Nurse of the Year Award Winners 2017

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Congratulations to all our winners and runners up at the 2017 RCN Wales Nurse of the Year Awards. In our sixth year, we have once again seen the best and brightest talents in the Welsh Nursing family!

Please read on below to find out who our winners were in 2017, including our overall RCN Wales Nurse of the Year winner.

RCN Wales Nurse of the Year 2017

Chief Nursing Officer for Wales Award - Winner, Suzanne Hardacre

Head of Midwifery and Lead Directorate Nurse, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board

Suzanne is an inclusive and passionate midwifery leader who has brought about a cultural change within the maternity service and has had a material impact on women’s experience of maternal care in Cardiff and the Vale University Health Board. Under her guidance, Caesarean-section site infection rates have dramatically improved within the Health Board and she has improved the support to practising midwives through a new on call system. She has supported national initiatives, stepping out of her Health Board role; particularly noteworthy is her significant involvement in developing and supporting the national roll-out of a new model of clinical supervision for Midwives.

Suzanne has been able to gain support from management and medical staff around the role of midwives in delivering care. She has used innovative ways of developing staff support and engagement. She has created job opportunities within the service, and has invested in and supported staff within the hospital and community settings who report that they now feel cared for, valued and part of an exceptional maternity service. Suzanne has raised the profile of the maternity service, and is a real advocate for midwifery, respected by all levels of staff. She demonstrates passion, Vision and is committed to ‘going the extra mile’ to develop both the service and her team for the benefit of patient care.

Chief Nursing Officer for Wales Award - Runner Up, Jayne Sankey

Lead Nurse, Community Nursing Services, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board

Jayne is an inspirational nurse advocate whose services help some of the most vulnerable people in society. She is someone who really goes the extra mile to enable her staff to develop their expertise, and as a result ensure service users receive the best available care interventions.

Using an evidence based approach to service redesign she has enabled the Central District Nursing service to support multi-agency clinic provision to the Homeless population in Wrexham town. The team recognised that this hard to reach group were often reluctant to attend a general nurse led treatment clinic, and that the perception of other patients attending was challenging to manage. With the support and encouragement from Jayne, as their manager, the team identified a more prudent approach to service for the homeless, which involved nurses working jointly with other voluntary agencies (drug and alcohol community teams and homeless key workers), delivering care nearer to homeless clients, to better meet the needs of this client group, and to reduce costs in terms of waste, and getting care interventions right the first time around. Jayne is a real innovator of service delivery and understands the importance of getting staff bought in to new ways of working.

Children and Midwifery Award - Winner, Lynfa Day

Paediatric Respiratory and Atopic Clinical Nurse Specialist, Cwm Taf University Health Board

Lynfa is a Children’s Respiratory/Allergy and Eczema Clinical Nurse Specialist working within Cwm Taf University Health Board (CTUHB). Lynfa is a dedicated and passionate nurse who always goes the “extra mile” in support of her service and the children and young people and their families that she cares for. As part of her MSc in Child Health and Welfare, Lynfa conducted a review of the care provision for children with atopic eczema and their families across the area served by CTUHB. Her review led to a four-month pilot programme designed to achieve Lynfa’s goal of identifying potential changes to the existing service model that would increase quality, efficiency and equity of care across the organisation.

The service is in the process of being implemented fully as a result of the positive outcomes of the pilot, demonstrating Lynfa’s passion and commitment towards young people with eczema and their families. Lynfa demonstrates that she Goes for Gold in meeting their needs, demonstrating a holistic approach and by upskilling fellow professionals ensures this project is sustainable. By developing a support group Lynfa ensures that the service priorities always reflect those of the users, exacting consistency of practice.

Children and Midwifery Award - Runner Up, Eirlys Thomas

Neonatal and Children's Services, Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board

Eirlys began her vision to develop a Charter for Children and Young People encompassing the United Nations Convention for the Rights of the Child in 2014. Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board (ABMUHB) aims to deliver accessible services for children and young people through the provision of high quality universal services ensuring that those children and young people who are most vulnerable receive targeted interventions as appropriate.

Eirlys worked in collaboration with services across the health, education and social care sector to engage and include as many children and young people as possible. The ABMU Children Charter is the first in Wales. The Children’s Charter is the first part of a building block that Eirlys has been instrumental in developing. Her commitment, drive and passion to uphold children's rights within her organisation has also led to the development of a Youth Board, which will work on projects identified by its members under the umbrella of the Charter and hold the health board to account in delivery of services for Children and Young People.

