Mandie Sunderland
RGN, DPSN, DPSM, BSc (Hons), MSc
Executive Chief Nurse, Nottingham University Hospitals
December 2020
Mandie qualified as a Registered General Nurse from St Bartholomew’s in 1985. The majority of her clinical experience was in intensive care environments and she is now one of the most experienced Chief Nurses in the country, with over three decades of senior nursing experience. From 2015 to 2020, Nursing and Midwifery at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) have been incredibly fortunate to have Mandie as Chief Nurse. Nursing and outstanding patient care remain Mandie’s passion. She has put NUH on the map for care excellence and is an influencer in her field both regionally and nationally. Under Mandie’s leadership, rewarding and recognising our nurses have gone from strength to strength. Healthcare Trusts and organisations from around the UK and world want to visit NUH and Nottingham to find out what is happening, and what makes Team NUH special, and this is in no small part down to Mandie. Her clear vision and ambition are visible throughout Nursing and Midwifery at NUH, with many innovative, culture-change initiatives part of her vision.
Since 2017 a monthly DAISY Award has been presented in a surprise ceremony hosted by Mandie. These recognise Nurses and Midwives who have gone above and beyond to provide care excellence and are voted by patients. Recognition is just one strand of NUH’s Nursing and Midwifery Strategy. Mandie has co-developed one of the most advanced Shared Governance programmes in the UK – a leadership model which puts decision-making in the hands of frontline staff. Wards and departments are supported to create their own councils, regularly feeding directly into senior leadership, including Mandie as Chief Nurse. Mandie has focused on developing nurses and promoting research-led practice, led by 16 post-doctoral Nurses and Midwives, and eight currently undertaking doctoral training. This work also includes the introduction of the award winning Chief Nurse Excellence in Care Junior Fellowship Programme, established in 2016. A programme of clinical academic leadership that has been adopted in over 8 other organisations nationally.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and International Council of Nurses (ICN) launched a three year global campaign, ‘Nursing Now’ in 2018 and identified 2020 as the Global Year of the Nurse and Midwife, coinciding with the 200th birthday of Florence Nightingale. No one could foresee that 2020 would bring the role of Nurses and Midwives to the fore in such a dramatic way with the onset of COVID-19. In spite of the unprecedented global challenges faced, Mandie recognised that we have so much to be proud of here at NUH and continued her aspiration of international recognition for care excellence.
In August 2020 Nottingham Children’s Hospital, which includes the Sexual Health Service, became ANCC Pathway to Excellence® (PTE) designated and the first Children’s Hospital in the UK and Europe to achieve this recognition. In October 2020 NUH received the amazing news that City Hospital had been awarded ANCC Magnet® designation. We became the first UK organisation (and one of only two in Europe) to successfully progress through documentary evidence submission and extensive site visit evaluation by the Magnet appraisers. This was an historic moment for Nursing in the UK and for our organisation, as Magnet® is the most esteemed accreditation awarded globally for nursing excellence. NUH now stands as the only organisation outside of the USA to have hospitals that are both ANCC Magnet and Pathway to Excellence designated. This incredible achievement stands as testimony to the professionalism, dedication and hard work of our teams who strive to deliver excellence in care every day to our patients, families and each other. Throughout her career, Mandie has held fast to Florence Nightingale’s principles of caring. Her exceptional nursing leadership and vision has engaged and involved patients, nurses, midwives, families, carers and multi professional teams and leaves an inspiring legacy for a continued journey to professional nursing excellence.