Anna shortlisted for Nursing Times award! 

NHS Western Isles is delighted to announce that Anna Morrison, Practice Educator (Nursing and Midwifery), has been shortlisted as Practice Educator of the year at the 2023 Nursing Times Workforce Summit & Awards. 

The Nursing Times Workforce Summit & Awards comprise of 17 different award categories with 160 nominees – and only two nominees are from NHS Scotland, of which Anna is one.  

The awards ceremony is a prestigious event, and brings together the brightest talent in workforce planning and highlights those making a difference in recruitment, staff retention, wellbeing and inclusion. Each award is provided to the brightest talented teams and individuals who support the profession; who stand out as exceptional, going above and beyond what is expected, as well as helping make an organisation a great place to work. 

NHS Western Isles Head of Clinical Governance, Louise Sullivan, nominated Anna for the Practice Education of the Year award after her team received its Annual Practice Education Review from NHS Education for Scotland (NES). NES had been impressed by the work Anna had undertaken to support local Senior Charge Nurses (SCNs), who, at the time, were relatively new in post. 

As a Practice Educator, Anna supports the nursing and midwifery workforce with their professional learning and development by supporting collaboration, innovation, and inclusive learning.  Practice Educators are part of NES’s vision to support better quality care and outcomes for every person in Scotland through a knowledgeable and skilled workforce.  

NES Senior Educator, Christina Eyers-Young, stated: “Anna works tirelessly to respond to workforce need.  This is demonstrated in her work in developing the leadership skills of senior charge nurses who were new to the role. 

“Anna is working in close collaboration with the NHS Western Isles strategic leadership team to lay the foundations that are necessary to establishing a well-prepared island workforce capable of delivering safe, effective and person-centred care.   

“In addition to this, Anna recognises that staff well-being is fundamental to the delivery of quality care, and so equipping senior charge nurses with the right leadership skills to prepare them to go on to deliver restorative clinical supervision.” 

She added: “Ultimately Anna's work makes a significant contribution to engaging and retaining staff in post in a remote, rural island community.  Anna's unique contribution to developing and retaining the workforce is worthy of recognition. 

“Anna is regarded highly by her Practice Education colleagues across Scotland. She reinforces the island perspective into the national practice education network and provides valuable insight into the challenges of delivering education within a remote, rural island health board.” 

NHS Western Isles Organisational Development & Learning Manager, Stuart King, also stated: “Anna Morrison made an exceptional contribution to the development of our Senior Charge Nurse Leadership Programme within NHS Western Isles. Anna consistently demonstrated an unwavering commitment to nurturing the next generation of nursing leaders. 

“The development of the Senior Charge Nurse Network is a testament to Anna’s innovative thinking and astute understanding of the challenges and demands faced by Senior Charge Nurses in today's healthcare landscape.” 

Anna commented: “We have an excellent team of SCNs in NHS Western Isles, who are committed to developing themselves and their roles, in the interest of their teams and their patients, which makes my job easy and rewarding.  Through discussion and sharing we regularly identify areas of practice that require support and come up with solutions, that could be asking a specialist speaker to come along or creating a framework, for example the Nurse in Charge Competency Document.  Good leadership is fundamental to the wellbeing of staff and patients, and they recognise that. 

“I am lucky to be working work with an excellent group of nurses and professionals in the Clinical Governance and Professional Practice Teams in NHS Western Isles and also the NHS Education for Scotland team of Practice Educators, all of whom have a wealth of experience.” 

Anna added: “As a nurse, I have always believed that every day is a learning day.  By being open to education and development, we can become better at what we do, whatever our role is.  Ultimately that is best for the patients that we support and care for, which after all, is what it’s all about. 

“It was a very big surprise to have been shortlisted, as I didn't know anything about it until it was announced.” 

The awards will be held on November 21 in the Hilton London Metropole, London. On behalf of NHS Western Isles, we want to wish Anna the best of luck at the awards! 

• Ends  

Photo: Anna Morrison, NHS Western Isles Practice Educator (Nursing and Midwifery).