Eirlys has visibly demonstrated that the young person’s voice will be heard, acknowledged and embedded in future practice development.

Clinical Nurse Specialist Award - Winner, Ann Parkes

Lead Nurse Practitioner, Cardiothoracic Outpatient Department, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board

Ann Parkes has worked in Cardiff and Vale UHB’s Cardiothoracic Service since 1994. Since 2008 she has held the role of Lead Nurse Practitioner in the Cardiothoracic Outpatient Department with a special interest in the management of chronic cardiac conditions. In 2009 Ann achieved her Independent prescribing and she has transformed and developed services for patients within the outpatient department. Ann is an extremely motivated and highly experienced specialist nurse with an extensive knowledge of caring for patients with cardiothoracic conditions and she has a passion and drive to succeed. Ann has been pivotal in developing new patient pathways to improve quality and efficiency in the management of transoesophageal echocardiogram (TOE), chest pain, heart failure and post cardiac surgery/cardiac procedure follow-up.

Ann’s ability to motivate her colleagues and lead a new model of care delivery is inspirational. Ann has been able to influence and drive service change, allowing nurses to lead the way in establishing the diagnosis, treatment, management and prevention of coronary heart disease in the community. Not only was she able to demonstrate a cost effective, high-quality, nurse-led service, but also the importance of working with a team to motivate them to do the right thing for patients and to care for themselves.

Clinical Nurse Specialist Award - Runner Up, Iris Williams

Colorectal Clinical Nurse Specialist, Hywel Dda University Health Board

Iris Williams is a Colorectal Nurse Specialist based in Glangwili Hospital, Hywel Dda University Health Board. She has worked in the role for 21 years and has a wealth of knowledge and skills within the field of colorectal/stoma nursing. She is passionate about her work, delivering high quality, evidence based stoma services, and ensuring patients receive person-centred care to manage their life-changing surgery and associated change in body image. Iris has been pivotal in the development and expansion of the Colorectal Service. Her determination to improve services has seen the department’s specialist nurse workforce increase seven fold. She identified a gap in the paediatric side of the service, so she undertook a paediatric stoma course and supports many families providing counselling and advice. She has been innovative in setting up Patient Support Groups and has also set up nurse-led follow up clinics for cancer patients supported by protocols as a governance framework.

As an expert in this specialist field of nursing Iris has identified and addressed issues that have led directly to service change. One example of this was work that Iris did with GP colleagues. Her passion and commitment to patients is inspiring, driving change that is cost effective and improves outcomes for patients. These are lessons that can be learned and shared across Wales.

Community Nursing Award - Winner, Paul Crank

Senior Nurse, District Nursing, Cwm Taf University Health Board

Paul is an inspirational leader with drive and enthusiasm who has demonstrated exceptional leadership for District Nursing mobile working in a time of major service redesign. He is an inspirational, compassionate, unassuming nurse leader who has driven innovative patient-centred care. Through the creative utilisation of modern technology, he has engaged the nursing workforce to deliver responsive, outcome-focused care. Paul has demonstrated leadership, even in times of adversity, implementing learning and taking forward changes in practice on a wider scale, outside his own team and across the other healthcare organisations.

Paul has worked with his colleagues and teams to challenge ways of traditional thinking that have empowered and enabled teams to problem-solve in innovative ways. Paul has led the All Wales work in development of the acuity tool and testing of the principals on behalf of colleagues in Wales. His use of IT solutions to deliver care at home has been transformational and the work has been recognised as an exemplar for others. Paul is passionate about patient care, the benefits are seen in the exceptional care delivered to patients.

Community Nursing Award - Runner Up, Carys Stevens

Palliative Care Clinical Nurse Specialist / Team Leader, Hywel Dda University Health Board

Carys was appointed as a Clinical Lead Nurse palliative care post with Hywel Dda University Health Board in 2015, when the board invited Hosbis Hafren/Severn Hospice - an independent charity serving Mid-Wales; North Powys and Shropshire - to oversee the development of specialist community palliative care services to the county of Ceredigion. Carys has worked tirelessly supporting patients in the community in living and dying well, and has successfully forged links with partner agencies, primary care and third sector organisations to ensure the best possible outcomes for patients and their families.

