2013 marks the seventeenth year of the awards, which are designed to recognise and reward excellence in the nursing profession. Hilary was presented with the award at a ceremony which took place at the Culloden Hotel, Holywood on Thursday 6th June. Jacqueline Magee, long-term conditions case manager for Western Health and Social Care Trust, was runner-up in the awards.
The Transforming Care with Technology Award rewards quality and excellence in the use of telemonitoring and telehealth to improve care for patients, and was open to all currently registered nurses and midwives working in Northern Ireland. Entrants were nominated by colleagues who submitted an application outlining how the candidate had contributed to:
- Promoting person-centred care
- Empowering patients and carers to assume new roles as partners with the health care team
- Moving care from hospital to the community
- Reducing hospital admissions
- Improved patient safety
- Free up time to be used for direct patient care
Hilary's nominator commented: "Through the use of remote telemonitoring, Hilary can optimise her time, more effectively manage her workload and make better informed decisions based on timely and relevant clinical information."
Runner-up Jacqueline Magee is one of the highest referrers to the Telemonitoring service, with over 370 patients having used the service. Her nominator said: "Although the whole team continues to promote the telemonitoring service, Jacqueline deserves recognition outside the team for her proactive role, promoting the service and all the on-going support she has provided."
Janice Smyth, Director of the RCN in Northern Ireland said: "The aim of the RCN Northern Ireland Nurse of the Year Awards is to highlight the contribution that nurses make to patient care and the developments and innovations they are leading to improve it."
About TF3 consortium
The TF3 consortium comprises Tunstall Healthcare, Fold Housing Association and S3 Group. In March 2011 TF3 was selected through a process led by the CCHSC part of the Public Health Agency (PHA) to provide a nationwide remote telemonitoring service to the Northern Ireland Health and Social Care System.
To date, the Telemonitoring NI service has benefited around 1,500 patients in Northern Ireland, living with long-term conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, helping them to better manage their health.
Telemonitoring enables people to monitor their vital signs from their own home, giving them a better understanding of their health and helping them to control their symptoms. It also gives health professionals improved information and enables the delivery of remote care, contributing to effective caseload management.
Telemonitoring NI has enabled Northern Ireland to transform care, putting the individual at the centre of its care model and promoting better outcomes for the user, carer and family.