Recruitment and training provider New Directions Health and Social Care has appointed Louise John as a recruitment consultant, following the launch of its nursing training and recruitment division in November last year offering short and long-term nursing placements and permanent nursing positions in private healthcare.

Since then, the company has been working to place registered nurses of all disciplines and healthcare assistants into settings across South Wales. As such, it provides a range of work opportunities for qualified staff in a number of areas including acquired brain injury, autism, Alzheimer’s, EMI, acute mental health, substance abuse, and general nursing.

John will help the organisation support the nursing sector in Wales amid ongoing staff shortages and staffing challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. She has more than two decades of professional experience and was previously an auxiliary nurse for the NHS. She has also worked as a nursing shift co-ordinator and in a variety of healthcare settings across South and West Wales, such as nursing homes, residential care homes and mental health facilities. 

John said: “My overriding passion has always been to contribute to the healthcare sector. I know that with every shift we are working collectively towards making a significant difference in people’s lives. My career to date means I have a real insight into the challenges nurses continue to face. I’m really looking forward to putting this experience to good use in my new role as specialist recruitment consultant for the benefit of all concerned.”

Sam Marriott, sales manager at New Directions Health and Social Care, said: “It’s no secret that the UK nursing sector has faced an increasing number of challenges in recent years, with such factors impounded further with the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic. As a specialist division created specifically to help address these challenges, our nursing team is here to help healthcare staff access in-house training, free clinical supervision sessions and other services which will put them in a better position to continue supporting the patients.

“We are really delighted, therefore, to welcome Louise, safe in the knowledge that the expertise she has built up professionally over the years will contribute even further to providing the solutions healthcare settings need if they are to alleviate ongoing pressures on the nursing sector UK-wide.”