Nursing With Us

A personal account

This page was written by a member of our nursing team.

“I am based at Wexham Park Hospital and can honestly say that this is a very special place to work – it’s a busy acute hospital with a high turnover of patients, and yet it manages to retain that community feel.

Everyone here is very friendly, and that’s a really important aspect to consider when making a decision about your place of work. I have always felt valued here. People say hello in the corridors, people are interested in you – all things that make a difference to your day. Communication from the senior team is pretty good too, but you also have to be savvy over using intranet and email to keep on top of what’s going on right across the Trust – there are 5 sites altogether so there’s always a lot happening!

Wexham Park hospital is situated in an area where there is huge cultural diversity. This gives an opportunity for exciting nursing challenges and the chance to meet fantastic people. We also have some really exciting projects in place which promote safe, quality care for our patients. Many of these projects have been developed from innovative ideas my colleagues have had, and it’s great to see the ideas become a reality.

Professional development at the trust has a high profile. I think that the nursing staff as a whole really value the Trust’s strong emphasis on appraisal and PDP planning, which of course is key to furthering your nursing career. The Trust makes funds available to staff wanting to take further qualifications that benefit them professionally. I was able to access these funds early on and this has really benefitted my professional and career development, as well as the benefits it brings for my patients and colleagues.

We have a central practice development team, and there’s a high level of support invested in practice development. The practice development team can give individual or 1:1 support, can support divisional areas or specific ward teams, and offer anything from training programmes to assessing staff in manual observation competencies. The team supports with delivery of professional handover at the bedside, trains on care planning documentation and offers portfolio guidance as well. Basically, a whole host of clinical and professional skills which someone new to the Trust can benefit from, pretty much from day one.

The Trust also provides e-learning which helps support theoretical learning and assessment, so it’s a quick easy option for people to learn more and develop their professional portfolio.

If you are just starting your career or looking to work in a Trust where professional development is high on the agenda and your ideas are listened to Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust offers great opportunities and I would highly recommend it as a great place to work.”