Queen’s Nurse Alison (pictured above) received her award for setting up and leading Compassionate Inverclyde, a growing and self-organising collaboration of ordinary people, faith groups, voluntary organisations and businesses.
The social movement fosters kindness and compassion in the community, focusing on addressing social isolation, death and bereavement and encouraging people to help and support each other at times of increased need.
Alison was “delighted” to win the award. She said: “It endorses nurses being in positions that are creative and innovative. I’ve been very proud to be a nurse since I started my training in 1981 and I try every day to be a role model to other nurses and the people I work alongside who want to make a difference.”
RCN General Secretary & Chief Executive Pat Cullen said: “Alison’s innovative approach to supporting people in crisis is testament to the solutions-focused profession nursing is today. Her commitment to providing compassionate care to those most in need is what defines good nursing practice.
“Nursing staff working in every setting, in every part of the UK, are driven by these same values. Alison is an inspiration, as are all the winners in the RCN Nursing Awards. I would like to congratulate and thank them as they continue their incredible, safety critical, work.”
Other RCN Nursing Awards category winners include nursing student David Richens, who overcame an opioid addiction after having brain surgery and has set up a recovery service, and advanced nurse practitioner Susie Lagrata who launched the first nurse-led specialised headache treatment centre in Europe.
The Nursing Support Worker Award was presented to Kevin Hale and Dorian Wood who are helping to tackle loneliness and improve physical health with their all-inclusive sports club for patients with mental illness.
The RCN Nursing Awards are run annually and celebrate the successes of nursing staff across 14 categories, with the overall winner being crowned RCN Nurse of the Year.
