Sigma is a highly prestigious global nursing organisation. Founded in the USA in the 1920s, it now has members in over 100 countries. The all-England group (the Phi Mu chapter) started in 2011 and is hosted by Bournemouth University with members in higher education and clinical practice organisations across the country, plus colleagues based internationally.
The annual conference was hosted by Bournemouth University, Department of Nursing Science in June 2020, with the theme of Celebrating leadership, research and education in the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife.
Given the Covid-19 pandemic, at short notice the conference was re-planned to be delivered virtually. This was a rapid learning experience for all involved but was very positively received with 106 delegates from across the UK and the world, including Portugal, Israel, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada and the USA.
Virtual conference delivered in two stages
The Conference was delivered in two stages; three keynote presentations were recorded plus a video poster gallery and released to registrants to view at their leisure one week before the conference day.
Keynote speakers
Southampton University.
Sigma Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame Recipient
Nurses’ contribution to supporting patient self-management of medicines: reviewing the evidence and implications for practice.
Professor Vanora Hundley, Bournemouth University.
Sigma Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame Recipient
Celebrating midwives - the answer to quality maternal and new-born care.
Kelsie Fletcher, Nurse Lecturer and PhD student,
Bournemouth University
The evolution of disaster management, from war to the Covid-19 pandemic: the nurse's perspective.
Followed by an interactive debate using a video-conferencing platform
The conference day on 25th June was opened by Dr Liz Westcott, Chapter President and former Head of Nursing at Oxford Brookes University alongside Professor Steve Ersser, Head of Department of Nursing Science at Bournemouth University and former recipient of the prestigious Sigma Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame Award.
A highly interactive question and answer session focusing on each keynote paper followed, facilitated by Dr Janet Scammell, Associate Professor at Bournemouth University.
Delegates posed questions via the chat facility. It was a busy and thought-provoking session when the presenters responded to a diverse range of interesting and challenging questions. Whilst the papers were diverse, Janet summarised some common themes:
- The primacy of taking a person-centred approach in client care and staff support.
- The role of evidence in guiding quality care.
- The on-going need for staff development to effectively manage challenging and changing care delivery.
- The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on care and staff.
- The international context of care and the key role that nurses and midwives play in promoting health and wellbeing.
Dr Kirsten Jack, Reader from Manchester Metropolitan University then reflected on the excellent poster gallery contributions and highlighted some shared themes: nurse leadership, practice learning support and development, staff resilience, migrant health and the international care context.
Prize winners
Sigma nursing via its member groups actively promotes nursing scholarship. After a short break, one of the 2019 winners of the Phi Mu Chapter Scholarship prize, Catherine Best formerly of Bradford university, presented a short paper on her project ‘Blogging for beginners’. Dr Janet Scammell, Chair of the research committee then announced the prize winners for 2020:
- Dr Senyon Melnikov, University of Haifa, Israel: Early career researcher prize.
- Dr Bibha Simkhada, Bournemouth university: Education Innovation prize.
- Neesha Oozageer Gunowa, Kingston University: Education Innovation prize.
- Dr Cate Wood, Bournemouth University: Special COVID 19 project prize.
The winners will present their projects at the annual conference in 2021.
Induction ceremony: new Sigma members
The day concluded with the induction ceremony for new Sigma members. The mission of Sigma Nursing is to develop ‘nurse leaders anywhere to improve healthcare everywhere’. If you are interested in finding out more about the Sigma Nursing England group. Please visit: https://phimu.sigmanursing.org/phimuchapter/home
If you are interested in finding out about Sigma nursing, one of very few global nursing societies, please visit: https://www.sigmanursing.org