Carys is actively involved and responsive to individual patient and family needs, acting as their advocate and working with all disciplines to ensure optimum patient care. Running alongside this work, Carys has also been able provide training, advice and support to the care homes in Ceredigion that has prevented hospital admissions for those residents who are at the end of their lives. This has allowed them to be cared for and to die in their homes, according to their request and choice.

A passionate, inspirational nurse, she has delivered a co-produced model of individualised hospice care at home and through community engagement Carys has raised the profile of the palliative care team and the support available in rural healthcare settings. The development of the volunteering model has clearly benefited the local population.

Health Care Support Worker Award - Winner, Steven Evans-Jones

Practitioner Assistant, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board

Steven works at Dolgellau Hospital Outpatient Department, which is aiming to become a Health Promotion Hub where the community can also obtain information to improve health and wellbeing as well as accessing medical care.

Steven became aware that men’s health in rural areas was underrepresented and to address this he developed several initiatives to reach out to men within the community by:

Training as an Ambassador for Wales for men’s health
Providing testicular awareness sessions for construction and farming students
Giving presentations to men’s groups in pubs
Maintaining health noticeboards in fire and police stations and leisure centres
Working with college students on sun awareness projects
Providing sun screen and advice on skin cancer to farmers, vets, postmen, firemen and police
Writing a column for the Cambrian News ‘Men’s Health Matters’

Steven’s dedication and enthusiasm for his work is inspirational. He is passionate about listening to his community and developing a new model for the delivery of out-patients, in his words ‘taking out-patient health education out in to the community’. He has a passion for improving men’s health in rural Wales and achieves this by taking health education to where men work, study and socialise.

Health Care Support Worker Award - Runner Up, Matthew Rapier

Health Care Support Worker, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board

In his work at Ty Skirrid – the Gwent-wide forensic rehabilitation service that caters for men and women who have a mental disorder and who have offended, or are at risk of offending - Matthew recognised that his client group had limited access to health promotion and information on taking charge of their health. His passion about the benefits of delivering a well-being approach for this client group and his enthusiasm for well-being transcend all aspects of his work and is demonstrated in the creation of a men’s health group focusing on issues such as addictions, relationships, finance and physical and mental health.

Matthew is very modest about the work he is leading on and making a difference to the well-being of people in forensic rehabilitation. He has truly enabled the ethos of empowerment by engaging with staff and patients to reduce the barriers and enable shared decision making, for example he has developed a morning meeting involving staff and patients, which enables patients to develop skills in organising, social interaction and develop their ideas on ward activities.

As part of his role he is the ward champion driving the Enabling Environments Award accreditation, granted on behalf of the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Centre for Quality Improvement.

Improving Individual and Population Health Award - Winner, Hanka Roudnicka

Ward Manager, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board

Hanka works with a very complex group of patients in an intense environment. Patients have a history of significant past trauma and were at risk of suicide, self-harm, self-neglect- all of which were perpetuated by substance misuse and significant mental health problems.

Under Hanka’s leadership the staff team have transformed the lives of patients in their journey to recovery, many of whom have been successfully discharged into the community following a long history of hospitalisation. The ward utilised evidence based psychological treatments that over time enabled patients to manage their distress and deal with situations. Hanka is an expert within these approaches and will support the staff group in utilising these approaches. In addition to this approach she held one session per week working with community patients at risk of harm to themselves.

Hanka’s passion and motivational leadership qualities improved services for patients. She views staff and patients as one team. She described her workplace as: “It’s our ward – we all live here together.”

Improving Individual and Population Health Award - Runner Up, Kerry Rockey and Sarah Nicholas

Infectious Diseases Clinical Nurse Specialists, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board

Both Sarah and Kerry demonstrate passion in their commitment towards achieving the elimination of Hepatitis C, in line with the World Health Organization (WHO) target of 2030. Viral hepatitis is one of the leading causes of liver disease and the main at risk population are those who inject intravenous drugs.

Sarah and Kerry have worked collaboratively with a large GP practice in Cardiff where they led a drop-in clinic for patients. As the area is close to a homeless shelter and hostels it is a prime location to capture this “at risk” group. In addition, Sarah and Kerry offered testing and treatment in pharmacies because many patients visit local pharmacies for their daily prescriptions.

Sarah and Kerry recognise the importance of being advocates for a population group that has greater challenges than most and can often be stigmatised. They reach out to this community and strive to ensure that unmet health and social care needs can be addressed, whilst reducing the risk of transmission to others. Their work on developing patient advocates is noteworthy, as is the way that they work together with other agencies and third sector to identify people that would otherwise be difficult to reach.

