Healthcare professional gains management insight through apprenticeship

When Nicola O’Callaghan stepped into the role of superintendent radiographer at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, she brought years of experience with her. But moving into management meant taking on a new set of responsibilities that were unfamiliar to her. 

 “I had been comfortable in what I was doing, using all the skills university had prepared me for,” Nicola explained. “And then, suddenly, I found myself in this management position having to deal with a whole host of things that I hadn’t prepared for.” 

Despite treading unfamiliar territory, Nicola saw it as an opportunity to develop with the help of work-based learning. That’s when she undertook management qualifications with ACT.  

For Nicola, one of the biggest benefits of the qualifications was gaining the confidence to put her existing knowledge into a management context.  

“I was able to put together a toolkit and be introduced to all the terminology I was now expected to know as a manager – things like KPIs, which were completely new to me. I was also taught about SMART objectives, and how they could be used in my role.” 

 The learning helped Nicola to communicate more confidently with colleagues and approach challenges with a clearer understanding of how to tackle them. Crucially, the apprenticeship also gave her opportunities to apply what she had learned directly to her day-to-day responsibilities.  

“I remember there was one instance where I was having to deal with a member of staff with regards to competency,” she said. “It was great to be able to sit down with him, set those SMART objectives and have the confidence to say ‘this is what we’re going to do. 

“He was then able to walk away feeling as if he was getting something out of that, rather than me saying ‘you need to improve’ without any ideas of how to do that.” 

Balancing her studies with the demands of working in the healthcare sector was not always easy. Nicola recognised that completing the qualifications would require additional commitment, including independent study and assessments outside working hours. However, she received help from ACT throughout her learner journey. 

“The level of support my supervisor gave me was phenomenal. She was great,” Nicola said. 

The experience also taught Nicola to make the most of her learning sessions and develop a more efficient approach to her studies as she progressed through the qualifications, often coming to one-on-one sessions with plenty of questions and notes. 

While Nicola is comfortable in her current position and enjoys the challenges it brings, her apprenticeships have broadened her perspective on what she can achieve.  

“It allowed me to hit the ground running,” she explained. ” There’s somebody in our department at the moment who’s just started [an apprenticeship] and the first thing he did was come and ask me about my experiences. He is in the same boat as me, so he’s just taken on a management role and is feeling a little bit out of out of his depth. I’ve told him the apprenticeship will improve his confidence.” 

Looking ahead in her own career path, Nicola is happy where she is but remains keen to expand on her knowledge and skills.  

“I’m chasing more service improvement opportunities,” she said. “The apprenticeship has given me more of a wider scope of what my role is about and has allowed me to go after things that previously I don’t think I would have.”