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Diabetes nurse is named Nurse of the Year
Some of the UK's top nurses were named and celebrated at an awards ceremony in central London yesterday (Wednesday, 8th March 2006). Presenting the awards was the Rt. Hon Patricia Hewitt MP, Secretary of State for Health.
Grace Vanterpool from Uxbridge in Middlesex has been named as Nursing Standard Nurse of the Year, 2006. She won her award for her work as a diabetes nurse at the Slough Teaching Primary Care Trust in Slough. With more than double the national prevalence of diabetes, Slough is also home to a large south Asian population. People from south Asia have a six-fold risk of developing diabetes.
Grace suspected that many people were going undiagnosed, so she introduced Action Diabetes to the area. In a double-decker bus she toured the community offering blood testing, blood pressure checks and bi-lingual information leaflets on diabetes. Now more people recognise if they are at risk and have quick and easy access to diagnostic tests. There has been a 30 per cent increase in the number of referrals to diabetes education clinics.
Grace has now moved to the Hammersmith and Fulham NHS Trust but hopes the project she established will be rolled out across the country. Grace was also named Community Nurse of the Year.
Grace says: "It's a real honour to be named Nursing Standard Nurse of the Year. I started Action Diabetes because I felt that much more needed to be done to help people prevent diabetes. Through the programme, I am really helping the local community to help themselves."
Linda Thomas, Editor-in Chief at Nursing Standard says: "The judges chose Grace because of her innovative and creative approach, which has been successfully integrated into a PCT service. This is truly nursing at its best when the expertise is developed beyond a basic job description to a scheme that benefits whole communities."
The Nursing Standard Nurse of the Year Awards acknowledge and celebrate the professionalism, dedication, innovation and excellence in nursing today.
Posted
: 09/03/2006 11:08:02
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