Amid reports that more than 40,000 nurses have left the NHS in the past year largely due to stress, a health and wellbeing business has taken the decision to gift its flagship app to all nurses, midwives, nursing associates and healthcare support workers in Liverpool and the rest of England.
ShinyMind is the brainchild of founder and psychotherapist, Rebecca Howard. NHS England and Improvement have seconded senior nurse, Karen Storey, to support the development of the app that contains resources specific to nursing needs such as reflective support, assertiveness and voice masterclasses. It is being used by nurses at The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Fazakerley, which is supporting the launch of the app on 17 November.
Jan Ross, Chief Executive at The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, said, “We were delighted to be part of the launch group for the dedicated nursing version of the ShinyMind app.
“The app has so far been very helpful to many staff across the NHS, particularly during the difficult years we have all experienced working in healthcare. The ShinyMind app recognises these challenges and that different people have different needs.
“Users can filter what’s important to them, whether that’s reducing stress, enabling daily reflection or just accessing different resources. It’s fantastic that the bespoke nursing app could now be rolled out, free of charge, to support people’s mental health and wellbeing which has never been more important.”
It has been co-created with the NHS, involving nurses, midwives and healthcare support workers, and its evidence-based approach to wellbeing has been developed over five years of research and is proven to increase positivity among nurses, empowering them to understand and manage their emotions and reactions and in turn, help them manage stress more effectively and improve their wellbeing.
It is grounded in a robust evidence base. New, independent research, polling 400 nurses using ShinyMind, reveals that 46% felt it had improved their productivity, 94% ‘felt better’ as a result of using it, with the average improvement in wellbeing standing at 117%.
To launch the new app, ShinyMind has enlisted the help of beloved British author and poet, Michael Rosen, who has written a brand new poem dedicated to hard-working nurses, midwives and healthcare support workers.
Rebecca Howard continues, “I am delighted to launch the nursing version of ShinyMind. Having spent over five years developing it, it’s great to finally share its resources with the nursing community which does so much for us all in the face of extraordinary challenges.
“ShinyMind aims to help nurses better cope with the challenges they face on a daily basis. It also provides resources for professional needs such as masterclasses on assertiveness and voice plus CPD and reflective supervision.
“Nurses are passionate about caring for people and we have been delighted to start to work with them to prescribe ShinyMind to their patients, where relevant, as our evidence shows it really can help anyone and everyone.”
Mr Rosen added, “Nurses are the backbone of the NHS and literally saved my life and continued to do so when I was discharged from hospital and finally had the courage to read all of their notes to me, written while I was in an induced coma.
“I believe that the ShinyMind app will be a great source of information, guidance, and support for nurses and I really hope they download it to help improve their wellbeing and continue to save lives.”
Trusts taking part in the launch event include Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation, The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation, NHS Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board, and Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
The ShinyMind app is supported by NHS England and Improvement, the Florence Nightingale Foundation and Cavell Nurses’ Trust, and has already been trialled by over 3,000 nurses.
Image (L-R) Karen Storey and Rebecca Howard
Why not follow birkenhead.news on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter? You can also send story ideas to news@birkenhead.news
Subscribe to our FREE newsletter