Meet Michelle French, Our Caring Homes Clinical Trainer

We continue to celebrate our nurses during International Nurses Week, shining the spotlight on our Group Clinical Trainer, Michelle French.

Many years ago, when Michelle was a young mum, she worked as an administrator at a warehouse. When her role was made redundant, one of her friends who was working in domiciliary care at the time suggested it might be a career option, but Michelle was adamant that the world of care wasn’t for her. Nevertheless, when her friend invited her to join her on some home visits Michelle agreed – and immediately fell in love with what the role had to offer.

Location-based Role Puts Care on the Map for Michelle

Seven years on, Michelle had lived and breathed the life of a domiciliary carer, (later becoming a senior carer), and her genuine delight in meeting and helping people proved to be a huge asset in a job which was based on the road. Michelle toured around numerous Essex villages, first in training with experienced carers, then visiting people on her own, or sometimes with a colleague when doubling up was required. She gained her NVQ level 3 in Health and Social Care and often crossed paths with district nurses, whose work she became increasingly interested in – so much so that she decided this would be her next step.

The Path to Nursing and Hospital Experience

In order to be accepted onto a nursing degree course, Michelle first needed to complete an access course, which she started at Colchester Institute in 2013. At the same time, she moved away from domiciliary care and took a job as a carer in a care home - a more practical part time role during her studies. Michelle found the access course invaluable preparation for her nursing degree, which she began at Anglia Ruskin University in 2014. For the first year and a half, Michelle continued to work in a care home then switched to take advantage of hospital cover work, which enabled her to broaden her experience.

Michelle graduated with a First Class BA (Hons) Nursing degree in 2017 and successfully applied for a job in the Emergency Assessment Unit at Colchester Hospital - a busy, challenging role in a unit which is effectively a step away from A&E. Michelle described the experience as “learning a little about a lot” and during five formative years at the hospital, Michelle also worked in the High Observation Bay and as Deputy Sister.

A Move into the Care Sector Brings Achievement and Awards

The intensity of hospital life came to a head during Covid and Michelle realised that she needed to make a fresh start in order to develop further. She applied for a Deputy Manager’s role at a nursing home in Halstead, not expecting to get the role, but after a thoroughly enjoyable interview with the home manager which lasted for three hours, she was offered the position.

Michelle spent three extremely happy years at the nursing home where she thrived, relishing the opportunity to interact closely with residents and to work as part of a friendly, motivated team. Her progress, attitude and aptitude for the role led to her being nominated for and winning two prestigious awards in 2024 – ‘Nurse of the Year’ at the National Care Awards and ‘Outstanding Care Sector Nurse’ at the Essex County Council Care Sector Awards.

Although Michelle was 100% committed to her role, she found herself working longer and longer hours – partly due to being the only qualified nurse within the management team at the care home which meant always being called upon. The death of a close friend made Michelle think long and hard about the importance of living life to the full and achieving a decent work / life balance. She decided to hand in her notice and look for a different type of role in a new environment, which led her to apply for the Clinical Trainer position that was being advertised at Caring Homes.

Ideal for Caring Homes’ Clinical Trainer Role

Michelle was excited by the scope of the role and sailed through the various interview stages, including delivering a presentation on diabetes. She joined Caring Homes as Clinical Trainer in July 2025. Reflecting on her current role, Michelle is thrilled that it involves so much in-person interaction within the group’s 21 care homes. She describes how she loves meeting the residents, hearing their stories and helping to provide care – and how impressed she is by the “amazing staff” she meets on her visits. One of the biggest positives is the opportunity to learn from her colleagues and she will often introduce content inspired by others into the face to face training sessions she delivers to nurses and senior teams.

Michelle’s primary focus is to train and assess competence in clinical areas and her ‘Clinical Assessments and Observations’ course is key to this. However, she’s always keen to expand the sessions and to include topics suggested by the four Regional Managers. As a result, additional training on Parkinson’s has been introduced. One of the most important features of treating someone with Parkinson’s is around the actual timing of medication and this was a key element of Michelle’s course, delivered not only to nurses and senior teams, but also to carers and wellbeing teams, all of whom interact every day with our residents and have found the training invaluable. Feedback was extremely positive and Caring Homes is launching a group-wide campaign around Parkinsons later this year.

Michelle’s Next Big Focus

Meanwhile, alongside her regular training and support duties, Michelle’s next big focus will be on End of Life, Palliative care and ways in which we can help residents make the most of the time they have, ensuring that they and their families feel cared for, content and as safe as possible.

Michelle’s own journey has most definitely been fueled by a genuine love of people and a passion for providing care and sharing the knowledge she has. She’s upbeat and full of energy – a bright spark who brings positivity wherever she goes but also sees every interaction as an opportunity to learn something new.

Head of People, Catherine Martin acknowledges the value that Michelle has brought to the team: “Michelle is an absolute joy to have in our team – her passion, energy and genuine care for others shine through in every training session she delivers. We’re incredibly lucky to have her, and the positivity and knowledge she brings make a lasting difference to our staff and the people they support every single day”.

To the friend who first introduced a reluctant Michelle to the world of care, we say, “thank you”!