Blogs from the FNP Community

In July, we welcomed 47 new recruits to the 10th wave of FNP Foundations training – marking nearly a decade of FNP learning since the programme was introduced in England in 2007.

For these 42 family nurses and 5 supervisors, this is just the beginning of a year-long learning programme provided by the FNP National Unit which will continue for as long as they are delivering the FNP programme. As we welcome them on their FNP journey, we asked them to share their reflections about their very first FNP training session.

In the second in our series blogs from Foundations training delegates, Cecilia Hunt talks about how FNP will mean working with clients at a new level of intensity.

Cecilia will join the FNP team in Hounslow as a family nurse in September

“Spending time getting to know new FNP colleagues at Foundations training was great. I got to hear from skilled and expert colleagues. I was so impressed by enthusiasm and insight – shared both formally and informally. I felt very privileged to be part of it.

“I enjoyed the time we spent doing role play. Well, it was challenging rather than enjoyable! But it made you reflect, it developed my self-awareness and it was ultimately rewarding. It really stood out as a high point.

“The training illustrated how much energy it might take to build relationship with young parents. My background is in community mental health nursing and I’m currently a health visitor, and nursing nowadays is all about reflective listening and open questions. But it opened up to me how much you can give this lip service without really doing it in practice. I’m looking forward to engaging with clients in a more intensive and engaging way as a family nurse. I can’t wait to put the Motivational Interviewing-inspired techniques into practice.

“It’s great to have the virtual team – the group of other recruits I’ll train with through wave 10. And the sense of being part of a wider FNP community nationally and internationally is great.

“Becoming a family nurse will mean working with clients at a new level of intensity and frequency for me. The quality and frequency of supervision will also be different to my previous experience and I’m interested to see how that will impact on my practice.

“I’m really excited to get stuck in and implement skills and theories in training. I’m looking forward to getting to know parents and those little moments when you can see you’ve made a difference and you see clients developing their self-awareness. I’m a little bit apprehensive getting my head around data collection and documentation for FNP, and about recruiting my first clients.

“As a result of this training I’ve come away with a can-do feeling. I feel like I can learn and grow within the strengths-based culture of FNP.”