Showcase your talents and enter the RCNi Nurse Awards

Whenever I talk to cancer nurses, irrespective of their tumour group and individual roles, what stands out is their empathy and compassion for patients and their families, dedication and willingness to go the extra mile — and the creativity to develop their own practice and improve clinical services. All while working collaboratively across professional boundaries. 

Nurse-led innovations

Yet despite many cancer nurses setting up nurse-led innovations, improving patient pathways and clinical services, they are often reluctant to showcase their achievements through publications and presentations.

However, this is the only way to share best practice with colleagues in your place of work, nationally and internationally.

This is why I am urging you all to consider your achievements and enter the RCNi Nurse Awards. The awards recognise and reward nurses who have introduced new ways to improve health outcomes, enhance patient experiences and transform nursing practice.

Categories

There are two categories for oncology nurses: the Cancer Nursing Award, which focuses on nurses or teams who have improved the quality of patient care at diagnosis, during treatment, and when treatment ends.

The second category is the Excellence in Cancer Research Award, which recognises clinical research nurses or teams who have helped to discover new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer and improve patient outcomes.

The website nurseawards.co.uk provides further details of all the awards, including the criteria for each category and how to submit your entry. Deadline for entries is 6 January 2017.

Being shortlisted for, or winning, one of the awards could result in the recognition that you and/or your service needs, rewarding you for all your hard work and helping you to disseminate it to other nurses.

It would also provide some important evidence for revalidation.

Carole Farrell is consultant editor of Cancer Nursing Practice