Celebrating Black History Month at NUH - The Institute's own Assistant Director of Nursing, Midwifery and AHP Inclusion
This month is Black History Month (BHM) and throughout October, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) are marking this by sharing stories from some of our staff members.
At NUH, we want our hospitals to be great and inclusive places to work, where opportunities to develop and progress are open to all.
The theme for this year’s BHM is ‘Saluting our Sisters’ – highlighting the crucial role Black women have played in shaping history, inspiring change and building communities’.
Aquiline Chivinge MBE – Assistant Director of Nursing, Midwifery and AHP Inclusion
Aquiline has worked at NUH for the last 25 years. She trained in Zimbabwe as a Registered General Nurse and Midwife, before moving to Scotland and Australia, and settling in Nottingham in 1997.
Throughout her career, Aquiline has achieved a lot of recognition, including the 2020 Chief Nursing Officer for England Silver Award, and in 2019 started 70@70 National Institute for Health Research three year Fellowship Programme. In 2018 Aquiline was a founding member of the BAME Shared Governance Council at NUH to improve inclusiveness.
What does BHM mean to you?
To be honest, its BHM every day of my life but what makes it different in October is the combined momentum and effort by colleagues and allies to make it special and acknowledging contributions from Black people from all over the world.
Who inspires you and why?
There have been so many inspiring Black women in my life starting with my mother, my sisters, my mother-in-law and my sisters-in-law, to my teachers and university lectures, Stacy Johnson and Gina Higginbottom, from The University of Nottingham.
Over the last few years I have been really inspired by the young Black nursing graduates and our internationally educated and trained nurses who are coming through and showing us that you don’t have to follow the traditional routes in order to progress at NUH. With mentorship, they are able to bring their skills from outside the NHS into practice and this is helping them with career progression.
Is there someone who you’ve worked with at NUH who inspired you?
A close colleague who worked as a Radiographer at NUH, before she became ill. She worked tirelessly to support the women affected by cancer in the community and advocated for patients during outpatient department and inpatient appointments and followed them up when discharged.
What was it like joining NUH and the NHS as a Black woman? What positive changes have you seen since?
I was really excited to join NUH in 1998, but during my induction period, I remember hearing a colleague saying, “I hope she’s not as loud as the other ones.” I didn’t understand what it meant at the time. I was mortified to know that is how black people were perceived in some sections of NUH. I promised myself that I would educate colleagues and myself on understanding different cultures. This is when my passion for inclusion work started.
I was and still am able to advocate for inclusion to be the golden thread in what we do in relation to patient and staff engagement. I was fortunate enough to be the first chair for BAME Shared Governance Council, which gave a voice to staff and patients from ethnic minority backgrounds and amplified the contributions of ethnic minority staff within NUH and beyond.
What would you say to a young Black person coming into NUH?
I would thank them for making the right decision to join NUH. I would tell them to have an open mind and be adaptable and accepting of change with grace and professionalism. Take the opportunities to try something different either through secondment opportunities or career development and research opportunities. I would also tell them to remain authentic and take any rejection as an opportunity to learn so you will be better next time around.
How do you think your role influences change and improvements for the Black community?
Being a role model, sometimes I do not have to say anything, a smile and a nod normally does the trick, encouraging others to be who they are and believe in themselves.
Being a mentor and sharing my journey with different groups, non-clinical and clinical, has inspired some staff. Being at the table in a different platform has allowed me to advocate for the voiceless. Going out to the community as a Black senior member of NUH staff has helped in building relationships and trust with some communities.
This is evidenced by the collaborative work the BAME Shared Governance Council has done with the ‘Sistas Against Cancer’ Community group on improving the hair loss pathway at NUH. Now we have a Trichologist visiting the hospital on a regular basis to see patients with hair loss from cancer or any other reasons. You can read more about this here: Raising awareness during BME Cancer Awareness Month | Latest news | NUH
What is something you’ve done during your time at NUH which you’re really proud of?
Leading on the planning, introduction and implementation of the Nurse Led Paracentesis Service.
Introducing new Nurse Specialist roles, including Paracentesis, Fibroscan and Anaemia roles within a day case setting.
Why did you want to get into a career in the NHS?
To care for people and share my international experience with colleagues and patients.
What do you love about your role?
Influencing especially on compassionate leadership, empowering others mentoring future leaders and making inclusion everyone’s business.