NTCL South & South West

Dear Delegates,

On behalf of everyone at Nursing Times, welcome to Nursing Times Careers Live South & South West, our second virtual careers fair of 2021.

Just like our physical events, the day is all about helping you make the next step on your career journey and is designed to make it easy for you to meet potential new employers. Through our virtual events platform, Swapcard, you will be able to connect with exhibitors, arrange interviews and watch back anything on the programme that you missed.

You will have the chance to ask exhibitors about what it is like to work at their organisation, the training and development opportunities, and what the local area is like – but all from the comfort of your own home. As well as the opportunity of ending the day with a new job, you will have the opportunity to be inspired by our guest speakers, many of whom today touch on mental health and wellbeing issues.

Our speaker programme for the day begins with a session that will explore what led a nurse to also become a writer. Kelly Critcher, clinical nurse specialist at London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, is the author of A Matter of Life and Death: Courage, compassion and the fight against coronavirus – a palliative care nurse’s story. 

We will then be hearing from one of our headline sponsors, the Cleveland Clinic in London, which is due to open its doors later this year. 

Alex Matheson from the LGBT Foundation will also be exploring the history of the NHS rainbow badge pledge and offering advice for staff to effectively and confidently meet the needs of LGBT patients.

For those at the start of their nursing journey, our live student reception will give you the opportunity to discuss key topics such as placements and preceptorships. Our special guests include Matthew Townsend, winner of the Most Inspirational Student Nurse of the Year category at the 2020 Student Nursing Times Awards, and Chelsea Fawcett, one of our Nursing Times student editors.

After each presentation, you will have the opportunity to take part in a live question and answer session with the speaker. Last but not least, we are delighted to reveal the return of the NTCL Prize Draw this year, after a year off. Please visit the ‘NTCL Prize Draw’ booth for details on how to enter.

I would like to thank our confirmed speakers – Kelly Critcher, Alex Matheson, Chelsea Fawcett and Matthew Townsend. I would also like to thank our exhibitors, Cleveland Clinic London, Elysium Healthcare, Kings College Hospital NHS FT, North Bristol NHS Trust, Spire Healthcare and NHS Ayrshire & Arran.

Share your thoughts and tweet using the hashtag #NTCL. Happy job hunting!

Best wishes

Steve Ford, editor, Nursing Times and chair of Nursing Times Careers Live