An always smiling, superstar staff nurse who works in our staff bank, and a lead chaplain who always provides patients and staff with the emotional support they need are the winners of February’s You Made a Difference awards.
Alexandra Samara joined the Trust in 2016 and held both a substantive post and bank registration.
In September 2017 Alexandra left her substantive post and became a bank only registered nurse. Since then Alexandra has worked on 12 different wards, the emergency department, day surgery and radiology.
Alexandra has regularly been working bank shifts in radiology since August 2019 and her team there say she is a superstar. The team is so appreciative of her dedication and commitment to providing only the best service possible to their patients.
Alexandra’s efficiency makes such a difference to the department – patient scans are more timely which means the team can see more patients, which in turn generates better flow in the hospital.
The winning nomination said:
Often we get very busy and it is vital that we work efficiently as a team to get these patients seen. And this is where Alex comes in! Alex is one of our bank nurses and works late shifts several times a week and boy do we notice when she is working! She never stops and goes above and beyond every time she steps into the department.
Personally, although I know this a feeling shared by my colleagues, I have never met someone who genuinely cares about patients more than she does. Nothing is ever too much trouble. Her compassionate and hard-working attitude is something that never goes unnoticed.
Mark Stobert joined the chaplaincy team in 2018 with many years of experience across chaplaincy and pastoral care, including work at a national level.
Mark supports bereaved relatives who need more immediate care and support, and has developed the bereavement care follow up service.
In becoming lead chaplain, Mark took on the responsibility of equipping a team of chaplains to sustainably, skilfully and reflectively deliver chaplaincy. Mark is a trained psychotherapist and his hands on approach has modelled to the team a ward based model of leadership.
On a personal note, Mark is a proud MAMIL (middle aged man in lycra) as a keen cyclist and is a gifted poet, with a fantastic ability to recite poems at any time.
The winning nomination said of Mark:
Mark is someone who it is a pleasure to spend time with and he is richly deserving of this award.
NCCU recently cared for a patient who was admitted following extremely tragic circumstances. Mark was involved from the beginning, providing the patient’s family with support.
This was one of the most difficult times for the staff on NCCU and extremely traumatic for all involved. Mark stayed late into the evening and provided the staff with the emotional support they needed.
Although it was clear this event took its toll on Mark, he continued to put the needs of others before his own. The support he gave to us all was so valuable and it was such a comfort to know he was there for us all. Thank you Mark!
