Nominate a Nursing Star

The first ever nationwide Patient’s Award is launched today by the UK’s best-selling nursing journal, Nursing Standard.

Has a nurse, midwife, health visitor or healthcare assistant made a real difference to you or a loved one? That is the question being asked for the first time across the UK by weekly nursing journal Nursing Standard.

The Patient’s Choice Award is the latest category in Nursing Standard’s prestigious annual Nurse of the Year awards. Now in their 19th year, the awards provide a unique opportunity to highlight and reward excellent practice within the nursing profession.

“Delivering the best possible care to patients lies at the heart of all nursing,” says Nursing Standard editor, Jean Gray. “That’s why we’re so delighted to give patients the opportunity to recognise and celebrate those nurses who they feel have gone the extra mile.”

As well as appealing directly to the public, Nursing Standard is urging every organisation – whether in the NHS, the community or the independent sector – to tell their patients about this special award, encouraging them to nominate those nurses who they feel have performed beyond the call of duty. “We want to see as many nurses put forward for this award as possible,” says Nursing Standard’s editor.

The timetable for Nursing Standard’s Patient’s Choice Award:

• 9 January 2008 – Patient’s Choice Award is launched.
• 15 February – closing date for nominations.
• 25 February – three finalists are announced, selected by an expert panel of judges.
• 25 February to 21 March – members of the public are invited to vote for the nurse who they believe most deserves the accolade.
• 27 March – the Patient’s Choice winner is announced at Nursing Standard’s Nurse 2008 Awards ceremony at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.

To nominate a nurse, midwife, health visitor or healthcare assistant, members of the public can visit www.patients-choice.co.uk or call 020 8872 3140 to request an entry. The closing date for nominations is 15th February 2008.

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For more information, contact Lynne Pearce, PR consultant
Tel: 01992 448474; mobile: 07790 423705; email: lynnepearce29@ntlworld.co.uk

Notes for editors

1. The Nursing Standard Nurse Awards 2008 are organised by Nursing Standard, the UK’s best selling nursing journal and flagship title of the RCN Publishing Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). There are 11 categories, each with a winner and runner-up. One of the 11 winners will be selected to receive the ultimate accolade of Nursing Standard Nurse of the Year 2008.

2. The RCN is the UK’s largest specialist nursing body and trade union in the UK. The RCN represents nurses and nursing, promotes excellence in practice and shapes health policies.

Tuesday 5th of February 2008 04:00:34 PM