Innovation in Nursing Award - Winner, and Lifetime Achievement Award - Winner, Tanya Strange MBE

Divisional Nurse, Primary Care and Networks, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board

Tanya is a ‘career innovator’, developing nursing practice focused on improving people’s lives and well-being. She realised that some people were attending GP practices due to loneliness and this presented the associated risk of over medicating. Tanya decided that a ‘prescription for loneliness’ was needed so she spoke to people affected by loneliness, established a multi-agency partnership board and held an engagement event. Using feedback from the event, she set up a service called ‘Ffrind i mi’/’Friend of mine’ - a partnership approach to combat loneliness and social isolation. Tanya’ secured multi-agency collaboration in this partnership including a host of charities and health and civic organisations.

In addition, Tanya has made a number of digital patient stories to raise awareness of isolation. She has established a website where GPs and partners in the project can make referrals. She was invited to speak about her work at the National NHS Confederation Conference and she also gave evidence on behalf of her health board at the Senedd Loneliness Inquiry. Tanya’s passion and can do attitude has successfully driven this social movement and she will not rest until it is adopted across the whole of Wales.

Innovation in Nursing Award - Runner Up, Viki Jenkins

Heart Failure Specialist Nurse, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board

Viki has expanded her role as an Advanced Nurse Practitioner in Cardiac Care to become accredited in echocardiography. As a result, she has developed a pioneering and innovative nurse- led service to expand the rapid assessment, diagnosis, treatment and health information for patients with suspected cardiac problems in a one-stop mobile community clinic. Viki oversees the entire patient journey from initial investigation through to treatment, meaning people in rural areas of North Wales are given access to assessment, diagnosis and treatment close to home, and therefore improving people’s quality of life.

After preliminary research and collaboration with the British Heart Foundation it is believed that this exciting and ground-breaking development will result in Viki being the only Masters level Advanced Nurse Practitioner in the UK to develop this scope and role by becoming British Society of Echocardiograph accredited. While there have been a handful of nurses performing echocardiographs, the difference is that this is community based delivery. She also is dedicated to sharing innovation and the learning gained with commitment to publishing articles on the benefits achieved by the enhanced service.

Mental Health & Learning Disabilities Award - Winner, Adele Watkins

Clinical Nurse Specialist for Children and Young People in Crisis, Children's Hospital for Wales, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board

Adele Watkins is the only dual-trained (paediatric and mental health nurse) working within the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board Children’s Hospital for Wales and although she is a very capable paediatric nurse, her passion is for caring for those children and young people who are in crisis due to mental illness, and always ensuring that their human rights are not violated, that their voices are heard and that they are treated with dignity and respect. Her dedication has led to her developing a new innovative specialist nurse role to ensure all children that come into the child health setting have the high standard of mental health nursing care they require and deserve. This has been imperative due to the increased admission to the hospital of children and young people in crisis, from 150 in 2016 to 50 in the first 10 weeks of 2017.

Adele is described as being an invaluable resource, happy to offer advice, even when not on duty, to ensure the best possible care by going the extra mile, demonstrating a ‘can do’ attitude.

Adele demonstrates energy, drive and perseverance taking pride in overcoming challenges, making a difference and with a clear vision for the future.

Mental Health & Learning Disabilities Award - Runner Up, Kara Hannigan

Electro Convulsive Therapy Clinic Manager, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board

Kara manages the Electro Convulsive Therapy Clinic (ECT) at Hafan Y Coed, where the service and patients have benefited from her dedication and commitment. Since the Royal College of Physician's launched its accreditation process, Kara's team has attained 'excellent' status during every review. Most recently the team attained 100 per cent in all domains of the process. In recognition of that success, the RCP has requested Kara write a chapter in a book about nursing practice for the National Handbook of ECT. Kara is also deputy chair of the National Association for Lead Nurses for ECT. Kara has developed and extended the service beyond normal parameters in her clinical area, achieving recognition nationally, delivering excellence and improving the patient experience.

ECT is an anxiety-provoking experience for most patients. Kara has been able to reorganise her staffing and employ two additional health care support workers to ensure that patients meet the same nursing staff throughout the course of their treatment. Kara has been proactive in developing the role of nursing in this area, improving collaboration with colleagues and national and international services. Kara ensures patients receiving ECT has the same high quality and safe anaesthetic care as any other patient. She is now eagerly sought out by colleagues for advice and guidance.

