The Sue Pembrey Award is presented annual by the Foundation of Nursing Studies (FoNS) to a team which is part of its programme to support nurses in leading on innovation in the workplace.
The team at Compton Hospice was nominated for the award after significantly improving patient centred-care through its project ‘Utilising healthcare assistants as second checkers of controlled drugs for timely symptom management in a hospice setting.’
The award was presented at a ‘celebration of nurses’ event at The Kings Fund in London last month.
The project came about when the team recognised – from an audit and listening to the experiences of patients and families – that, due to workforce pressures, sometimes symptom management for patients is not timely.
Currently, two trained nurses are required to check and administer the strong medications (controlled drugs) that patients require to manage their pain.
Although it is good practice to second check controlled drugs, the second person does not need to be a trained nurse. This is endorsed by the Nursing and Midwifery Council and the Patient Safety Agency.
The team wanted to make effective use of its current resources to influence change and create innovation, and so set out to enable healthcare assistants to develop and become the second checkers.
Six healthcare assistants have already undertaken the training programme devised by the team on the inpatient unit and are making a huge difference to symptom management for patients at the centre of our care.
It is anticipated that using healthcare assistants as available resources to second check controlled drugs will improve efficiency, reduce pressure to find nurses and improve the patient experience overall.
The project has also been instrumental in widening the scope for further practice development and has instilled confidence and vision in all staff touched by it.
Sue Pembrey Award
This award was established to celebrate the life of Sue Pembrey (1942-2013), who is probably best known for her theoretical and practical work, published by the Royal College of Nursing in 1980: ‘The ward sister, key to nursing: a study of the organisation of individualised nursing’.
Sue also played a key role in the Oxford Nursing Development of the Radcliffe infirmary, where opportunities were created for nurses to practice in innovative ways that placed the patient at the centre of their care. She also forged alliances between Oxford University, the Royal College of Nursing and The Kings Fund and was a mentor to many nurses, encouraging them to question with sensitivity and intelligence.
Teams who are part of FoNS ‘Patients First’ programme will be eligible for the new award, and projects will be judged against the following criteria: development of clinical leadership and facilitation skills to enable improvement and developmental change in practice, holistic approaches to understanding the patient experience and development of person-centred outcomes to benefit patients, families and staff.
This year 12 teams from England, Scotland and Northern Ireland presented their project reports to judges at The Kings Fund in London before a winner was decided.
It was an honour to win the inaugural Sue Pembrey Award on behalf of our staff and patients at Compton Hospice. To be recognised for innovation where we strive to continuously improve our care has been inspiring and motivating for the whole team. Staff that are engaged, empowered and motivated will always give better care.
Find out more about the work of Compton Hospice by visiting our website and find out more about FoNS and its work supporting nurse leadership and innovation on the FoNS website.
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