Ward Sister Cristina is the outstanding staff champion for volunteers

Cristina Irimus is a true supporter of the volunteer services at Northampton General Hospital. Cristina is a Ward Sister who was initially approached by one of the Volunteer Services Coordinators in January 2021 with a proposal to have a dedicated ward to train all of their future new incoming ward buddy volunteers. The idea was if we could find a ward to take all new volunteers then they would all be taught the same which would benefit the volunteer, the staff and overall enhance the patient experience. Cristina immediately embraced the idea as she loved having volunteers and saw the benefits of having them, she also bought into the benefit of training the volunteers all in the same place before sending them off to other wards in the hospital - so was born the Cristina Irimus Academy (the unofficial title that the volunteering service named the ward).

Since then Cristina has trained over 50 volunteers despite having two ward moves (first ward was an escalation ward). Her enthusiasm for the volunteers never falters and the feedback from the volunteers is always so positive. One volunteer’s comment after their induction onto the ward: “I loved it!! Had so much fun on Compton ward and Cristina is an amazing sister! It was a pleasure to be there.”

Even though she was so busy moving wards, uncertain where she was going and losing her team to different wards, Cristina remained so positive in front of the volunteers who came through her doors. Not once did she say ‘no more volunteers please as I am so busy’. She is a delight and inspirational for the volunteer services to work with - nothing is ever too much. When her first escalation ward was closed down the volunteers wanted to give something to the team so a handful (social distancing) came in especially, to make up goody bags for Cristina and her team.