Mentorship Award - Winner, Pamela Warne

Staff Nurse, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board

Pamela has worked in Chirk Community Hospital as a registered nurse for 12 years and became the link mentor nurse nine years ago, due to her passion for the development and practice of student nurses. Pamela ensures mentors pass on their own knowledge and skills to enhance student clinical practice. She is able to demonstrate a positive contribution to mentorship and facilitates the development of future student nurses. Pamela was highly involved in the development of a student placement handbook that is issued to the students on their pre-visit to the ward.

Regular mentorship meetings are held with the mentors and the link tutor for advice, guidance and support. She has continued to build on the confidence and professionalism of each mentor to ensure safe and effective practice in line with NMC code of conduct supporting in learning assessment in practice (NMC 2006).

Pamela has developed an educational framework for mentors to deliver evidence based teaching sessions for students during their placements. Her work demonstrates professional values that include openness, approachability and efficacy. Her impact on students showed a sustained impact over many years, leading to positive and effective learning in practice. She manages students’ expectations and uses her own experience to shape her mentorship. She is encouraging and an excellent role model for nursing.

Mentorship Award - Runner up, Cheryl Rowlands

Operational Team Lead – Acute Clinical Team, Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board

Cheryl joined Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board’s Community Resource Team in 2014 to take up the role of Operational Team Lead. Her seventeen years’ experience as a district nurse and district nurse sister have proved invaluable in developing its nursing team and the subsequent improvements in the service.

Cheryl knew that the safety and well-being of staff, who work alone in the community, was paramount and so implemented buddy systems and processes to ensure that the team’s clinical lead knew where all staff were at all times. She implemented band five and six nurse development frameworks/competencies to give the team members a clear understanding of the standards they need to develop to ensure not only the best care for patients but also to allow them to be confident and empowered in the knowledge that they are practicing safely and are in the best position to progress their career. These frameworks are robustly supported by regular 1:1 meetings. Furthermore, she has developed a student nurse placement package to ensure that nurses at all levels are involved in the mentorship and development of other individuals. Cheryl has shown evidence of sustained input into the development and mentorship of staff and colleagues in a community setting which requires a different approach to other in-patient settings. She has identified skills within her multi-disciplinary team and has a collaborative approach.

Nurse Education Award - Winner, Pamela Penman

Practice Development Facilitator Wales, Marie Curie

In the past year, Pamela has made the culture of learning exciting and has demonstrated that health care support workers (HCSWs) are valued and have made a major contribution to health care at the hospice. She has empowered HCSWs to be more confident and has helped them achieve their goals by offering support and giving motivation so that they shine in their work.

As a leader in education, Pamela works at all levels teaching and training staff in all aspects of health care practice and health and social care frameworks. She is a role model who teaches in a way that always promotes learning and self-development. She demonstrates that dignity is paramount to care giving and that person centred care is not some optional extra but very much a part of a nurse’s everyday work.

Pamela’s work as a nurse on the ward is always of the highest standard. She puts the patients and their families first. She inspects care plans and care bundles and will query and challenge anything that is not best practice.

Pamela is supportive to all staff which has been highlighted when staff have had incidents of being stressed, burnt out and been affected by patients’ deaths. She encourages staff to speak out, to try new ways of working and always offering them support and truthful feedback.

Nurse Education Award - Runner up, Aron White

Practice Development Nurse, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board

Aron demonstrated his leadership and strong commitment to the prevention of falls, which has had a profound positive impact on both patients and staff. He reviewed every case note and report from April 2015 to April 2016 to understand the reasons why patients fell. He also considered whether staff correctly followed the health board’s falls management protocol. Aron’s evaluation of case notes/incident reports contributed to his plan to manage and prevent falls in older people with mental health needs. Approximately 120 nursing staff and health care support workers have been trained.

Aron’s evidenced-based training programme has resulted in a 27% reduction in the frequency of falls in the first 5 months of 2017, compared to the same period in 2016. Before being fully trained around falls registered nurses reported a 38% confidence in the management of an injurious fall. After training the average confidence level rose to 96%. Aron is leading on a number of other developments within the service that include piloting a falls review profile for the most risk patients and reviewing the effectiveness of nurse decision making to place patients on 1:1 observations for falls.

This programme has been so successful that it is now being rolled out across the adult services within the health board.

