Matron

My name is Rebecca May, I am a matron at UHBW. I have spent most of my nursing career working in acute surgical wards with adults. I was a Ward Sister for the Surgical and Trauma Assessment Unit, including the Surgical Same Day Emergency Care Unit (SDEC) for 11 years. I have been a Matron for the last 5 years, initially supporting surgical wards and Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) teams, but since September 2024, I have been supporting adult theatres.

I currently manage 4 different theatre teams, a separate recovery team, the Surgical Day Case Unit (SDCU) and the Theatre Practice Education Facilitator (PEF) team.  Most of these are large teams including Registered Nurses, Operating Department Practitioners, Healthcare Support Workers (HCSWs), Porters, procurement and administrative colleagues.

I have worked within a management and leadership role for the past 16 years. Throughout my career my goal has been to provide the highest standard of quality patient care and to have a positive impact on any team that I work with by developing a culture of openness and teamwork, through authentic and compassionate leadership. I am passionate about lifelong learning and continuing professional development.

I am incredibly excited to take part in the FoNS person-centred cultures leadership development programme. I believe through this programme, I will learn the tools to support my teams to foster a culture that promotes openness, where individuals have the confidence to speak up in support of providing safe and efficient care with empathy and respect. This will enable them to sustain the high quality care that they provide in a more positive work culture, whilst withstanding the operational challenges that they are currently facing.