Jaki is face of new nursing campaign
The former head of midwifery in Argyll and Bute, and current director of the Royal College of Midwives Scotland, is helping launch a new nursing campaign.
Mid Argyll resident Jaki Lambert is the Scottish face of a new UK-wide campaign to mark International Nurses Day and International Day of the Midwife.
The Here for Life campaign highlights the extraordinary commitment nurses and midwives devote to their professions, as well as the respect the public has for them. Launched on yesterday (May 12) to coincide with International Nurses Day and following International Day of the Midwife on Thursday May 5, the campaign encourages nurses and midwives to take to social media and share images that sum up who they are and what they do, using the hashtag #HereForLife to shine a light on the diverse roles and responsibilities of nursing and midwifery staff.
The public is also encouraged to take part by posting photographs and stories about the moment that the skills of a nurse or midwife made a significant difference to their own care or that of their loved ones.
Jaki, who helped develop remote and rural education and training of midwives, is one of the two case studies kicking off the campaign.
She describes witnessing midwives support her grandson being born at home in a remote part of Argyll as her greatest achievement.
She said: ‘What a pleasure, to see your own grandchild being born, for it to be within the community that they lived in, but also to know that the way we work made that possible.
‘In a remote and rural service, you’re not a specialist, you’re a generalist. You have to use every aspect of your training – you get to do the whole lot, which is wonderful.
‘But it’s also unpredictable, which makes it exciting, because one day you’re providing planned care, but you are also always ready to provide for unplanned care. There’s no day that’s not interesting or the same. There’s something about being within a community, where you’re part of the community, that makes you very much want to provide what the community needs.’
It is hoped that the #HereforLife will reach its target of 830,000 posts this month, one for each nurse and midwife currently working in the UK and Ireland.