Meet Professor Nancy Fontaine, the new Chair of Trustees at Cavell

“It feels like a real stake-in-the-ground moment that a Chief Nurse and Deputy Chief Executive has been appointed Chair of Trustees at Cavell. This is a statement about how we’re going to be bigger, bolder and better for nurses and midwives throughout the UK. I have never been so proud!”

 

My nursing journey, so far

I never really wanted to be a nurse, I wanted to be a marine biologist! I thought it would be world travel, spending my time on boats at sea. Then I wanted to be a Chiropodist to use my bioscience background as I do love feet.

My mother was emphatic that nursing wasn’t for me, despite her being one and having other family members who worked in healthcare and medicine. Being independent in nature and always doing the opposite of what I am told, I secured an interview at Barts Hospital to become a nurse.

“I’ll give it six months before they kick you out!” my mother said when she heard the news “you’re self-opinionated and anti-authority, it’s not going to work.” Thirty-six years later I’m still here.

I’m very proud to be a Barts nurse and after qualifying in 1989, I travelled and worked in the outback in Australia with the Royal Flying Doctors working as an Emergency and Critical Care nurse, overseas and back here in the UK.

This became my specialism and I was able to combine my love of teaching, academia linked to practice by working in the university setting; at one time running both the Emergency Care and Intensive Care post-registration courses. I became one of the first consultant nurses for emergency and urgent care in the UK, following the 1997 Labour pledge to attract more senior nurses back into the profession.

After working in roles such as Deputy Chief Executive, Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) at three different acute NHS trusts and holding a professorial post at the University of East Anglia, I find myself now at the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), the independent regulator for the nursing and midwifery professions in the UK.

As Specialist Advisor, I’ve been seconded to help look at some of the issues around culture and process, but especially how we can improve the experience of registrants going through the Fitness to Practice process. My role for some years has been about quality improvement, cultural transformation and enabling and empowering teams to lead their own improvement.

You could describe this work as opening the blinds on the windows, getting teams to look outside and listen to and involve other stakeholders, working with them to reshape and redesign services.

My work at the NMC is no different and our research into how regulatory processes and decisions affect registrant well-being and their lives through and after the process is powerful and gives us the impetus and direction we need for sustainable change.

 

Edith Cavell and joining the Cavell team

I’ve always had an affinity with nurse Edith Cavell since realising that I was born almost exactly 100 years after her but also because I have a life-long  love of medical and military history. I grew up knowing the story of this woman having incredible courage, spiritual strength, resolve and integrity whilst she and her team saved the lives of 200 Allied soldiers in WWI.

When I ended up working as Chief Nurse at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust I was excited knowing that Edith Cavell grew up in Swardeston, a small village in Norfolk, and is buried at Norwich Cathedral. I also got to know and work with Nick Miller, the Edith Cavell archivist.  As Chief Nurse of the Norfolk and Norwich I was able to participate in the annual wreath laying ceremony commemorating Edith’s life and death with fellow nurses, veterans and representatives from the Belgian Embassy. When the opportunity arose to become Chair of Trustees at Cavell, I thought immediately that this position was just perfect for me!

I see it as the ultimate privilege and the most exciting opportunity for me to join the trustee team at Cavell as Chair. The health and wellbeing of nurses and midwives in the UK is always on my mind. As a senior nurse leader, the psychological and physical well-being of colleagues is at the forefront of everything I do and stand for, and it is an honour to be able to continue this work with Cavell across the nations, for our professions.

 

The struggles are real

For some people, being a nurse or midwife is in their DNA. Their drive to care and nurture is integral to who they are as humans which they deliver with empathy and kindness.

This care is often given, day after day, in the face of adversity whether that be workplace inefficiency, lack of resource or personal anxieties and worries. Nurses and midwives are unique in that, despite everything that’s thrown at them, they continue to deliver care and try and improve the systems they are working in.

Without this exceptional workforce, there would be no NHS or independent nursing sector. I believe it shouldn’t be just Cavell and other charities making a significant contribution to the wellbeing and welfare of nurses and midwives, it should be at the forefront of the minds of all nursing and midwifery employers across health and social care.

The profile of nurses and midwives in UK is predominantly women and getting older. This largely female workforce has to tackle many external factors like living through the menopause and coping with personal caring responsibilities for their children and relatives with chronic and life limiting debilitating conditions. I believe more strategic design and investment needs to be placed into understanding who today’s nurses and midwives really are.

 

Making a difference

As the new Chair at Cavell, I plan to reach out to the four nations of the UK, seeking alliances with colleagues and organisations, including other charities, letting them know who Cavell is and what we can do together for nurses and midwives where they live. We need to work with them to expand the breadth of support on offer for this vital workforce when they need it, from this small but mighty charity.

I also want to help spotlight the amazing work that nurses and midwives do every single day throughout the UK, championing these professions along the way.

Since I qualified as a nurse in 1989, I’ve had a very simple philosophy. If you invest time and resource in people to make them the very best professionals they can be, you’ll ensure that they will deliver the best possible care to patients and families. At the end of the shift, if a nurse or midwife feels they too are being looked after, they’ll be back tomorrow. If we invest in our professions and provide for today then we will have a workforce for tomorrow and beyond.