Nursing recruitment day at Antrim hospital

The Northern Health and Social Care Trust will be hosting a recruitment day for Band 5 nurses on Saturday 11 November at Antrim Area Hospital.
Nurse Sara Redmond from RandalstownNurse Sara Redmond from Randalstown
Nurse Sara Redmond from Randalstown

Posts, covering a range of medical specialities primarily within Antrim Area and Causeway hospitals, are available for immediate start, and are open to qualified and newly qualified nurses, those awaiting registration in the next 3 months, as well as those due to qualify in 2018.

Randalstown’s Sara Redmond, a recently qualified nurse, is a new recruit to Ward B2 in Antrim Area Hospital.

When Sara was 16 she worked as a care assistant in a local care home and knew then that she wanted to be a nurse. Having completed an A-Level in Health and Social Care, Sara moved to Dundee in Scotland to complete her degree in nursing, though always hoped to return home to work and give back to her local community. She was delighted to be offered a position in Antrim Area Hospital.

Being a newly qualified nurse, Sara was understandably apprehensive about her new found responsibilities; starting work in a new ward, in a new hospital, providing care for her own group of patients, though as Sara later found out her worries were unnecessary.

“I have been allocated a Preceptor, Sister Joanne Loughlin, an experienced nurse on the ward who is mentoring me through the Preceptorship Programme. Preceptorship is a Trust programme that supports newly registered nurses like me through professional reflection, extra training and identifying learning needs. Joanne is there to support and help me care for my patients.”

Newly qualified nurses work with their Preceptor to design a personal development plan, identifying extra training that helps the new nurse extend and consolidate their clinical knowledge and practice skills. The Northern Trust is committed to providing opportunities for all staff to further develop their skills and knowledge, and a number of Sara’s colleagues are currently completing post-graduate qualifications in areas such as palliative or diabetic care.

Sara says that working in the Northern Trust offers many advantages. “Antrim Area Hospital is a teaching hospital and I’d love to get the opportunity to teach student nurses, just like other nurses kindly did for me. It’s really important to me to know there are career development pathways. The opportunity to work on a variety of speciality wards, coupled with the Trust’s support in expanding my skills, means that I see a real future here for me in the Northern Trust.

Nurses can develop a range of career pathways, from working as clinical nurse specialists in areas such as respiratory or diabetes, working as a nurse practitioner, developing a career in community nursing as a district nurse, or progressing in to managerial positions.

Nurses and student nurses who are interested in applying for a position with the Northern Trust are encouraged to apply online or bring a completed application form to the recruitment day. Alternatively an application can be made on the day. There will be opportunities to be interviewed and offered a position on the recruitment day itself, with positions available immediately.

Further information on the recruitment day and the application process is available on the Trust’s website at http://www.northerntrust.hscni.net