this year. I received a lovey diary, happiness book and calendar to keep track of events.
In my personal life, for a couple of years now I add a note every night of what was positive during the day. I want to start this in my professional life and this will help me reflect on and see how much I have achieved during the year and areas I want to improve upon in the next.
Two weeks in and it’s still going well.
My Reasons for using a personal happiness jar – I want to implement this idea for a professional log.
Sharon the Research Nurse 