Nurse leader lands prestigious UK-wide health award
A senior nurse who leads Abergele’s District Nurses has landed a top UK-wide health award.
Team Leader Amanda Hughes won the prestigious Nurse Manager of the Year award at the Nursing Times Workforce awards.
Described as the “go to” person to help her staff, Mandy was shortlisted by judges for her tireless work to support the Abergele team over the last three-and-a-half years.
Nichola Hughes, Interim Head of Community and Primary Care Nursing, nominated Mandy for the award, and praised her proactive approach to training to meet the challenge presented by COVID-19.
Nichola said: “Amanda has such a wealth of knowledge that she is often peoples first ‘go to’ person. Amanda always puts staff first and even if she does not have the answer, she will find it out.
“Amanda has been an immense support to me over the last two years and she is always willing to go the extra mile for people.
“Her team are a cohesive, hard-working and happy group that works so well together.
“This last 12 months alone staff have undertaken University modules in care of patients with complex needs, Diabetes management, leg ulcer care, counselling and the District Nurse Specialist Practice Award. One Health Care Support Worker has been supported to complete her Level 4 QCF and is now looking forward to starting her nurse training.
“With COVID, she also made a huge effort to make sure training and reassurance was available to the whole team, with dedicated sessions put on about PPE and new CPR guidance.
“The whole team is thriving under Mandy’s leadership, and I can’t imagine anyone more deserving than her of this award.”
Mandy said she was shocked and overwhelmed to be recognised with the award.
She added: "I am so proud and thrilled to have been nominated in the first instance, but to win the award is just amazing. To get recognition at a national level across the whole of the UK is truly fantastic. This wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication and hard work of all our team in Abergele.
"The last few months with COVID-19 have been really tough for everyone, but I’m really proud of the team for keeping their standards so high and continuing to do their best for our patients."
Congratulating Mandy on winning the award, Trevor Hubbard, Area Nurse Director for the Central region of BCUHB, said: “We are overjoyed at Mandy’s achievement in winning this accolade. She is a very deserving winner of the award and we are all very proud of her and her team.”
The Nursing Times Workforce awards took place on December 2. The awards, now in their third year, are designed to celebrate all that is good about the nursing workforce, highlighting innovation in planning and management that contributes to sustaining a workforce fit for the future.
They are intended to shine a light on the positive work that is being done by nurse managers and employers across the health and care sector to recruit, retain, inspire and nurture nursing staff.