Sharon Finn, a senior healthcare assistant at St Joseph’s Hospice in Hackney, London, has won praise for the positive environment she creates with her enthusiasm for work, support for colleagues, and sensitivity and compassion towards patients and families. She is the joint winner of the RCN Health Practitioner Member Award, a category in this year’s Nursing Standard Awards.

Amanda Derbyshire’s work in improving the physical health of patients with mental illness has achieved such impressive results in Halton and Warrington that it has made her a joint winner of the RCN Health Practitioner Member Award.

Elizabeth Browse retired after 40 years, but missed caring for patients so much that she returned to her old trust as a bank nurse. She took on roles that were outside of her comfort zone, including helping to pilot a new pathway providing direct pre-assessment. Her highly professional, innovative work was recognised in May when she won Nursing Standard’s Bank Nurse Award.

Karine Latter has developed national nursing standards for infants born with Pierre Robin sequence (PRS), a rare cleft palate condition that causes breathing and eating difficulties. The standards, based on her own research with PRS families, aim to provide national consistency in nursing care. Ms Latter is the runner-up in the Child Health category of this year’s Nursing Standard Nurse Awards.

Third-year mental health nursing student Mark Collins introduced a group art project on to an acute mental health ward that has improved the self-esteem of service users. The Tree of Regrowth and Recovery adorns a wall and has patients’ artworks placed around it. The project won Mr Collins the Andrew Parker Student Nurse Award at this year’s Nursing Standard Awards.

Nurse consultant Gillian Robinson developed a coma assessment tool that has helped to radically improve the safety of care provided to neonates, infants, children and young people. Crucially, the tool is tailored to specific age groups. Ms Robinson’s achievement was recognised earlier this year when she won the child health category in this year’s Nursing Standard Nurse Awards.

A community nursing team in Surrey led by Pauline Bigwood was recognised in the 2015 Nursing Standard Nurse Awards for an innovative campaign to increase vitamin D awareness among parents and clinicians. The aim of the campaign is to improve child health by implementing Department of Health recommendations for vitamin D supplementation.

A retired colorectal surgical nurse who missed her job so much that she returned to work for her trust’s staff bank has been named runner up in the bank nurse category of the Nursing Standard Nurse Awards 2015

The nursing team in the children’s diabetes service at Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust has developed an app and website to help children and young people with type 1 diabetes manage the condition. The initiative focuses on using social media to increase peer support. The team were runners up in the 2015 Nursing Standard Excellence in Diabetes Specialist Nursing Award, sponsored by Sanofi Diabetes.

Nurse Tanya Kidson leads the team behind a set of assessment tools that are helping care homes in Shropshire to prevent infection outbreaks. The tools were developed with independent care sector nurses. Implemented in almost half of the county’s 300 care homes, the team was named runner-up in this year’s Nursing Standard Nurse Awards in the infection prevention category.

A team of nurses who created tools that help the independent care sector prevent infections and reduce hospital admissions has been named runner up in the infection prevention category of the Nursing Standard Nurse Awards 2015

Clinical nurse specialist Dorcas Gwata is the winner of the Mental Health category of this year’s Nursing Standard Nurse Awards. She specialises in work with young people involved in gangs who are at high risk of violence, sexual exploitation, self-harming and substance abuse. Her empathy and persuasive style means she can engage young people who would otherwise reject help.

A cancer nurse who established a sex therapy clinic has been named runner up in the cancer nursing category of the Nurse Awards 2015 in recognition of her internationally renowned work

Alcohol community nurse Jill Emmerson set up a service in GP practices to engage hard-to-reach patients who would be too embarrassed or ashamed to use conventional treatment services. The project has reduced hospital admissions and improved the health of patients. Ms Emmerson was a finalist in the Community Nursing category of the Nursing Standard Nurse Awards 2015.

Alcohol community nurse Jill Emmerson set up a service in GP practices to engage hard-to-reach patients who would be too embarrassed or ashamed to use conventional treatment services. The project has reduced hospital admissions and improved the health of patients. Ms Emmerson was a finalist in the Community Nursing category of the Nursing Standard Nurse Awards 2015.

A nurse-led rheumatology team has cut waiting times and improved clinical outcomes by moving a hospital-based service into the community and redesigning it to meet patients’ needs. Led by rheumatology nurse specialist Sarah Critchley, the team from Pennine MSK Partnership has replaced a reactive service with one that is systematic and holistic. The team won the Nursing Standard Community Nursing Award earlier this month.