The Inspire Improvement Fellowship

The Inspire Improvement Fellowship, a Partnership Programme between FoNS and the Burdett Trust for Nursing ran for six years between 2018 and 2023. During this time, it moved from being completely face-to-face, to being completely online, and then finally to a hybrid way of working. It proved transformative for participants, with personal growth, professional development and promotions, and enabled fellows to become the nurse leader they aspired to be.

This programme has now been superseded by the FoNS Person-centred Cultures Develp0ment Programme which has a greater focus on workplace culture but shares the same inspiring ways of working, theoretical underpinnings and transformational outcomes.

The Inspire Improvement Fellowship 2023 is now closed for applications

Applicants should:

  • Be a clinical nurse/midwife leader, for example a ward sister/matron, community team leader or care home manager from any area of health and social care in the UK (this includes health visiting, primary care, public health)
  • Hold a professional UK registration with the NMC
  • Be both leading a nursing and/or care team and providing frontline nursing care
  • Be the direct line manager for the members of the team
  • Be able to commit to the 12-month programme including learning and development sessions

We welcome applications from people from diverse backgrounds in any health or social care setting (UK wide)

Next round: please sign up to our newsletter for updates on all our programme offerings

Competence and confidence in using new leadership skills, methods and approaches

  • ‘Gave me the confidence to take creative risks’
  • ‘This is a game changer. I’m so glad I did it and feel more supported now than at any time in my nursing career’
  • ‘I can’t quantify the impact it’s had on my life. The change I have seen in nursing and the culture of care is staggering. The unit has embraced this to such a degree it has changed lives: The lives of staff and service users’
  • ‘Given me the confidence to step back and ask staff how they can help rather than me fix it’

Initiated new workplace activities as a result of the learning from the workshops

  • ‘Really chuffed at the positive feedback that was received from my away day today! Wouldn’t have dreamed of facilitating this 12 months ago’
  • ‘I decided to take a different approach’
  • ‘For me as a manager, the experience has been an eyeopener. It is the first time I have asked my team members to articulate their feelings and in doing so I have had some honest and frank conversations with different members of staff’
  • ‘I could start to see people changing their mindset after only spending a day together using creativity and new approaches to participation and collaboration’

Transformed leadership approaches resulting in other positive outcomes

  • ‘The Inspire Improvement Fellowship has fundamentally changed how I practice on a day-to-day basis. My colleagues have commented on how much better they feel things are in the workplace. We are closer as a team, more cohesive, more supportive and more productive’
  • ‘We have now moved from 40% vacancy to predicted 9% vacancy rate in January which is very exciting’
  • ‘I think since the FoNS Inspire Improvement programme, it is more apparent that you have a democratic leadership style where you promote open communication and you focus on your team as individuals with different skills and personality and how to get the best out of your team by nurturing them’ [senior colleague]
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