Birmingham City University has had a successful health partnership with the Ministry of Health in Zambia for nearly a decade. Our health partnership was awarded a Remote International Mentoring Partnership Scheme (RIMPS) grant, to support 6 Critical Care Nurses, 1 Neonatal Nurse and 1 Critical Care / Neonatal Nurse in Zambia. The team have been paired with 11 international Critical Care and Neonatal Nurses in the UK and Australia. The aim of the overall programme is to build the capacity of low-income country nurses through a mentoring scheme with international nurses, so that they can feel better supported in their role and consequently provide better quality of care. Managed by the Tropical Health and Education Trust (THET), the mentorship scheme will, through a health partnership model, link health workers in low-income countries those in the UK. Mentees from the project in Zambia have written a blog about their experiences here. "We have written this blog because we want to share our experiences of being critical care and neonatal nurses involved in the Remote International Mentorship Partnership Scheme (RIMPS) project. The project was set up through a long-standing health partnership with the Ministry of Health in Zambia and Birmingham City University in the UK. Our mentorship journey started in April, and we are delighted to have been selected and to be part of the project journey. We have all now been matched with colleagues in the UK and Australia who are also experienced critical care and neonatal nurses. When we started, we were asked to define what we wanted from the project, most of us recognised we are at a stage in our careers where we are leading units but have had limited guidance or peer support, something we had all wanted. So, we agreed that at the end of the project we want to become mentors and give others’ opportunities that we have missed during those crucial early years as specialist nurses. When we started in our specialist careers in critical care and neonatology, we were the first nurses within our units and hospitals. With no one in front of us to guide and lead it was a lonely road and we constantly questioned ourselves. We have found ourselves as leaders and seen as role models, however, the challenge in practice is how do we develop when there is nobody in front to ask for advice? Some of us even had to set up the units we had gone to work in, and of course we all worked through the Covid-19 pandemic. We lost colleagues during the pandemic, and we are still seeing and feeling the long-term consequences. In Zambia, it is a cause for concern that prior to the pandemic neonatal mortality was rising and it is still above the Government targets. In critical care, after the pandemic it was business as usual, there was little time for recovery, and as a result we have seen the impact of nurse burnout and nurse shortages. Therefore, we see the RIMPS project as an opportunity to support each other and our teams, by linking up with experienced nurses. From the meetings we have had so far, it has become obvious that critical care and neonatal services vary around the world, and we all have different perceptions. Some of our mentors have worked in Zambia or supported virtual activities so had an idea of our world, but even for them exploring our shared and different workloads has opened all our eyes. Sometimes the role of the nurse is said to be the same but how it works in practice is very different. For example, one team discussed Kangaroo Mother Care / Skin-to-Skin as this is used in both Zambia and the UK. This led to an oral presentation at the Critical Care Nurses Association of Zambia conference in June, something we never thought we would do. Another team discussed patient safety issues and how they could be adopted into our practice. So far, the discussions have been great, and we all learn from each other. The RIMPS project is one of the first projects specifically for us and has offered us a chance to work with colleagues and learn how to map our own way. We have another year to run with this project with ideas and opportunities still to carry out, we hope when the project finishes, we will be able to keep our networks, keep sharing and will see ourselves becoming the mentors and guides for our peers." For more information on our partnerships work on mentorship please read: Notter J. Carter C, Hambayi L, Nakazwe N. (2024). Virtual mentorship: the opportunities and limitations for nurses in international health partnerships. British Journal of Nursing. 33(9): 408-410 Notter J. Carter C. Mukonka-Sakala P. et al. (2022). Handing on the batten: developing early career nurse leaders. British Journal of Nursing. 31. 9. 504-505 Carter C. Sakala-Mukonka P. Notter J. (2022). International capacity building via the ‘new norm’ of virtual teaching and volunteering. British Journal of Nursing. 31. 9. 502-503 Carter C. Sakala-Mukonka P. Jere Sitwala L. Mulawisha G. Notter J. (2021). The ‘sleeping elephant’: The role of mentorship of critical care nurses in Zambia. Int Nurs Rev. 1-8 [1] Ministry of Health (Zambia). (2022). National Health Strategic Plan for Zambia 2022 – 2026. www.moh.gov.zm [2] International Council of Nurses (2023) Recover to Rebuild: Investing in the Nursing Workforce for Health System effectiveness. www.icn.ch