Nurses soon to be working in Walsall’s community are coming to the end of a special programme designed to equip them with the most up to date knowledge.

Walsall Healthcare’s Community Professional Development team supports staff development across community settings. It provides resources, advice and support to develop staff in line with service needs and for individuals to progress along their own personal development journey.

Last month, the team launched a Community Nursing New Starter Programme. It is a four week programme that will welcome all of Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust’s new starters to the community.

Within this four week programme, the new starters will be equipped with all essential knowledge and skills to be able to deliver high quality, safe and effective care.

The programme will not only benefit staff to make them confident within themselves in all areas of their work but will also have a positive long-term impact on patients and the wider community as they will have nurses who have had an excellent learning foundation and are delivering the best and safe care.

During the launch the trust’s Divisional Director of Nursing, Kelly Geffen came to give the new starters a warm welcome to the Trust.

She said: “The community induction programme is a great way for our new staff to learn, talk and engage in all aspects of their new journey. It provides the opportunity for staff to be orientated into the division and be supported to work independently within their area.

“Through the community professional development team, the programme supports key areas such as competencies and staff supervision as well as encouraging on-going development. It’s a privilege to be welcomed into the homes of our population and this programme supports our staff to deliver a great patient and staff experience.”

The new starters have found this programme to be a success and have said how much they have “enjoyed attending the Community Nursing New Starter Programme” and feel that “it has been really helpful and would recommend any new starter to do this”.