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Student Resources
Here are some resources which have been recommended by health care professionals and students which you may find of use for your studies and placements.
We are always looking for recommendations so if there is anything you have come across which you would like us to share, please get in touch. Whilst we are happy to share these resources, we do need to let you know that NHSE is not responsible for content on external websites or platforms.
Confidence (or lack of it) is something that affects us all in some way at some point in our lives. We have waves or periods of high confidence and low confidence - we can be confident in some areas and not in others. It’s not a constant but always changing and challenging us.
Davina Whitnall is a Researcher Development Manager at the University of Salford and a freelance confidence coach, author and training development consultant with over 25 years working in development, coaching and with different research and learner communities.
Our thoughts, feelings, mental and physical wellness also affect out confidence levels and capacity. Davina's confidence coaching approach explored the different ways we view our confidence, how we measure it, and how we can actively develop it like any other skills, finding out own brand of confidence that feels authentic and enables us to be who we are.
Suggested resources:
- 'Ketchup' - the confidence building condiment by Davina Whitnall
- 'Realising researcher potential: Introducing the Confidence Need Analysis by Davina Whitnall & Tony Bromley
- Confidence needs analysis tool
- 5 steps to confidence toolkit
Find all these resources on the NHS learning hub, log in with your university email or Open Athens account.
This resource has been developed by Elaine Beaumont, an accredited psychotherapist specialising in:
- cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
- compassion focused therapy (CFT)
- eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR)
What is compassionate mind training (CMT)?
Compassionate mind interventions can help people develop compassion for themselves, be open to the compassion of others and develop compassion for others. People in the helping professions tend to have high levels of compassion for others but may not respond to their own suffering with the same care and kindness.
Elaine’s research and work suggests that cultivating a compassionate mind may help people cope with the internal bully we all have within us at times, learning how to avoid being too self-critical, and to care about yourself.
How can I be kinder to myself?
It’s important to focus on being kind to ourselves because life can be stressful, especially when we’re juggling many different roles (employee, student, teacher, parent, carer, partner, colleague etc.) and life events.
One way to help cultivate kindness is to notice the things you are juggling. You could do this by writing some notes or a list on a piece of paper.
Another technique is to explore the K.I.N.D.N.E.S.S mnemonic. This memory aid can be used as a reminder to be kinder to ourselves and others and is a prompt to help people focus on the key ingredients that help build and maintain physical and mental health.
The kindness ingredients are:
- Keep learning
- Interact
- Notice
- Decide
- Nurture
- Exercise
- Self-care
- Support others
You can find creative and compassionate ways to boost your wellbeing by accessing worksheets and audio files free to download from:
The aim of the toolkit is to provide an additional resource which will assist organisations across Greater Manchester to welcome and support newly qualified registrants with transition to professional practice.
Why was the toolkit developed?
To support recovery in training and education programmes following the Covid-19 pandemic. We realised that disruption to training was having a negative impact on the readiness of final year students for qualification. The toolkit provides additional support to those who need it.
What is covered in the toolkit?
The toolkit provides a welcome to newly qualified healthcare professionals, offering reassurance about how you might be feeling when starting a new role. It also shares key survival tips to help with the transition from student to registrant, as well as other tools and resources to help support you.
The end of the day checklist could help you build resilience in yourself and others, enabling you to leave work well, support and appreciate your colleagues and recognise your valuable contribution to the healthcare team.
This was created by Antony Johnson, Head of Nursing at Manchester Royal Infirmary (part of Manchester University Foundation Trust (MFT). Ant says “The End of the day Checklist was drawn out of work I was doing within my role at MFT to support the wellbeing of our teams, whatever role you play, whatever service you’re part of the checklist can be applied to you."