NHS neonatal intensive care is something of a poor relation in the battle for resources within the NHS. 1 in 13 children born need Neonatal ICU care and it takes around 10 members of a team to care for one neonate (consultant, doctor, nurse, therapists, etc.). Yet the service battles against adult services who take a lion’s share of everything resource based. Couple this with the tension of the NHS struggling to find nurses generally, and this department suffers to find talent. 

We were challenged to help with developing a recruitment campaign, targeting young people looking at a nursing career and existing trained nurses who may be interested to cross-train. A set of assets was needed to stand out in social media and the NHS internal network

Many nurses place a cachet on working in the most intensive environments early in their career. Our idea of ‘could you’ draws attention to the fact that neonatal intensive care nurses need wide-ranging skills to deliver in an intensive environment.

We wanted to blow away any perception that this career path is about cuddling cute babies with hard-hitting facts of the job’s reality - so we attracted the best of the best. We showed through a series of authentic, vivid black and white stills, donated by parents, that this is a lifesaving department that cares for babies in the delicate first moments of their lives.

Every day the nurses are making life-or-death decisions about tiny human beings. Lennie James’s voice tells this truth with a truly inspiring & motivating narrative that challenges viewers with the big question ‘could you?’. We produced a 90’’ film, social posts and OOH posters for NHS trusts to utilise nationally.