Maria Francis
Lead Nurse - Workforce and Education
I qualified as a Registered General Nurse in 1989 and as a Midwife in 1991. My Neonatal career began in earnest in 1996, completing QiS (Qualified In Specialty) in 1999.
I have worked in a variety of roles within neonates including the Neonatal Transport Service and in Management. I joined the Network in 2016 as a Lead Practice Educator and was appointed into my current role in April 2022. I lead a team of Neonatal Educators who work with our expert clinical teams to provide a broad range of educational opportunities to the Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT), as well as provision of the ‘Foundations in Neonatal Care’ course. I am passionate about education, believing it to be key to all our future improvements. Better educated staff result in better outcomes, and I am excited to expand our offerings to all the neonatal stakeholders.
In the workforce, I am committed to driving improvements in staffing numbers across the MDT, within all our units, both in direct care and quality role provision. Current projects include the implementation of Ockenden and GIRFT recommendations on staff clinical rotation and the development of the ANNP career pathway to Nurse Consultant roles.
Outside of work, I enjoy watching Rugby, travelling (sometimes to watch Rugby!) and have a variety of volunteering roles.