Ambassadors - South West
Entries for the competition are now coming in thick and fast in anticipation of the closing date. Have you spoken to any potential entrants recently? My hope is that all SW Ambassadors will be able to find at least 2 entrants for this year's competition and don't forget to remind people that even if they feel their entry is too early, the written feedback they'll receive is superb and very useful (if unsuccessful this year), as a basis for doing better next year. Please contact everyone you know who was thinking of entering and encourage them to so do. We need entries in the SW to be up 15% on last year.
The SW information sessions and speaker engagements have now finished. These have been incredibly successful, with the numbers attending information sessions well up on last year and the drop out rate significantly less. Overall I have seen over 80 people in the last few weeks, the majority of who are very committed to entering this year. This is fantastic news and we will do everything we can to see that they get all the support they need. One of the really intriguing things from listening to this year's winner speakers who have been presenting alongside me in the sessions, has been that many of them had never considered NTA previously but have gone on to win top awards. This has been a very inspiring experience for those considering entering this year.
NTA Winner of the Year, Individual
Category; Mary White
Developing Nurses Across the UK and
Overseas
When Mary White first started nursing, some 30 years ago, she soon saw a need to train nurses working in general practice, increasing their expertise and capabilities.
Today she runs her own training company, working with nurses across the UK and internationally. Over the course of her career, she has specialised in training nurses to work with asthma patients and to carry out cervical smear tests - and has worked as far afield as China and Uzbekistan.
Ms White first became interested in training when she became a practice nurse in the 1970s. She says: "Practice nursing was unrecognised, task orientated, and derided with no training opportunities. I wanted expertise and teaching qualifications, national recognition for practice nurses and qualified trainers."
