Chief Nurse recognised in HSJ 50 most influential Black, Asian and minority ethnic people in health
Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust Chief Nurse Karen Bonner has been recognised, for the second year in a row, by the Health Service Journal (HSJ) as one of the 50 most influential Black, Asian and minority ethnic people in health.
Karen has written about the experience of being a Black nurse in the NHS, speaking of having to face a multitude of microaggressions and to navigate the world differently to white colleagues.
“We have to think about whether you can be your authentic self at work, or flex to fit in with what people expect,” she has said. “It’s much more wearing emotionally, physically and mentally for me than for a white woman from a similar background,” she said.
With 25 years’ experience of nursing, including at several London hospitals, she is one of only a handful of Black and minority ethnic nurses working at executive level in acute trusts.
Earlier this year her work with Helpforce, which seeks to bolster volunteering in health and social care, saw her recognised as a Burdett Hero by the Burdett Trust for Nursing.