Nursing Student Award - Winner, Tyler Payne

Student Nurse (Learning Disabilities), University of South Wales

Tyler is an exceptional student and has made a significant difference to people with learning disabilities, both prior to, and throughout, her course of study. She has displayed a maturity far beyond her years and her dedication and commitment is evidenced, not only through her excellent academic work, but also through the exceptional feedback from placements.

Tyler has developed a bespoke desensitisation kit to be used with individuals who have previously been unable to access dental care. This approach can be used by the wider multi-professional team to enable individuals to access dental care. This is a pioneering intervention that will enable individuals with a learning disability to access that care in the future.

Her passion for this field of practice is remarkable and is obvious both within the classroom setting and in clinical practice. Tyler deserves recognition for the outstanding contribution she has made thus far and will, no doubt, continue to make to improve care and service provision for people with learning disabilities. Tyler has been nominated for an award at USW as Learning Disability Student Nurse of the Year 2017 for its Student Showcase event. She has not only gone the extra mile - but in raising funds for a support group, parachuted 2.2 miles.

Nursing Student Award - Runner up, Sophie Burgess

Student Nurse (Adult), Bangor University

Sophie has made a significant impact on how the school of health science welcomes new students onto its health programmes. As a genuine advocate for the Welsh language and being fully bilingual, Sophie has helped to develop the Welsh Champions Project led by the Coleg Cymru students to raise awareness of the active offer within healthcare in Wales.

Sophie has consistently and tirelessly promoted nursing and Welsh Language provision using the national media to do so, across the whole of Wales. She has played an active role in the Welsh Government’s This is Wales – Train, Work, Live recruitment initiative. Sophie is also senior peer guide and has led the peer guide group during its welcome weeks. She takes the lead with the peer guide activities, supporting new peer guides and helping them to gain confidence; providing a lynch pin for all the activities and students. She then maintains supportive contact with the students going forward.

Sophie has worked hard for the duration of her nurse education and has been highly regarded by clinical mentors. She has recently secured a job with the local health board and is excited to be starting her substantive post when she gains her NMC registration in autumn this year. She is already looking at how she can continue with her education and for opportunities to keep developing as a nurse.

Older People's Commissioner for Wales Award - Winner, Bethan Andrews

Senior Sister, Hywel Dda University Health Board

Bethan is the leader and nursing inspiration on Ward 12 - a specialist dementia and frailty ward - for the care of older adults. She has driven the plans to ensure ward 12 is on the map for excellent care, supporting older adults with frailty and dementia in an acute medical setting; fighting with a clear vision and as a voice for the older adult; ensuring respect and dignity is embedded, and through this demonstrating a positive impact on older persons’ care. Through Bethan’s tireless work she has encouraged and changed the perception of nursing older adults.

The passion Bethan clearly displays for the nursing of older people and the profession of nursing is quite simply inspirational. Combining outstanding clinical care with compassion and respect, she has transformed the care of some of the frailest patients enabling them to not only make the best physical recovery, but also recover their independence and ability to continue living the lives they want to lead. She is a strong advocate, not only for her patients but for her team and puts excellence at the heart of everything she does. She is an advocate for the nursing profession, inspirational to listen to and inspirational to everyone with whom she works.

Older People's Commissioner for Wales Award - Runner up, Heather Mahoney

Frailty Nurse Lead, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board

Heather manages the frailty team at Cardiff and Vale UHB and she is the Surgical Board dementia champion and a member of the UHB’s dementia champion network group. She has developed a delirium pathway that is used throughout Trauma/Orthopaedics along with information leaflets for relatives and patients.

She is responsible for a number of initiatives to support dementia patients including the recruitment of hospital volunteers to help with activities for those suffering with dementia; the introduction of “Twiddle muffs” to Trauma/Orthopaedics to help distract those patients who inadvertently “play” with their IV lines and she has been an integral part of the introduction of blue crockery across the UHB to aid patients with dementia with their food consumption.

With her small team she has transformed the care of frail older people in an acute setting. Combining a strong evidence base and use of data, she and her team have been instrumental in ensuring that throughout the pathway of care individuals receive care that not only recognises their nuanced clinical needs, but also their emotional frailty. She has clearly influenced the day to day practice of many, not only ensuring the best possible clinical outcomes but also that people at a time of great vulnerability feel understood, safe and are treated with dignity and respect.

