Novice nurses to wear badges urging patience

Novice nurses and midwives at a trust in Yorkshire will wear badges indicating they are newly qualified and other staff should be patient

Nurses at a trust in northern England will wear badges if they are newly qualified to remind other staff to be patient with them.

The badges, which will also be worn by novice midwives, are the idea of Matron Samantha Dawe, who said they are a subtle signal to team members about how to approach wearers.

‘They let people know that the wearers are new members of staff and that we need to be patient with them,’ she said. The aim is also to boost retention rates across West Yorkshire.

Two new nurses in an orthopaedic unit began wearing the badges this month, but they are now to be used across the whole of Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

‘It is important to get staff into our vacancies, but then to also look after them so that they stay’

The badges are shaped like acorns, which Ms Dawe said was a fitting symbol because ‘from little acorns do mighty oaks grow.’

‘It is important to get staff into our vacancies, but then to also look after them so that they stay with us or within the trust long term,’ she said.

Newly qualified nurse Faye England, one of the nurses already wearing the badge, said it gave her an extra sense of security.

‘We have felt really supported since we started and it’s nice to have the extra support and safety net which the badge gives you,’ she said.

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