Nurses honoured at awards ceremony

Nurses honoured at awards ceremony

28 June 2017

TWO local nurses have been recognised for their innovative care.

Fiona Barnes, from Downpatrick, and Gary Mitchell, from Killinchy, have won awards at the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Northern Ireland Nurse of the Year event held recently in the Culloden Hotel.

Fiona Barnes, a Nurse Practitioner in the South Eastern Trust, was awarded runner-up in the RCN Northern Ireland Nurse of the Year Award. A registered mental health nurse with over 24 years’ experience, Fiona has been instrumental in the development of innovative services for patients with borderline personality disorders.

Fiona has been at the forefront of developing and delivering innovative Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) skills. The multidisciplinary DBT service was established in 2012 and works in the community to improve the lives of patients with chronic suicidal behaviour and high rates of self-harm.

As well as delivering the programme, Fiona has audited its effectiveness, and noted a dramatic decline in the number of crisis contacts for service users as well as a decrease in the number of in-patient bed days. 

Gary was runner-up in the Nursing Research Award sponsored by Ulster University. He works for Four Seasons Health Care and carried out research on the development of a safe staffing model for independent sector care homes, believed to be the first of its kind in the world.

Gary and colleagues spent over 200 hours making nearly 2000 separate clinical observations in 11 care homes across Northern Ireland. Based upon the data, Gary then designed a model that was piloted across 15 homes. It found that staffing levels fluctuate according to the complexity of patients’ conditions, rather than on the basis of the number of patients, staff and skill mix of the workforce. 

The judging panel commented on how the quality and experience of residents had been enhanced as a result of Gary’s work.