Primary Care Nursing Award - Winner, Louise Walby

Respiratory Nurse Facilitator, Primary Care, Cwm Taf University Health Board

Working in part of the Welsh valleys with the 4th worst mortality figures in Britain for chronic lung disease, Louise wanted to improve early recognition and earlier intervention in patients known to be at higher risk. She undertook an audit across the health board looking at the provision and standard of lung function tests in primary care and also visited 50 GP practices to work with practice nurses and then doctors. When she found deficiencies in training for spirometry - a standard test used to diagnose conditions that affect lung function, like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma, she collaborated with general practices to deliver accredited training.

Louise identified that existing accredited training did not meet the needs of nurses in GP practices so she developed a blended programme that took busy nurses out of practices for less time. Furthermore, she made sure that her programme has been accredited itself, something that can be rolled out consistently across Wales through the Respiratory Health Implementation Group. Louise improved the patient experience and management of COPD, impacting across the whole region. This work has been recognised at a national level and is being used as an exemplar of best practice across Wales.

Primary Care Nursing Award - Runner up, Claire Jordan

Lead Nurse, Patient Engagement and Education, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board

Claire Jordan uses her extensive experience as a patient educator to change the lives of diabetic patients. She created a patient package for osteoarthritis of the knee. In response to Welsh Audit Office data showing a 23% patient dissatisfaction rate with total knee replacement, the primary care team in Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, asked Claire for help to encourage self-management and patient choice through Options, Advice and Knowledge (OAK). This initiative has empowered patients to be more proactive in managing their weight, exercise and self- referral for physiotherapy, cutting unnecessary referrals to secondary care.

Through her leadership, Claire has led and managed a multi-professional team to ensure the patient remains the focus of the whole process, from booking on to the course to attending and also engaging patients in evaluation. Claire ensured that the course has had self-management at the heart, that patients are not being told what to do but are given information at a level that is appropriate so that they can decide what is best for them. A survey performed one year post attendance demonstrated that patients have sustained their decisions on exiting and minimal referrals to secondary care have been made. Claire has improved patient outcomes through timely access and provision of information delivered at the right time, in the right place by the right health professional.

Registered Nurse (Adult) Award - Winner, Ann Robins

Ward Manager, Hywel Dda University Health Board

Ann was pivotal in establishing the Acute Stroke Unit in Prince Philip Hospital following a review of stroke services when she identified an area within the ward ideally suited for the specialist unit. Inspired by her enthusiasm, passion and their trust in her, the team fully supported the change and within a very short period of time the acute stroke unit was fully established.

Ann has driven forward many initiatives to develop stroke services. She contributes to a number of health board wide initiatives and was instrumental in leading the development of rehabilitation assistants in 2004. This was seen as a significant step forward in developing generic roles for HCSWs.

Ann demonstrates tremendous enthusiasm for nursing and great determination to succeed, ensuring early intervention and intensive rehab for stroke patients. She has real tenacity with regard to maintaining staffing levels and skill mix. She has promoted the value of the acuity tool in relation to safe staffing levels, in which Wales is a world leader, by giving conference presentations.

Ann prioritises communication with patients’ families and demonstrates excellence in her field of practice through measurable outcomes. Her staff describe her approach as offering a culture of patient centeredness and she is highly committed to innovation and research to ensure evidence-based practice.

Registered Nurse (Adult) - Runner up, Sarah Spencer and Carolyn Alport

Senior Nurse Manager (Sarah), and Ward Sister (Carolyn), Cardiff and Vale University Health Board

Sarah and Carolyn have worked together at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board to support their Emergency Unit colleagues and develop a seamless pathway for women in early pregnancy who need admission to hospital. Using service improvement methodology and resources, the pathway now means that women whose condition is clinically stable can be admitted directly to the gynaecology ward rather than waiting to be triaged within the emergency department.

The pathway was developed in accordance with local and national guidance for both the UHB and Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust and was tested and approved via both organisations’ Quality and Safety Committees. Implementation of the pathway was successful due to both Sarah and Carolyn’s leadership skills and ability to win the hearts and minds of their nursing and medical colleagues as there was initially some resistance to change. The pilot phase of the project has been completed and has proven successful and now full implementation of the new pathway is being rolled out. Through a truly collaborative way of working across several healthcare agencies, Carolyn and Sarah inspired change and succeeded in improving outcomes for patients at a very anxious time in their lives, establishing an innovative pathway with the potential to save the lives of both mothers and babies.

