RCN Northern Ireland
Western Trust nurse is RCN Northern Ireland Nurse of the Year 2014
Bernie Michaelides is the Royal College of Nursing Northern Ireland Nurse of the Year 2014. Bernie, who is head of intermediate care and lead nurse for adult community nursing at the Western Health and Social Care Trust, received the award for establishing an acute clinical intervention centre that provides treatment and care for patients in their local community.
The runner-up was Michelle Kosky, children and young person facilitator at Foyle Hospice. Michelle developed the Healing Hearts initiative, which provides specialist bereavement support for children and young people between 4 and 16 years old.
Other winners include:
- Joanne Breslin, a staff nurse at Altnagelvin Area Hospital
- Karen Moore, a health visitor from Lisburn
Health Foundation Scaling Up Improvement initiative
The Health Foundation has over £3 million in grants available for up to seven teams to take successful health care improvement interventions and deliver them at a larger scale. Applications are now open and further information is available via the Health Foundation website. The Foundation is looking for projects that aim to improve health care delivery and/or the way people manage their own health care. Projects need to show how ideas, interventions and approaches that have been tested and shown to improve care at a small scale can be delivered at a larger scale. The emphasis is upon projects that can be sustained beyond the life of the project and have the long-term potential for wider adoption across the UK health service. Applications can come from any health or health and social care provider organisation in the UK where services are free at the point of delivery. The closing date for applications is 16 June 2014.
Health Minister announces expansion in specialist nurse training and deployment
Health Minister Edwin Poots has announced increases in the number of district nurses and health visitors in training, and in the deployment of advanced nurse practitioners and consultant nurses. The Minister said that he expects each HSC Trust to employ, as a minimum, a consultant nurse in mental health, learning disability, the care of older people and dementia, and public health. He said that nursing needs more investment in terms both of numbers and training and development. The Minister concluded:
“The people of Northern Ireland are proud of their nurses and appreciate you and your core values. The principles of good nursing practice remain unchanged; care, compassion, dignity, and respect.”
Chief Nursing Officer Charlotte McArdle added:
“I believe the Minister is committed to the nursing workforce, as the measures announced here tonight offer new opportunities for nurses and will further the development of a career pathway in practice, enabling our most experienced nurses to stay close to the patient rather than moving into managerial roles.”