Two nurses working at the James Paget University Hospital have been named as a finalists in the British Journal of Nursing Awards 2018.
Clinical Nurse Specialist Helen Cox was nominated in the Stoma Care Nurse of the Year category and has now been formally shortlisted as a finalist for the awards, due to be held on Friday 9 March, while Joan Pons Laplana has been shortlisted in the ‘Nurse of the Year’ Award.
The awards aim to showcase nursing excellence, recognising and celebrating individuals going above and beyond to deliver patient care.
Helen has been instrumental in developing the new Stoma service at James Paget University Hospital (JPUH), which has seen a system of regular follow-ups and support put into place and a dramatic reduction in the length of stays for patients.
The systems she instigated, including the Stoma Service Triage, Accident and Emergency Triage and Primary Care SOS calls, has reduced admissions and pressure on acute services. By setting up proactive services, rather than reactive ones, there is a reduced cost to the Trust and seeing patients on a regular constructive pathway empowers them to take ownership and to feel better supported and better educated to manage their long term condition.
Helen and her team have achieved financial savings of over £270,000 in the first year and exceptional patient care has been demonstrated through ongoing compliments from patients who are using the service.
Joan was nominated for his role in encouraging change and promoting patient safety at the hospital, driving the award-winning Kissing Goodbye to Sepsis campaign and working to ensure staff at the hospital have their flu vaccination. He personally vaccinated over 1,000 staff and has worked to promote the campaigns, as well as hopping 10km on a space hopper to raise funds for the Cavell Nurses’ Trust, to support colleagues in need. He is also a Unison steward, working to assist fellow nurses via this union role.
Helen and Joan have now both been invited to attend the awards ceremony at Shakespeare’s Underglobe in London in March.