Child Health Award now open for entries in the RCNi Nurse Awards 2017

Children’s nurses are invited to enter the RCNi Nurse Awards 2017, the UK nursing profession’s highest accolade for excellence.

The awards showcase the dedication, creativity and passion of nurses in providing high-quality patient care across the health service.

The Child Health Award category is open to NHS or independent sector nurses involved in improving the health of children and young people.

Use of technology

This year’s winner, Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust school nurse Ruth Butler, won for her use of technology in educating teenagers about health through a dedicated web page.

Ms Butler urged other children’s nurses to enter the upcoming awards.

‘As nurses, we aren’t very good at talking about the good work that we do,’ she said.

Award categories

Nursing Children and Young People specialist editor Chris Walker, who was on the shortlisting panel, said: ‘The standard this year was high, and the entries showed the enormous range of activities that nurses working with children were engaged in.’

Nurses, midwives and health visitors – as well as assistant practitioners, healthcare assistants and nursing students – will all have opportunities to enter awards across 13 categories:

• Andrew Parker Student Nurse Award.
• Cancer Nursing Award.
• Child Health Award.
• Commitment to Carers Award (sponsored by NHS England).
• Community Nursing Award (sponsored by Superdrug).
• Excellence in Cancer Research Award (sponsored by Cancer Research UK).
• Innovations in your Specialty.
• Leadership Award.
• Learning Disability Nursing Award (sponsored by NHS England).
• Mental Health Practice Award.
• Nursing Older People Award.
• Patient’s Choice (sponsored by Yakult).
• RCN Healthcare Assistant Award (sponsored by the RCN).

Nurses recognised by judges this year in the Child Health category included:

• A team of neonatal nurses from Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary, who helped premature babies bond with their parents with a comforter designed to take on a mum or dad’s scent.
• Two nurses at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, who developed a self-check guide to help parents recognise hip dysplasia in babies.

An overall Nurse of the Year award will be chosen by the judges from the winners.

Nominations open

Nurses can either nominate themselves, their team or be nominated by a colleague.

The RCNi Nurse Awards event is being held on Friday, 5 May, 2017 at the Westminster Park Plaza in London.

More information about the categories and how to enter the awards is available at rcni.com/nurse-awards.

Further information

Award-shortlisted team introduced comforter to strengthen parent-baby bond

Helping parents to recognise and report signs of hip dysplasia in children