I am extremely grateful to the Florence Nightingale Foundation Leadership scholarship sponsored by the Burdett Trust for Nursing for the opportunity and award of a leadership scholarship. My special thanks to Professor Elizabeth Robb and Sue Machell whom have provided valuable coaching, and personal and professional support during my leadership programme. I would also like to thank Peter Siddall my mentor for his support throughout my scholarship. In addition I would like to thank the Liverpool Heart and Chest Foundation Trust who have supported me throughout the programme and for that I am grateful.
When I applied for the Florence Nightingale Foundation Leadership scholarship sponsored by the Burdett Trust for Nursing I was a fairly new Director of Nursing Therefore, I did have concerns regarding how I would manage the time for the scholarship alongside settling into a new role. On the contrary, I found that the scholarship helped me enormously, by providing me with opportunities for peer support from a group of highly skilled and experienced colleagues with experiences and opportunities that helped me to develop my role significantly.
Following my interview, I wasn’t hopeful that I would be successful. I guess, on reflection, this was due to my lack of self-belief at the time and my lack of confidence. Following the interview, I waited nervously to hear the outcome and was overwhelmed when I was told I had been successful. The Chief Executive at the time supported me with the application and the trust supported me throughout. I felt very privileged to be awarded this opportunity and was keen to make the most of it by considering carefully how I would utilise the funding to enhance my own development, with the aim that this would improve patient and family care. I also relished the opportunity to look at how I could strengthen my leadership of the workforce in my organisation, to enable them to be the best they can be, to achieve the best for patients and families.