Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB) and Birmingham Children’s Hospital (BCH) have joined together to offer a brand new critical care rotational programme.

The scheme, which was launched at a recent recruitment event, QEHB aims to recruit an initial eight nurses who will be permanently employed into specific posts. These will rotate between the two hospitals, working with both adults and children.

Four of the nurses will be allocated to begin in critical care at QEHB and the remaining four placed in BCH’s Paediatric Intensive Care Unit. The programme lasts for a total of twenty two months, with the first placement lasting twelve months, and the second nine months. Nurses will then have the opportunity to choose which hospital they would like to remain at, at the end of the programme.

The event held on 17 January 2015, was attended by over twenty registered nurses interested in the programme. QEHB’s Matron of Critical Care, Helen Gyves and Yvonne Heward, Lead Nurse for Education and Workforce Development in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at Birmingham Children’s Hospital initially introduced the programme to attendees.

Visitors then had the opportunity to speak to senior sisters, and nurses about working at the two hospitals. The afternoon ended with a tour around QEHB’s critical care unit, and the option to take part in an Introduction to Ventilation workshop, delivered by Professional Development Nurse, Jane Reeves.

Helen Gyves said; "the aim of the event was to promote the programme and recruit nurses, who have an aspiration to work in critical care. The posts present candidates with a unique opportunity to rotate between two trusts’’

If you are a registered nurse with six months experience in an acute trust, and are interested in applying for this unique job opportunity please visit the NHS jobs website.(see below)