Nurse at Highbury Hospital nominated for top industry award

Charlotte Bowers, staff nurse at the hospital, has been shortlisted in the Student Innovation in Practice Award category.

Completing a double for Nottinghamshire Healthcare, the Ashfield Integrated Care team at the trust has also been shortlisted in the Student Placement of the Year: Community category for community teaching.

Both Charlotte and the care team were nominated for ‘going above and beyond to support patients’, as well as providing ‘excellent placements for students’.

Charlotte was nominated for the award for a sensory box she created for her final university assignment, to support new admissions to acute wards.

Her idea was to provide a risk-assessed sensory box that could provide comfort and support, especially for those with sensory needs.

The items in the box include earplugs, herbal teas, hand cream, lip balm, mindful journaling exercises, breathing exercise templates, fidget toys, and an eye mask. It can be risk assessed individually and also adapted for patient’s preferences.

Often people are admitted and cannot have some of their own property on the wards for safety reasons– whereas the sensory box is designed to belong to each individual and continue to provide comfort.

Charlotte said: "I’m really excited to have been shortlisted, it’s so important to me that the sensory needs of each individual are acknowledged and supported and having my work put forward for an award is one step closer to a greater understanding of the sensory needs of people in hospital.

“Supporting sensory needs is important to me due to my late diagnosis of autism in 2022.

"Being an autistic nurse has allowed me to advocate for the sensory needs of others, as I use these items every day.

“Being shortlisted feels quite overwhelming as I have only been qualified since September but it really motivates me to continue this work in my career.”

Meanwhile the Ashfield care team was nominated by students who had attended the placement at Nottingham Trent University, for going above and beyond to demonstrate value and respect for students, provide personalised learning experiences and including them as team members.

Students reported that they made regular time throughout each day to check in with how they were getting on and that they had the support in place they needed to meet their learning needs.

They were encouraged to reflect not only with assessors and supervisors, but also the wider team. The team also saw this as a learning opportunity in order to continue development and growth.

Diane Hull, executive director of nursing, AHPs and quality at Nottinghamshire Healthcare, said: “We are so proud to see our colleagues nominated in these awards.

“Charlotte has used her personal experiences to really consider new ideas for how best she can support her patients, which is fantastic.

“Our Ashfield care team has really gone above and beyond to ensure student nurses have the best possible experience on their placements.

“They really value them as team members and do all they can to help them to learn and grow. It is brilliant to see the team receive such positive feedback.

“Wishing them the best of luck for the next stage.”

The winners will be announced on April 26.