A Noble’s Hospital worker is one of the first 100 nurses in the British Isles to gain a credential with the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).

Martin Hamm, a nurse consultant in emergency care at the Braddan Hospital, attended a presentation at the RCN in London this month to celebrate his achievement of gaining credentials in advanced level nurse practice.

Mr Hamm said: ’It was nice to be recognised for achieving that status and to be one of the first to go through that process.’

He explained that the day of the presentation - attended by Dame Donna Kinnair, acting chief executive and general secretary of the RCN - had been busy for him as he had an exam at the Royal London Hospital that morning for a London air ambulance pre-hospital care course.

The RCN introduced its Credentialing for Advanced Level Nursing Practice to formally recognise the level that nurses are working at rather than focussing on job titles. The process started in 2017.

To receive a credential nurses needed: a relevant master’s degree; a non-medical prescribing qualification; experience and expertise in clinical practice, leadership, research and education; and a job plan demonstrating current advanced level practice verified by a senior nurse or an employer.

They also had to have a clinical reference proving their clinical competence as well as evidence of continued professional development in advanced nursing practice over recent years. The initial credential is for three years.

Mr Hamm, a Lonan resident, has practised nursing for 28 years, gaining multiple qualifications - many at masters level - and is a founding fellow of the Faculty of Emergency Nursing.

He said: ’I trained to be a nurse in the Isle of Man starting in 1990 and when qualified went into A&E.’

In 1994 he completed a specialist emergency nursing diploma in Liverpool and in 2000 he became the manager of the A&E, theatre and outpatients at Ramsey and District Cottage Hospital where he set up the current Nurse Lead Minor Injury Unit before moving back to Noble’s in 2003.

He said: ’In 2016 I got the post of nurse consultant emergency care; this was the first nurse consultant post in the Isle of Man.’