One senior sister, Vanessa King, at Wirral University Teaching Hospital set out to bring positivity back to the trust.
Being an active participant on Twitter, she tweeted: “Determined to fight current media negativity, I’m going to tweet every day 7/7 why I’m #PROUD to work @WUTHstaff @WUTHNHS… I’m #proud because senior nursing team provide me with fabulous support everyday”
Her next step was to nominate 4 colleagues to take the #proudchallenge, including me (wise move) as I’m always looking for the ‘Fab Stuff. I made my tweet and nominated the Trust’s Fabulous Change Agent Network (#FabCAN) who quickly took up the challenge.
Within 30 minutes of her first Tweet, Sr King received 10 #proudchallenge tweets. The Director of Nursing and Midwifery, Gaynor Westray, encouraged others to take the challenge by tweeting: “Let’s pull together and show care and compassion for each other as well as our patients and carers, love we a great team and trust #proud”
Every day for a week, senior leaders and frontline staff alike took to twitter every day and shared why they were #proud to work at Wirral University Teaching Hospital #proudchallenge.
This has brought staff together with a shared purpose:
HelloMyNameIsLeeanne @lockley_leeanne #proudchallenge Day6 I’m proud to work @wuthnhs because of the bond of personal and professional friendships I have made over the years. People come into your life for a reason. Thank you to you all for being a part of my work life.
Terry Whalley @TerryWhalley Day 2/7 #ProudChallenge I’m #proud to work with @WUTHstaff at @wuthnhs who continually give above and beyond to ensure their patients come first.
Linda Janet Taylor @lindataylor123 Day 3/7 - #ProudChallenge. I’m proud to work @wuthnhs because every week I witness the honesty and courage of @WUTHstaff and execs displayed at Safety Summit, alongside the opportunity for Your Library & Knowledge Service to provide Evidence and benchmarking.
Kirsty Irving @kirstyirving2 Day 3 #proudchallenge I am proud to work in @wuthnhs and learn from some of the most amazing mentors, nurses, Drs and csws and have the opportunity to develop my knowledge and extend my nursing skills every single day.
Fleur Flanagan @fleurflanagan Day 4 of #PROUDChallenge. Very impressed by the openness shown by @wuthnhs colleagues and the content of the discussion at today’s Safety Summit. An important, engaging and accessible mechanism for keeping patient needs and safety a priority here.
Mike Larsen @MikeJlarsen Day 6 #PROUDchallenge I feel extremely grateful and thankful to work with people I can honestly call friends. Many of the people I work with “Have got my back” it’s all about a committed & supportive work environment & culture. #PositiveMentalAttitude
Karen Stephens @karen_stephens5 Day 6 #PROUDchallenge @WUTHstaff I am #proud of how the nurses, ops teams, medical staff come to work each day with a smile for our patients, especially in the current climate of media exposure. U do a great job, thanks.
The #proudchallenge featured on the weekly message from the interim CEO who encouraged staff to take the challenge. “This week you will have seen some those tweets posted on notice boards for patients, staff and visitors to see...If you’re yet to take the #PROUDchallenge, you can still do so. The challenge is to spread some positivity out to the social media public on why you are PROUD of our Trust. This must take place over the space of seven consecutive days by tagging in @wuthstaff and the hashtag #PROUDchallenge.”
There is still a lot be done to bring back positivity into Wirral University Teaching Hospital but Sister King has certainly made an impact. She set out with one tweet to improve staff morale but in fact she caused a small social movement demonstrating the power of twitter to change attitudes and behaviours.
Perhaps you could start a #proudchallenge in your area?