Trailblazing healthcare assistant Lisa Morgan has received one of the Chief Nursing Officer for England’s first healthcare support workers (HCSWs) awards after being nominated for the ‘Commitment to quality of care’ category.
Lisa had been invited to attend a regional workforce event with colleagues where she received the ultimate surprise being presented with her medal from Gill Hunt, Director of Nursing for NHS England North East & Yorkshire – Professional and System Development.
Described as a ‘Trailblazer’ Lisa’s nomination said: “There is a lot to say about Lisa. She is a career healthcare support worker and as a result has led on developing and implementing services changes around family engagement in patient care to improve patient experience and outcomes.
“Lisa has also generously given her time to support the national recruitment events the HCSW Programme ran; having one to one conversations with candidates about what the role entails and what they should expect in the role, as part of the learning zone.
“Even from these short interactions, Lisa’s dedication and compassion were evident with a number of candidates coming back to see her immediately after receiving job offers to thank her for her support.
“She has also contributed to the national programme through sharing her experience and through participating in national forums like the Shared Decision-Making Council.”
Lisa is a changemaker both locally and nationally and gives everything with a generosity of spirit quite like no one else I have met.
Siobhan Zagajewski, NHE England North East and Yorkshire Clinical fellow for Community and Paediatric IR & CYPMH programmes said “Lisa is a Trailblazer and incredible role model for healthcare support workers. It was such a pleasure to watch her collect her CNO Award.”
Lisa was appointed the cardiothoracic theatres family-centred care lead in 2018 after demonstrating exceptional skills when communicating with young patients and their families.
She launched a Royal College of Nursing award-winning initiative to help support children requiring open heart surgery by creating a training package for colleagues to help them understand the importance of a truly family-centred approach by meeting the emotional and psychological needs of both the patients and their loved ones.
“I have trained all of our scrub and support staff, anaesthetic, recovery and porter teams in the importance of family centred care to our patients and how they can help the patients’ journey too,” explained Lisa. “This is a whole team approach which has received 100 percent positive feedback from our patients and families which is incredible.”
Lisa also developed innovative ways of communication to help patients and families understand what to expect and absorb vital information helping to alleviate concerns and reduce fear of going into theatre.
Innovative patient-centred care
When Lisa meets each patient with their families to talk through their procedure she gives the patient their own ‘Baggins Bear’ and a book which she created and can be translated into any language, all funded by the Children’s Heart Unit Fund (CHUF).
Not only that, Lisa’s dedication to her families has seen her alter shifts so she has more time to dedicate to patients preparing them for their surgery.
Kristina Simpson, Senior Nurse for Healthcare Support Worker Development at the Newcastle Hospitals said she is delighted to see Lisa win this award.
“Lisa always places the patient and their families at heart of everything she does, seeing everything from their point of view and has the ability to put them at their ease with her warm and friendly yet reassuringly confident approach.
“She always has such a positive outlook and her vivacious approach to everything she does is infectious, always responding to whatever challenge is put her way and finding ways to constantly improve the experience for everyone.
“Her input to our healthcare support workforce plans has been invaluable. She’s certainly one of our rising stars and I really look forward to working more with Lisa in the future.”
A proud advocate
Lisa says she is proud to be an advocate for the children and families who need support during worrying and unsettling times.
“Handing your child over to a team of strangers can be the most vulnerable and daunting time as a parent”, explained Lisa “so developing this care practitioner role has enabled us as a team to show the care and compassion we have for our patients and their families.
“Baggins is an important part of our service which is funded by CHUF and it’s a lovely keepsake for the children to take home with them. Visiting the family on PICU after surgery is also very important to continue the relationship; for the patient this may be a once in a lifetime operation, or the first of many to come, so this connection is vital to continue our care and legacy in the future.”
Lisa continued: “I was, and still am, so passionate to make a change for the better and with the support and belief from my team it has enabled me to flourish at work and inspire a team.”
Chief Nursing Officer and Chief Midwifery Officer Health Care Support Worker Awards
Nominations for the Chief Nursing and Chief Midwifery Officer healthcare and maternity support worker awards are always open.
If you know a HCSW or MSW who you feel is worthy of an award then please do nominate them.
Find out how here: www.england.nhs.uk/nursingmidwifery/chief-nursing-officer-for-england/awards/
