Nursing staff go the extra mile to provide wellbeing support for their colleagues

Staff at Ysbyty Gwynedd’s Intensive Care Unit can now visit a special quiet room to take a moment to themselves thanks to generous donations from the community.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Cybi Ward nurses Nina Turner and Cara Harding were keen to find a non-clinical quiet and relaxing space for their colleagues to use if they were feeling overwhelmed.

After securing a room near to the entrance of their ward, they received incredible support from local businesses that donated items such as soft furnishings and blinds to decorate the room.

Describing her time working during the pandemic, Nina said: “Initially it was very scary as we didn’t know what we were facing, but we soon got into the stride of things and got use to donning and doffing PPE on each shift.

“We had incredible support from our re-deployed staff and I was hugely impressed with how they adapted to the intensive care setting.

“Everyone has worked so hard over the last few months and this is why I wanted to create a space for my colleagues to go and take some time out, as it can be overwhelming.

“We had tremendous support from local businesses and even our personal friends who donated items towards the room.

“Cara has a real creative flare so she has made sure everything in the room is in the perfect spot. We really enjoyed putting it together and would like to thank everyone who has contributed to making it such a beautiful room for us.”

As well as a separate space for staff to gather their thoughts, there is also now wellbeing sessions organised by Intensive Care nurse, Katie Hughes, for her colleagues.

Katie has set up ‘Wellbeing Wednesdays’ which has so far provided activities such as yoga, beach cleans and paddleboarding.

She said: “Looking after ourselves during these times is really important and I wanted to organise some sessions for my colleagues each week to support their wellbeing.

“I wanted to keep morale up in our team as it’s been a difficult time for us all so having these sessions has brought us closer together and kept our spirits up.

“We are a fantastic team here on Cybi and it’s been great to do some outdoor activities together such as paddleboarding and taking part in beach cleans.”