Member Article

North East business gifts all nurses in England app to support mental health & wellbeing amid crisis

A mental health and wellbeing business based in Stokesley has taken the decision to gift its flagship app to all nurses, midwives, nursing associates and healthcare support workers across England. The move comes amid reports that more than 40,000 nurses have left the NHS in the past year largely due to stress.

ShinyMind is the brainchild of founder and psychotherapist, Rebecca Howard. NHS England and Improvement have seconded senior nurse, Karen Storey, to support the development of the app that contains resources specific to nursing needs such as reflective support, assertiveness and voice masterclasses. It is already trusted by Florence Nightingale Foundation, Cavell Nurses’ Trust and a range of NHS organisations across England.

It has been co-created with the NHS, involving nurses, midwives, nursing associates and healthcare support workers. Its evidence-based approach to wellbeing has been developed over five years of research and is proven to increase positivity among nurses, empowering them to understand and manage their emotions and reactions and in turn, help them manage stress more effectively and improve their wellbeing.

To launch the new app on 17th November, ShinyMind has enlisted the help of beloved British author and poet, Michael Rosen, who has written a brand new poem dedicated to hard working nurses, midwives and healthcare support workers.

Howard explained: “I am delighted to launch the nursing version of ShinyMind. Having spent over five years developing ShinyMind, we have created the nursing version with key support from NHS England and Improvement, nurse leaders and many nurses and midwives across the country, it’s great to finally share its resources with the nursing community who do so much for us all in the face of extraordinary challenges.

“The ShinyMind app aims to help nurses better cope with the challenges they face on a daily basis. Backed by research to support nurses’ overall wellbeing, it also provides resources for professional needs such as masterclasses on assertiveness and voice plus CPD and reflective supervision.

“Nurses are passionate about caring for people and we have been delighted to start to work with them to prescribe ShinyMind to their patients, where relevant, as our evidence shows it really can help anyone and everyone.”

Tha app is grounded in a robust evidence base. The most recent independent data, based on impact research with 400 nurses, revealed that 94% of nurses ‘felt better’ as a result of using the app, 25% felt ’a lot better, 46% said it had improved productivity, with the average improvement in wellbeing standing at 117%.

Mr Rosen said on his involvement: “Nurses are the backbone of the NHS and literally saved my life and continued to do so when I was discharged from hospital and finally had the courage to read all of their notes to me, written while I was in an induced coma.

“As is detailed in my book, Many Different Kinds of Love, the compassion and empathy these unsung heroes have is truly outstanding. I can’t thank them enough.

“It is my absolute honour to pen and recite this specially commissioned piece dedicated to nurses at the launch of ShinyMind. Hopefully it will give them a small glimpse as to why they are so important to me and millions of others around the country.

“I believe that the ShinyMind app will be a great source of information, guidance, and support for nurses and I really hope they download it to help improve their wellbeing and continue to save lives.”

Trusts taking part in the launch event include Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation, The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation, NHS Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board, and Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Rachel McBryde .