Top awards for local nurses

27 May 2015

TWO Castlewellan nurses were among the winners at the annual Nurse of the Year awards.

Laura McVeigh won the Mental Health Innovation Award, while Jennie Lee Sims was a runner-up in the Learning in Practice Award at the prestigious awards ceremony organised by the Royal College of Nursing and held at the Culloden Hotel.

Laura is a primary mental health worker for adolescent harm with the Southern Trust which initiated a partnership with Barnardos staff in the Newry Young People’s Project in 2009. The aim was to raise awareness of how hidden harm affects the emotional and mental health of young people and to develop appropriate responses.

The service is aimed at children and young people who are living in homes with alcohol or drug misuse or where there is parental mental ill-health, with Laura playing a pivotal role in the development and delivery of this new project.

Laura’s nominator said the Castlewellan nurse’s qualities and professionalism are a “showcase for how nursing can influence practice delivery for young people living with hidden harm.”

Jennie is a deputy ward sister at the Mater Hospital in Belfast. While she was undertaking her mentor preparation course, she decided to create an induction programme for nursing students commencing their placements in the three acute admissions wards in the mental health unit.

With support from others, Jennie developed a three-hour programme covering learning opportunities, ward policies and procedures, de-escalation techniques, practice scenarios, personal safety, and setting out what is expected of students during their placement.

Senior managers had an opportunity to welcome the students and Jennie also devised an evaluation tool, which is now being used to inform the delivery of future sessions.

Her award nominator said the programme has improved the quality of the practice learning environment and enhanced the safety of the students during placement.

“This would not have happened without Jennie’s leadership, commitment, motivation, hard work and dedication,” the nominator added, while the judging panel praised Jennie’s enthusiasm, commitment and energy, as well as her capacity to understand students’ needs.

Cherith Semple, Macmillan cancer nurse specialist at the Trust, won the overall award for leading a series of initiatives which have resulted in significant improvements for patients living

with head and neck cancer at a local, national and international level. She was presented with the accolade by newly appointed Health Minister Simon Hamilton.

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