Today we’re very proud of three of our top nurses – Julia Hunt, our Director of Nursing (above centre), Sharon Crowle, our Head of Education and Practice Development (right) and Claire Whitehouse, our Lead Nurse for Research (left), who have received prestigious Chief Nursing Officer Awards.
Sharon and Claire were both honoured with Silver Award recognition badges while Julia was presented with a Gold Award badge – currently just one of a handful given out nationwide to nurses to recognise outstanding achievements in the field of nursing.
The new NHS England Chief Nursing Officer Awards were announced at the Chief Nurse Summit earlier in the year and aim to recognise individuals who have excelled. A silver badge award celebrates performance which goes above and beyond the expectations of the role.
In Sharon Crowle’s case this is recognition for her work to educate the next generation of nurses and health care professionals through innovative ideas such as the James Paget Health Academy, which brings young people from local schools and colleges into our education and training centre for a taste of the different careers available, and our Nursing Scholarship, which aims to provide some financial support for those training to become a nurse.
For Claire Whitehouse the award comes as a result of her outstanding work to raise awareness of the importance of research, helping to establish a global community through the #WhyWeDoResearch campaign, and to increase participation in research studies as well as providing support to patients and colleagues in the field.
For Julia Hunt the award recognises her dedication and commitment to the James Paget over a number of years. Staring as a domestic, Julia has worked her way up to Director of Nursing and the Gold badge recognises her exceptional and significant contribution during a distinguished career in nursing, delivering nursing excellence in clinical practice, education, research, engagement and leadership above and beyond the role.
All three women were surprised by Deputy Chief Nursing Officer Professor Mark Radford during a coffee break in today’s Education Conference. Professor Radford, here to deliver a talk on ‘Changing requirements of the workforce’ to an audience of health and education professionals from across East Anglia who are attending the conference, praised Claire, Sharon and Julia, saying the awards were well-deserved.
