My Home Life’s Sarah Penney is a winner!

The Research and Teaching Fellow at Ulster University, Sarah Penney, has been sharing her delight at winning the ‘Learning in Practice Award’ at the Nurse of the Year Awards 2017, hosted by the Northern Ireland (NI) Royal College of Nursing.

These awards provide the opportunity to highlight excellence within nursing in NI and the contribution that nurses make to the health and well-being of the people of NI. The prestigious event was held at the Belfast Culloden hotel, where many health and social care professionals came along to the awards, celebrating and sharing in the successes and outstanding achievements of NI nurses.

Sarah Penney, who is a NI representative for My Home Life, achieved the ‘Learning in practice’ award for working with Care Home’s focussing on their leadership skills in order to improve the quality of life for older people living in these settings.

In fostering positive relationships with Care home’s and their proprietors, Sarah managed to have care home managers released to attend a leadership development programme, where staff benefited from monthly action learning sets and practice development workshops. The programme created strength and resilience in the care home managers and improved their leadership skills overall.

The success of the programme also led to further work under the practice development strand. Initiatives such as revision of the pre-admission assessment protocol and the production of a short film promoting best practice was also achieved. Additionally, Sarah’s work and experience, coupled with the dedication and enthusiasm of the care home managers, enhanced their understanding of the need to maintain the dignity and individual identity of patients with end-stage dementia and/or severe communication difficulties. Sarah also facilitated the direct involvement of patients in decisions about their care.

MHL would like to congratulate Sarah in her wonderful win and to thank her for her continued passion and dedication to her work.