Research in Nursing Award - Winner, Dr Nicola Evans

Senior Lecturer, Cardiff University

Nicola is recognised internationally as a research leader, teacher and practitioner in children and young people’s mental health. Her excellence in this field is evidenced by her international publications, competitively secured funding and her growing national and international collaborations. She combines this work with leadership of the Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and Psychosocial Care team in the School of Healthcare Sciences at Cardiff University where she also teaches and supervises across all academic levels. Nicola’s PhD showed how waiting lists for child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) can be safely reduced. This arose from a multi-disciplinary project, which she led, involving development and evaluation of bespoke triage.

Nicola was awarded a Florence Nightingale Foundation travel award in 2015 enabling international knowledge exchange in the CAMHS field. Her public engagement includes speaking at a Chapter Arts/ British Film Institute/ Cardiff University event accompanying a viewing of ‘The Falling’ (a film about adolescent mental health). She also co-led an ESRC Festival of Social Science CAMHS event. Her expertise is recognised by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and her contribution to children’s mental health is clear and widespread.

Nicola is a worthy candidate for her programme of research, which is improving nursing and inter-professional mental health care for young people in Wales, the UK and globally.

Research in Nursing Award - Runner up, Dr Lynne Williams

Deputy Head of School (Enterprise), Senior Lecturer / Research Fellow, Bangor University

Lynne has pioneered learning opportunities that maximise the impact of her research. Based directly on her PhD, Lynne’s leadership of ‘The Implementation and Evaluation of a Link Nurse Programme for Infection Prevention’, brings together professional, lay, and academic collaborators. The inclusion of pre-registration students demonstrates the value she attaches to bridging the gaps between research and teaching. The impacts for all students engaged in the programme have been direct, personally and professionally relevant, and transferable through enhanced employability.

Her nomination highlighted her commitment to ensuring her research is directly related to clinical practice; is of the highest-quality, as evidenced by grant income from prestigious funders; and translates into changes in clinical practice. She has displayed particular creativity when engaging with nursing staff to ensure her research findings are widely disseminated, and are implemented in clinical practice.

Lynne has a strong background in clinical practice roles and has sustained her interest and involvement in research over a number of years. She also enthuses students and makes research relevant to them. Her contribution to research and to nursing has stemmed from her career-long interest in improving care. Her publications and conference presentations, drawn on success with competitive funders, are impressive and will help to inspire others.

Suzanne Goodall Paediatric Nursing Award - Candice St. John

Lead Nurse, Tŷ Hafan

Candice has made an outstanding contribution in developing memories of children that are precious and lasting. What began as a hobby in her spare time has been embedded into the practice of memory-making with children, young people and their families. Candice offers a bespoke service, capturing handprints in clay, plaster and 3D casts of babies’ and children’s hands for prints that are available to end of life families free of charge. In developing her skills and teaching it to colleagues, she has taken a lead in this particular area of expertise.

Parallel to her unique skills in memory making, Candice as a registered paediatric nurse has contributed to key areas within the care services at the hospice being part of the Quality Assurance group, undertaking essential audits in-house and benchmarking with other hospices nationally to improve the services delivered in this field. She has demonstrated that she is not only developing her own leadership skill base but also developing others to progress in their areas of interest and expertise within her team. Candice has illustrated an innate understanding and passion in providing a holistic palliative care service for patients and their families at their most vulnerable times.

Suzanne Goodall Paediatric Nursing Award - Runner up, Vera Clement

Palliative Care Clinical Nurse Specialist for Children & Young People, Cwm Taf University Health Board

Vera is passionate about her role and also in educating professionals in her field. She has become a driver for disseminating information and knowledge to general paediatric professional teams who deliver palliative care and pain management on a daily basis.

Vera led the Paediatric Palliative Care Network in delivering a successful first joint conference with Tŷ Hafan, a paediatric palliative care charity that offers care to children and support for their families, throughout Wales. She undertook all aspects of conference planning, worked in partnership with multi-disciplinary teams and professionals setting a precedent to maintain the same success at future educational conferences. As part of the All Wales Paediatric Palliative Care Network, Vera has been instrumental in the development and implementation of the Paediatric Advance Care Plan (PAC). In collaboration with her palliative care colleagues she continues to work closely in the project planning for the paediatric palliative care e- Learning platform and the associated PAC module that is now available.

Vera is actively involved in the strategic planning for the End of Life (EoL) care within Cwm Taf and has submitted a proposal for nurse bank to support EoL care in a home setting. She always demonstrates her positive ‘can-do- attitude’ and is completely dedicated to the children and young people she serves.

Page last updated - 05/03/2019

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