The Chief Nurse Fellowship (CNF) and Director of Midwifery Fellowship (DoMF) programmes are an early career fellowship designed to provide staff with the best start to their career. Offering support through coaching and a bespoke teaching programme, staff will work through their own quality improvement project of their choice.
To hear from our previous fellows click the video:
Applications are now open for the 2026 Chief Nurse Fellowships (CNF) and the Director of Midwifery Fellowships (DoMF) hosted by CeNREE.
The Fellowships are open to ALL early career non-medical professionals- nurses, midwives, AHPs, nursing information officers, pharmacists, pharmacist technicians and healthcare scientists looking for a professional development opportunity.
As a CNF or DoMF, you will receive training on key themes to help develop your professional understanding and receive regular mentorship to complete an improvement project within your area of practice.
Monthly themes are:
- April: Induction and Research
- May: Quality and Governance
- June: Continuous Improvement
- July: Power, Equity and the Patient Voice – Meeting the Needs of our Population
- August: Leadership
- September: Corporate Functions
- October: System and Professional Leadership
- November: Digital Transformation
- December: Personal and Professional Development and Wellbeing
- January: Simulation session
- February: Report and Poster submission
- March: Marketplace Celebration for completing CNF fellows
The fellowships will provide you with two days of CPD a month over 12 months, and will conclude with a simulation event on what you have learnt
How to apply
To apply, please send your application form including an expression of interest (no more than 350 words) to cenree@uhnm.nhs.uk by 16 February 2026.
Your expression of interest should contain your development goals, the project you are suggesting to undertake and how you will know if your project has worked.
For any further of information please contact CeNREE Programme Lead Rachel Houghton on rachel.houghton@uhnm.nhs.uk. Line manager approval will be needed to apply.
Some key literature for further reading:
· Bramley, L , Manning, J and Cooper, J. (2018) Engaging and developing front-line clinical nurses to drive care excellence: evaluating the chief nurse excellence in care junior fellowship initiative. Journal of Research in Nursing; 23(8), pp.678-689.
· Fisher, N., Bramley, L., Cooper, J., Field‐Richards, S.E., Lymn, J. and Timmons, S. (2022) A qualitative study exploring the influence of a talent management initiative on registered nurses' retention intentions. Journal of Nursing Management; 30(8), pp.4472-4479.
· Health Education England. (2018) Reducing Pre-registration Attrition and Improving Retention. Available here: https://www.hee.nhs.uk/our-work/reducing-pre-registration-attrition-improving-retention (Accessed 17/01/2023)
· Jones, K and Davies, A. (2015) Mind the Gap: Exploring the needs of early career nurses and midwives in the workplace. Available here: https://recipeforworkforceplanning.hee.nhs.uk/Portals/0/HEWM_LinksAndResources/Mind-the-Gap-Report.pdf (Accessed 17/01/23)
· MacArthur, J. (2018) Review: Engaging and developing front-line clinical nurses to drive care excellence: Evaluating the Chief Nurse Excellence in Care Junior Fellowship initiative. [Blog]. Journal of research in nursing : JRN; 23(8): 690-691.
· NHS Employers. (2022) Improving Staff Retention. Available at: https://www.nhsemployers.org/publications/improving-staff-retention (Accessed 17/01/2023).
· Pearce, L. (2019) How to attract and retain brilliant nurses: A trust has devised a chief nurse fellowship to boost the careers of talented staff. Nursing Standard; 34(12): 42-44.