Warwickshire Nurse recognised for outstanding family-centred care
Emma-Louise Evans, Nursery Nurse at South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust, has been awarded the prestigious Nursing and Midwifery Award in the Regional Parliamentary Awards for the Midlands.
NHS Midlands announced on Tuesday 14 June the ten individuals and teams chosen as regional champions to mark the NHS’s 74th birthday.
MPs and NHS leaders in the region joined forces to honour health and care staff who have helped to improve treatment for patients. The judges, drawn from across the NHS, selected Emma-Louise alongside nine other winners (one in each of the 10 categories) from over 120 nominations.
Emma-Louise has been a key driver of change to ensure Warwick Hospital’s Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) delivers high-quality family-centred care as standard. This means involving the family as much as possible in their baby’s care. For the past four years, Emma-Louise has worked extremely hard as the Trust’s lead for the Bliss baby charter. This charter is a framework for neonatal units to assess the quality of the family-centred care they deliver.
Emma-Louise’s commitment and dedication to implement highly effective improvements, that tangibly benefit babies and their families, was rewarded in May 2022 when the unit achieved the full gold Baby Bliss charter accreditation.
Through Emma-Louise’s devotion to provide outstanding care, the following enhancements have been made in SCBU:
- Free parking for parents
- Development of notice boards to signpost support groups and provide key information that families can digest at a time suitable to them
- Revised admission and discharge packs – to support and comfort families
- An admission checklist and improved discharge checklist – to ensure a consistent approach to admitting / welcoming and discharging babies and their families
- Improved access to psychological support
- Introduction of Bliss’ milestone cards – encouraging parents to document their baby’s key activities
- Folder created containing key information about other hospitals for parents whose baby was transferred to another Trust
- Planning activities around the parent’s routine to provide individualised care
- QR codes introduced so parents can easily access informative videos
- Developmental and Family Integrated Care (FiCare) Lead Nurses roles introduced – two volunteers to champion / promote family-centred care.
To further enhance the care the unit provides, Emma-Louise organised a fundraising event on World Prematurity Day and raised an impressive £1,445.00. During the day, she also arranged purple clothes and gifts for all the babies on the unit – helping to spread joy during what can be a stressful time for parents.
Emma-Louise Evans, Nursery Nurse at South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust, said: “I am very proud of the improvements our Unit has made and the role I have played in implementing changes to ensure we are providing the very best care to our families.
“Our main priority is to provide family-centred care. This is because it is so important to involve the parents in all aspects of their baby’s care while they are on the Unit – making them feel happy, confident, and empowered to care for and make decisions regarding their baby.
“I feel honoured to receive this award and to be recognised for my work to ensure families receive outstanding care.”
To read more about the NHS Parliamentary Awards visit: www.england.nhs.uk/midlands/2022/06/14/midlands-health-and-care-heroes-honoured-in-nhs-parliamentary-awards/.
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