Winning poster highlights Babs’s journey

Published: 29 May 2012

A poster which explains a maternity support worker’s journey through her nursing career so far has won the top prize in the RCN Congress HCA and AP poster display competition.

Babs Acott, from Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital in London, won the competition, called “Let’s celebrate”, designed to highlight good practice.

She said: “The poster is my journey. I have only been in this field since 2010. When I got my job I did not realise I would be working as a maternity support worker, but I love it.”

Before joining the trust, Babs had some experience of working with older people in the community, but looked to joining the NHS initially to further her career to follow her dream to join the world of nursing.

She has now completed an NVQ level three and has just finished her first year on a foundation degree. She is now considering progressing onto a nursing degree.

In the poster, she used headings of training, progression, teamwork, development and achievement to describe the different routes of her career. It has also been displayed at the annual health care assistant conference organised by her employer – Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (pictured, right).

“It has been a real journey, and I’m still on it,” Babs said. “It is quite difficult when you are working long shifts and dealing with a four hour commute as I live in Kent, but it is all worth it.”

See Babs's poster (PDF, 253KB) [see how to access PDF files]