West Midlands trust appoints first digital nurse

Carrie Calvin has been appointed into the newly-made digital nurse role at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust.

“Change can be intimidating so it’s about being that support in the transition”

Carrie Calvin

The trust said the creation of the post was “part of NHS England’s vision to digitise healthcare”.

As a digital nurse, Ms Calvin will provide clinical input to IT colleagues, support the roll-out of new technologies and help clinicians get to grips with digital systems or changes.

One of her first projects is helping with the planning and deployment of Connect – an electronic patient handover system.

New digital systems are also being introduced at the trust for medicines management and community referrals.

Reflecting on her appointment, Ms Calvin said: “It’s a new role and it’s very exciting with so many changes happening – I’m really enjoying it.

“It’s teaching me a lot which I can take into new projects.”

She added that part of her role was being an “ally” to clinicians in relation to digital transformation.

“Any digital system will impact on clinicians and patients,” said Ms Calvin.

“Business analysts look at how things currently are and how they will look, but they haven’t worked clinically so being that contact offering clinical input is invaluable.

“Change can be intimidating so it’s about being that support in the transition, and reassuring clinicians that they have an ally and that the changes are being done for their benefit.”

The need for more digital nurses in England has become clear in recent years.

A national review into the digital readiness of the nursing and midwifery workforce – named the Phillips Ives Review – is still awaiting publication by NHS England, despite being due in 2023.

However, a leaked version of the review, seen by Nursing Times in June, found that there is currently a “severe shortage” of the digital nurse specialists needed to achieve the technology-driven ambitions of the NHS.