What is NurChat?
Nurchat is a regular fortnightly chat for nurses, healthcare professionals and anyone with an opinion on the issue under discussion. We talk about journal articles, news, clinical practice and issues relevant to the healthcare profession. It’s open to anyone, so please feel free to join in! NurChat discussions are on every other Tuesday at 8pm and is accessed through the twitter hastag #NurChat. NurChat is run by nurses for nurses and we all wholeheartedly believe in the sharing of information and expertise via the tweeting nurse community.
How does it work…
It’s really simple! Follow @NurChat on twitter and listen for the release of the next #Nurchat. Subscribe to this blog by entering your email address in the box on the right to be emailed everytime a new #NurChat announcement is made. You can also leave pre-chat comments that may help the chat hosts if you like. Then join the chat at 8pm every other Tuesday, you can get more detailed instructions about to do this on our ‘How to Join In’ page.
We find tweetchat.com an easy way to enjoy the chat, plus it automatically adds the NurChat hashtag to your tweets, which is essential for joining in the discussion.
After the chat the transcript is posted back here on the blog, either comment after the chat if you think you can add further value, or of course if you missed the live chat.
You can also suggest subjects for discussion by leaving a comment on any of the articles in this blog or by tweeting @NurChat. We welcome all suggestions as this is a community which is driven by you for you.
Things to remember…
Please remember that twitter and any twitter chats, forums etc (known as social media) are a public forum and need to be treated a such – the NMC Code Of Conduct and rules of confidentiality must be adhered to and respected. For further guidance please refer to the NMC social media guidelines found here.
Any content posted on this blog or during a #NurChat discussion does not necessarily reflect the views of NurChat, Newcross Healthcare or other hosts where applicable. Please remember that you are responsible for you own comments and opinions, therefore be mindful of the nature of your content on NurChat or during #NurChat discussion, but don’t be reserved in participating if you have something to add!
One last thing…the content here is created by you for you and is made publicly available, please share this blog, its content and #NurChat with other nurses, it’s really important to help build the nursing community and maintain our professional development.
So who’s behind NurChat?
My name’s Donna Mullikin, I’m 34 years of age and I’m mummy to my 3 year old son firstly, and then nurse secondly! I’m located in sunny Cornwall but was born in Hampshire and grew up from Exeter.
Likes: spending time having fun with my little boy, sea swimming, walking and nature, I’m also an avid movie fan… oh and cake!
Dislikes: grumpy people – it doesn’t take much effort to smile! 
I wanted to work as a nurse ever since I can remember, and my parents have some awful pics to confirm this of me in a uniform aged 3!
I found teachers at school weren’t very helpful in directing me into to higher education after leaving school, so I started work in a care home at age 16. I wanted to progress further and obtain more experience so I decided to apply to the NHS as an HCA, which I did and I went on to complete my NVQ3 in Health and Social Care and became a Senior HCA on a medical ward. I knew I still wanted to be a nurse, so I applied to University of Plymouth to undertake the adult nursing diploma and graduated in 2006.
My 1st job as a staff nurse was on an acute medical ward specialising in diabetes, endocrinology and eating disorders. I was also the falls link nurse for the ward, which involved auditing the falls on the ward, recommending and implementing changes, then reporting on the results to the clinical lead for falls. The programme has since gained widespread coverage and I believe the strategy is now used in other hospital trusts. I also mentored adult branch student nurses in their final year undertaking their management and leadership module.
I then relocated to Cornwall due to family commitments and because I wanted to raise my family here in this beautiful setting. I started working in a nursing home specialising in mental health and complex needs. I absolutely loved this post because it gave me the chance to gain a wide range of experience at a more senior level, especially during my secondment to one of their sister homes as a Band 6 nurse. I continued to mentor student nurses, mostly first year student nurses and sometimes on their first placement, which gave me a real opportunity to ensure they had a positive start to their nursing education.
I joined Newcross Healthcare in April 2011 as Clinical Assessor/ Nurse Recruiter. It’s a very varied and exciting role and my responsibilities include assessing and managing homecare clients’ needs, arranging complex care packages for clients, managing staff and carrying out both staff supervisions and practice supervisions. Our clients are diverse and their needs can be very varied, one day I can be implementing a 24 hours care package for a client with complex needs, and the next I could be interviewing nurses who apply to join Newcross.
I was then offered the exciting opportunity by Newcross to facilitate NurChat, which I openly admit seemed like a huge challenge to begin with. I wasn’t an active twitter user but I’ve found that with the support of the community of tweeting nurses, I’ve learned quickly and I’m now finding the whole experience incredibly fulfilling and rewarding. It’s a fantastic opportunity to engage with other nurses and health care providers, and Twitter is a great tool for nurses to use to engage with their peers and communicate with others within the healthcare profession
I’m looking forward to getting to know all of you so please tweet me @DonnaNewcross or @NurChat.
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