Today we are celebrating Emma Watts, Clinical Nurse Manager who was nominated by Sam Bailey. Sam said:

“Emma has worked tirelessly to provide exceptional leadership across Ardenleigh hospital. She provides a sense of safety, even on the toughest of days. She is compassionate, calm, and inspiring. As a Nurse I am privileged to have been able to work alongside such a passionate leader. Emma always treats people fairly with dignity and respect. I am part of the LGBTQ+ community and have faced multiple negative experiences as a result of this, however Emma has provided me with support and guidance which has enabled me to grow beyond my own limitations. She has faith in me, even when I do not see this in myself.

She upholds the Trust Values in all that she does. She supports safe spaces for staff across her services, a men’s supervision space, to ensure that the men within the women’s service have access to the right support, a Trauma Support team, to ensure that all staff receive psychological support, given the complexities of the jobs that we do here and a racial trauma supervision space. Emma is a role model in all that she does, she lives these values and I believe she deserves to be recognised for her continuous support to the staff and service users within her reach.”

Emma was asked to share more about her role, who inspires her and what is important to her. Emma said:

“I have worked at Ardenleigh Secure services for 15 years and am really proud of the role I have played in leading the services here. I feel really fortunate to work alongside teams who have such a genuine passion for ensuring that the service users at Ardenleigh receive good quality, compassionate care. It is really important to me that our staff understand the trauma that our service users may have experienced across their lives and recognise the valuable role that they hold in helping shape their recovery. 

I have been inspired mainly by the women in my family, my mom was one of nine girls, so I grew up around very strong, caring women. Most of them worked in care settings so I imagine that’s where my passion for nursing and helping others comes from. My nan came to England with 12 children on a boat from Cork, Ireland in the late 1950s. She was such a matriarch, strong minded, resilient, and a very very funny lady. She passed away in 2015 having reached her mid-90s. I am particularly inspired by her and her determination and will (and her wicked sense of humour!)

It’s important for me in my role as a senior nurse to ensure that I advocate for equity, diversity, and inclusion. I am conscious of the role I play in leading by example and being someone that both staff and service users can trust to ensure that they are treated fairly and without discrimination.”